McAfee vs Symantec - Which One To Go For In 2021?

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McAfee’s Antivirus Review
Symantec’s Antivirus Review
McAfee vs. Symantec: Which offers better malware protection?
McAfee vs. Symantec: Which puts less impact on system performance?
McAfee vs Symantec: Which software offers a better user experience?
McAfee vs. Symantec: Which is more popular among users?
McAfee vs Symantec Final words
McAfee vs Symantec - Which One To Go For In 2021? FAQs

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Looking to compare McAfee vs Symantec and thinking which one to go for in 2021? Don’t worry. Here have the in-depth guide that you must read. In this digital age, every move you make is risky. Every link opened, purchase made and email seen are an opportunity for hackers to get into your devices especially your computers and smartphones. Exploiting your data and privacy every moment.

It is the need of the hour to invest in a reliable antivirus suite to protect what matters to you. Every day new malware samples and various types of viruses are developed to infect user’s devices. If you noticed interruptions or slowdowns there is a chance you might already have malware.

About two decades ago, McAfee and Symantec started building up their empire around antivirus software, eventually coming into other security segments. Both McAfee and Symantec have at times leapfrogged each other. To help you in choosing the best one we provide you with up-to-date information and reviews.

McAfee’s Antivirus Review

McAfee Total Protection is the company’s most popular antivirus offering. Provides top-notch malware protection and has almost all features including an advanced firewall, a file encryption tool, a password manager, and a file shredder.

Also, a network manager which protects your WiFi against malware attacks, an anti-spam email filter and parental control feature to manage your kid’s digital life. It warns you about dangerous websites through a browser extension called Web Advisor.

McAfee LiveSafe offers 16GB of online cloud storage along with all features and utilities jammed into the ‘Total Security’ suite.

Both McAfee Total Protection and LiveSafe are compatible with Windows, MAC, Android, and ios.

Symantec’s Antivirus Review

Symantec software company sells its antivirus software from the name Norton.

Norton Antivirus Basic available only for Windows is the company’s entry ticket to the industry. Protects against different threats, blocks phishing scams, and also hides your sensitive information, when you are online.

Other than a useful password manager, available as a browser extension it offers no advanced security-related features and utilities.

Norton Security Standard adds an advanced two-way firewall, virus protection guarantee, and premium customer support. Symantec’s expert helps you to keep your devices virus-free, if not you can have all your money back. Protects one PC and MAC or mobile device with a single subscription.

Norton Security Deluxe provides you with everything packed into the ‘Standard’ suite including an intuitive web portal helping you to manage all your devices at one place. Also, PC optimization tools including File Cleanup Tool and the Disk Optimizer.

Protects up to 5 devices can be PCs, Macs, mobile phones with a single subscription to this plan.

Norton Security Premium the company’s top-drawer antivirus package. Includes everything mentioned in the ‘Deluxe’ package. Contains parental controls, an automobile backup utility, and a cloud space of 25GB.

McAfee vs. Symantec: Which offers better malware protection?

Malware protection is the most essential component of any security software system. A security product should protect against all sorts of threats such as Trojan Horses, Viruses, Worms. Malware can be classified into two types- Known Malware also called wide-spread Malware and Unknown Malware also called zero-day Malware.

Unknown Malware is more dangerous as the previous mark is available for it, thus security program relies on advanced behavioural techniques to identify and eliminate them. Known Malware is detected using a signature-matching methodology which means by comparing a suspicious file against a huge database of known malware samples.

AV-Test recently held in January and February 2018, Symantec scored a perfect score in this evaluation it blocked 100% of both malware samples and achieved an excellent 6/6 rating from professionals at AV-Test. McAfee’s result against widespread malware was perfect at 100%, though it dropped its efficiency against zero-day malware to 99.2% in January but climbed to 100% in February.

AV-Comparatives did two major tests to assess the protection level, Malware Protection Test, and Real-World Protection Test. Real-World Protection Test to check a product against real-world conditions experienced by everyday users. While the Malware Protection Test aims to assess a program’s ability to prevent malware infections.

AV-Comparative’s Malware Protection Test held recently in March 2018. McAfee’s protection rate was 99.95% and returned 10 false positives. It received an ‘ADVANCED’ award which is the second-best honor. Symantec scored an excellent rate of 99.99% but a high number of positives made it settle for the ‘STANDARD’ award.

AV-Comparative’s Real-World Protection Test, both McAfee and Symantec scored decently, Symantec protection rate was found to be 99.5% with 5 false positives and McAfee scored 99.1% as only returned 2 false alarms.

McAfee vs. Symantec: Which puts less impact on system performance?

AV Test’s Performance studies the influence of a product on system performance by performing basic tasks such as launching websites, downloading applications, and copying files. Symantec received a 6/6 star rating in the test while McAfee managed to get 5.6/6.

AV-Comparative’s Performance Test measures the influence of a security product on computer performance like AV-Test’s study. It assigns an impact score to each product depending on their level of impact. The lower the impact score, the lesser the influence a product has on a computer’s performance.

McAfee and Symantec received the ‘ADVANCED’+ award in the Comparative’s Test, due to their low impact score of 7.3 and 8.7 respectively. Both the software are equally good in occupying system resources and neither puts much impact on the system’s performance.

McAfee vs Symantec: Which software offers a better user experience?

McAfee’s interface has gone through major changes, the new interface is simpler and brighter with colors of white, grey, and pale blue.

On top, there is a horizontal menu with five items- Home, PC Security, Identity, Privacy, and Account. There will be a link to settings, alerts, and tips that are also there in the top-right corner of the menu. PC Security, Identity, Privacy tabs contain relevant features while the account view has information about your subscription plan.

The default view, the home view shows your computer’s protection status in the left rail either with a green checkmark or a red warning sign. To run a full quick scan, buttons are available for it. Along with titles at the bottom to help you set up, remove browser cookies/trackers and true key password managers are also available.

Symantec’s interface is the same as it was years ago. If everything seems fine, you will notice a “ you are protected” message next to a green tick. If it changes to red ‘X’ then there is an issue that needs your immediate attention. The identity page covers web protection features and tools, including an identity safe password manager.

The menu on the homepage has four modules (security, identity, performance, more Norton) arranged in a horizontal manner. The top row has a search bar which also contains links to settings, help, and report card. At the bottom, you can see your subscription status and a link to the renewal

From the security tab you can process different scans, manually update definitions, check error logs, access protection history, and switch on/off other advanced modules. The performance tab contains features that help in improving the performance of your system.

Therefore, both McAfee and Symantec provides a simple, clean user interface.

McAfee vs. Symantec: Which is more popular among users?

OPSWAT, a recent report showed that AVAST leads the race with a strong market share of 19.27% followed by ESET of 13.5%, and Malwarebytes of 12.93%. McAfee is in the fourth spot with a 9.59% market share. Symantec didn’t make it to the list of top ten antivirus software.

In social media influence, McAfee has just 0.8 million Facebook fans whereas Symantec just over 1.3 million. On Twitter, McAfee leads the way with over 8ook followers opposed to Symantec’s 157k.

McAfee not only captures a bigger market but is also more popular among the antivirus community.

McAfee vs Symantec Final words

Taking your security and privacy for granted is very silly, especially in a technologically advanced world.

Our hand is on the Norton security premium. It provides one of the most customizable and flexible security solutions on the market. McAfee has some extra features and its protection level is quite good. It is a better choice for those looking for a full-featured program that can add various tools and programs. McAfee is user-friendly with a nice interface and many features.

Both McAfee and Symantec offer flawless antivirus protection with only a minimal impact on a system. Also, very convenient to use. However, McAfee provides a wider selection of additional features and tools, also popular among consumers.

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