Are the advantages antivirus apps bring worth the disadvantages? Let’s find out!
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Antivirus Apps
Getting the best antivirus apps for your Android device is a great way to ensure safety and security. But, it’s important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of antivirus apps. It will help you make an informed decision on whether to get one or not. We will be discussing each factor in detail, even the things that most antivirus apps don’t tell you.
Advantages of Antivirus
1. Protection from Different Kinds of Viruses
Of course, the first and foremost advantage of having an antivirus is protection from viruses. The most common viruses on mobile phones are adware, ransomware, spyware, trojan horses, and worms. According to statistics, in the 2nd quarter of 2021, there were over 800,000 mobile malware installation packages. Installing an antivirus on your phone will help prevent this from happening to you.
2. Protection From Spyware
Spyware is software that continuously gathers user information from your device and forwards it to a third party. This usually happens behind the scenes and without your consent. This data can include passwords, credit card details, personal information, and other sensitive information. Some spyware use this behavior to bring you targeted ads. But malicious spyware will sell this information online. Most antivirus apps come with antispyware. This will protect you from any malicious spyware that finds its way to your device.
3. Real-Time Protection
When you have an antivirus program online, it closely monitors all of the processes that happen on your device. This means that if at any given time a virus enters your Android phone, your antivirus will be able to eliminate it. Since everything happens in real-time, your antivirus acts as a personal security bodyguard to your phone. It will regulate all activities on your phone and prevent any suspicious activities from proceeding.
4. Firewall Included
Most antivirus apps come with a firewall feature. This firewall will help protect your network by filtering the traffic that comes into your device and blocking unauthorized access to your private data. It can also help block malicious software from infecting your device.
5. Ad Blocker Included
Not a lot of users know that viruses and malware can enter our system through pop-up ads and spam sites. These viruses can then infect your device and damage your system. An antivirus will nip the problem at the very bud. It will block these pop-up ads so viruses won’t be able to enter your device.
6. Protection From Online Threats
The internet can be a dangerous place especially if you’re browsing unprotected. You can unknowingly come to a website that can be dangerous for you without you even noticing it. Through these websites, hackers and cyber attackers can gather your personal information. Antivirus can help protect you from these websites by protecting your valuable information. Some antivirus apps will also send a pop-up notification that you’re about to open an unsafe website.
7. Protection From Spam
Did you know that you can also get viruses and malware through spam emails and ads? These emails keep coming into your inbox and you keep ignoring them. But once the virus in these emails finds the right opportunity, it can cause a significant amount of damage. An antivirus will help protect you from this by blocking these spam emails and ads. It prevents them from even getting stored into your phone so they won’t have any opportunities of infecting your device.
8. A Worthwhile Investment
A monthly or yearly subscription to an antivirus can appear expensive. Besides, most antivirus apps already have free versions, right? The free version of these antivirus apps will not be able to protect you as well as the paid version. A monthly or yearly subscription can be a great investment. Think of the potential damage that malware and viruses can do to your device.
Disadvantages of Antivirus
1. Slows Down Your System
Antivirus apps observe all of the processes on your Android phone. This is to make sure that no process will endanger you or leave you susceptible to viruses or malware. Since it protects you in real-time, it is constantly running in the background. As a result, it takes up a significant amount of your processing power. This can affect how your device performs. Lots of users have reported that an antivirus will make their device slower.
2. Regular Updates Needed
Statistics have shown that as of March 2020, the total number of new malware detections worldwide has reached over 677.66 million. This has increased from the 661 million new malware detections at the end of January 2020. Because of these trends, we can only expect that there will be more and more malware detections in the future. As a result, the developers of antivirus apps need to constantly update their databases. This will help in protecting you from the new malware that comes out. This also means that your antivirus needs to be constantly updated. This can be a hassle for some especially since it can consume a lot of data for some updates.
3. Gated Protection
As previously mentioned, some free antivirus apps won’t work as well as the paid version. The free version will only give you the basic protection you need but even this kind of protection is very limited. If you want the full package, you’re going to have to subscribe monthly or yearly. This can be quite a disadvantage if you’re on a tight budget.
4. Complicated Customer Support
Some antivirus apps have absolutely no customer support. There’s no way to reach them if ever you have any problems or questions. You’ll only get customer support if you’re a paying customer. For other antivirus apps, they have customer support but it’s hard to contact them. You’ll have to wait for the longest time if you need a response. Sometimes, you won’t even get a response.
5. No Absolute Protection
If you bought a subscription to an antivirus program. you may be expecting that your device will be fully safe from malware. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Despite having a subscription to an antivirus, this is still not a guarantee that you will be fully safe from malware. If you don’t keep your program updated, there’s still a high chance that you can become vulnerable to attacks.
6. Lots of Ads
If you’re using the free version of an antivirus program, chances are, you’ll see lots of ads. These ads will try to convince you to upgrade your plan to a paid subscription. These ads can even appear in the form of pop-up notifications that can be annoying to close from time to time. These ads can even pop up at the most inopportune moments. There’s nothing more annoying than an antivirus pop-up ad when you’re doing a presentation.
Key Takeaway
The internet is a great place for information, entertainment, and to get connected with the people around you. With the use of our Android phones, accessing the internet has never been easier and more convenient. But as convenient as this is, it also comes with its dangers. That’s why experts suggest that we protect our devices with antivirus apps. It’ll help keep our devices, data, and personal information safe from viruses and malware that we may get while browsing the internet. But just like everything else, there are a few advantages and disadvantages of antivirus apps. The main advantage of having an antivirus app on your phone is that you’re protected from threats. You’ll be protected even at times when you don’t know that you need protection. But one of the disadvantages of having an antivirus app is that your system may become slower. This is due to all the background processes that antivirus apps have. At the end of the day, you get to decide whether an antivirus app is worth having. What do you think? Are the advantages and disadvantages of antivirus apps worth it? Tell us more in the comments below!
