Chances are there that you have your entire life on your laptop or Smartphone. Useful contacts, notes, word documents, reminders, media files and everything else which holds some value for you is stored in your mobile device, and it’s important for you to keep your digital data entirely personal. Having an antivirus program that can keep your data safe is a given, but you shouldn’t just settle for any antivirus. Whether you are choosing Kaspersky or BitDefender or Norton 360 Deluxe, it’s highly important for you to know which features define the best antivirus programs this year.

Basically, the job of an antivirus program is to block out malware, adware and other types of software-designed viruses from your PC or Smartphone without compromising your data. So what exactly are the features you should look for in an antivirus program? Keep reading or check side-by-side comparison chart of the top rated antivirus software.

Reactive scanning is the most basic job performed by an antivirus program. It is programmed to scan any alien file or program before the user opens it and to check malware behaviour in advance. The whole process is done in the background, and you can only open the file once the scanning is completed by the program. McAfee Total Protection, Heimdal Thor Premium, BitDefender Total Security, Panda Dome and many other products have this basic feature in common.

We are into the next level – top antivirus programs are also designed to scan every nook and cranny of your mobile device for finding out suspicious files. Norton 360, for example, takes it way forward by blocking malicious JavaScript or ActiveX. Plug-ins that come with similar programs can be used to make your PC more secure. You can enable JavaScript from your browser settings, so no worries.

AVs often make use of heuristic analysis to classify files based on their behavioural pattern. Heuristic analysis helps the program to detect already known computer viruses (stored in its database) and viruses that are still in the “wild”. However, some antivirus programs falsely claim safe programs as virus and this is known as “false positive” in the AV industry. If you find such a setting in your antivirus program (Kaspersky AV has it), turn it to signature based scanning as that keeps your computer reasonably safe, while not disrupting your sessions.

Lastly, you should look for antivirus software programs that can keep their capabilities and database up to date, which is essential for your complete peace of mind.