TOP 10 ANTIVIRUS

1. F-Secure Anti-Virus

£19.95/US$39.99 (around AU$30) - 3 PCs, 12 months

While some companies try to win you over by the length of their feature list, F-Secure Anti-Virus takes a more back-to-basics approach. There's no anti-phishing support here, no icons in your search engine results, no real browsing protection at all. The program is solely about monitoring your PC extremely closely, detecting and removing any threats before they can cause any harm.
This focus seems to be working, too, with the F-Secure engine coming at or near the top of the list in recent testing by both AV Comparatives and AV-Test. Virus Bulletin don't report quite as impressive results, and we found the program delivered more false positives than we'd like.
Still, at half the cost of many competitors - and to protect 3 PCs, not just one - there's no doubt that F-Secure Anti-Virus is an exceptionally good deal.
Score: 4.5/5

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2. Avira Antivirus Premium 2013

£21.99 (around AU$33.50/US$34) - 1 PC, 12 months

At almost half the price of some of the competition, you might expect Avira Antivirus Premium 2013 to be a little underpowered. But yet, if anything it offers more features than most, with the program including a browser tracking blocker and highlighting dangerous websites in your search engine results, as well as delivering all the real-time protection you'd expect from an antivirus tool.
The package is also a little more complex than some others, just marginally more likely to slow you down (though you'd probably need to be using a stopwatch before you would notice). But test results are generally above average, particularly for file detection. We've found the program performs well in real life, and on balance Avira Antivirus Premium 2013 is a good value for money choice.
Score: 4/5

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3. BullGuard Antivirus 2013

£24.95 (around AU$38/US$39) - 1 PC, 12 months

If your inbox is always overflowing with junk, then BullGuard Antivirus 2013's bundled spam filter may seem appealing. The program also scans web links in your search engine results and social networking streams for potential danger, while of course monitoring everything you download and access for malware.
But the spam filter isn't particularly accurate, unfortunately. We found the browsing protection to be only average. And while the independent testing labs generally give the package solid scores, well inside the top 10, they're also not exceptional.
Put it all together and BullGuard Antivirus 2013 is a capable package, perhaps worth using if you like the company, but otherwise you'll find better programs elsewhere.
Score: 3.5/5

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4. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2013

£24.95/AU$59.95/US$39.95 - 1 PC, 12 months

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2013 offers all the usual antivirus detection, watching everything you do for potential threats. But that's just the start. Its USB Immunizer tries to prevent malware from infecting your USB flash drives. And the program also provides a host of web tools, checking social networking links, warning you of risky sites in your search engine results and preventing access to known phishing sites.
The Bitdefender engine is rated consistently highly by the independent testing labs, too, generally appearing in the top five.
You may see a small impact on your PC's speed performance, but Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2013 is still an excellent package at a great price. And its value only gets better if you want to cover more packages: a 3-PC licence can be yours for £29.95 / AU$74.95 / US$49.95.
Score: 4.5/5

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5. G Data AntiVirus 2014

£29.95/US$29.95 (around AU$45) - 1 PC, 12 months

It may be one of the more expensive packages here, but G Data AntiVirus 2014 does come with plenty of features. As well as all the regular antivirus functionality (on-demand and real-time scanning, behaviour monitoring, hourly updates), the package includes extra tools to help secure your online banking and shopping activity, an app for your Android tablet or smartphone and even a tool to improve your PC boot time.
What's more, all this technology really delivers. Independent labs seem to love G Data, with recent additions regularly coming in at (or close to) the top of the list for both raw detection rates and real-world protection.
If there's a small down side, it's that reports suggest G Data will slow your PC down a little more than some of the competition. We doubt it'll be enough that you'll notice, though, and if you need maximum protection then G Data AntiVirus 2014 looks like a great choice.
Score: 4.5/5

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6. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2013

£29.99/AU$39.95/US$39.95 - 1 PC, 12 months

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2013 is a good all-round package, which manages to tick all the main antivirus boxes: easy to set up and use, check; on-demand and real time scanning, check; highlighting of dangerous web links, check. There's a virtual keyboard to help you bypass keyloggers. And the new edition has plenty of welcome optimisation options (smaller and faster updates, reduced battery drain on laptops, and more).
This all works very well, too. The program does a great job of preventing access to malicious websites, and we found it offered capable and effective antivirus protection. Testing labs also rate Kaspersky highly.
There is a minor performance hit to your PC, and the price isn't the best, but on balance Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2013 is a solid and reliable security choice.
Score: 4/5

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7. Avast! Pro Antivirus

£29.99/AU$49.99/US$39.99 - 1 PC, 12 months

While most antivirus tools rely on detecting and blocking malware before it runs, Avast! Pro Antivirus provides a second line of defence. The program's sandbox means suspicious programs can be launched, but in an isolated environment where they can't infect your system, which is an excellent option that could protect you from even the latest, undiscovered threats.
Avast's more standard antivirus technology is a little more ordinary, at least in comparison to the commercial competition. The most recent independent testing places Avast! in the low end of the top 10, and our own tests show reasonable, but not outstanding performance.
Still, it's a capable program, and the sandbox alone could protect you from threats that other tools will never recognise. Avast! is definitely worth considering.
Score: 3.5/5

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8. AVG AntiVirus 2013

£29.99/AU$51.50/US$39.99 - 1 PC, 12 months

Every antivirus package needs a little something extra to help it stand out from the crowd, and AVG AntiVirus 2013's standout extra is probably its Android support, with antivirus and theft protection available for your Android smartphone or tablet.
The core features are unfortunately a little more ordinary. We found the package offered only average antivirus and online protection, and independent testing further shows AVG dropping to the lower end of the top 10 lists.
Of course this still isn't bad at all, but the problem for AVG is that it gives a basic version of its product away for free. And this makes it its own biggest competitor, because even if you like AVG, there's really not enough in this version to justify the extra cost.
Score: 3/5

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9. Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus Plus

£39.95/AU$59.95/US$39.95 - 1 PC, 12 months

Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus Plus stands out immediately for its strong social networking protection. Not only does the product highlight dangerous links in your Twitter and Facebook streams, it also works with Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, MySpace, Mixi and Weibo.
There's a Facebook Privacy Scanner to help properly evaluate and control your Facebook privacy settings. And you get more general (and very effective) blocking of antiphishing websites, too.
The independent labs tend to give the program good ratings for its core protection, and we've also found Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus Plus delivers when it matters. So although it's relatively expensive, if you need the extra social networking tools then the program could be worth a look.
Score: 4/5

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10. Norton AntiVirus 2013

£39.99 - 3 PCs, 12 months - or AU$59.99/US$49.99 - 1 PC, 12 months

Symantec's baseline security tool monitors your downloads, emails, instant messages and more for malware, looking to block malware before it can do any damage. There's also simple web protection, with the package checking a website's reputation, and letting you know if there are any problems. The standard package in the UK covers three PCs for one year, which is much better value than some of the competition - though in the US and Australia the standard package covers one PC for a year.
There have been some recent disagreements about the tool's effectiveness. AV Comparatives ranked the Norton engine very poorly for file detection in one test, but Symantec has questioned the validity of those figures, and labs such as AV-Test still place Norton in their top 10.
One area where the package really does excel, though, is in its impact on your PC. Believe what you read in some places online and you might think Norton's packages are "overweight" and "bloated", but this idea is very out of date. These days they install quickly, use minimal system resources, and testing from companies such as PassMark regularly shows they're among the most lightweight security tools around.
Score: 3/5

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11. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 6

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11. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 6

£29.99/AU$51.50/US$39.99 - 1 PC, 12 months

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 6 is a solid antivirus package which aims to keep you safe from a wide range of threats. The core engine watches the programs you run, your downloads, emails and more, looking out for and blocking threats. An antiphishing module detects and prevents access to malicious websites. And removable media control allows you to optionally block USB keys and other removable devices, so reducing the chance of infection, and making it harder for snoopers to copy files from your PC.
The independent testing labs can't quite agree on how effective all this technology really is, unfortunately, but the results are generally positive: even the worst results say ESET NOD32 Antivirus 6 is a good mid-range product, and the best say it's very good indeed.
One area where everyone seems to score the program highly is in usability. The program seems far less likely to raise false positives, block legitimate programs and generally get in your way, and if that's high on your list of priorities then you might want to give NOD32 Antivirus 6 a try.