Security companies increasingly bundle antivirus with VPN access, password management, identity monitoring, cloud storage, and other privacy tools. One subscription can sound convenient, especially when the promotional price is lower than purchasing several services separately. Bundling is not automatically the best choice, however. The decision depends on the quality of each component, how...

Traditional antivirus is designed to detect malicious software, but many online attacks try to steal information without installing obvious malware. A phishing site may look almost identical to a bank, email provider, online store, or social network and simply ask the victim to enter a password. By the time antivirus scans the computer, the attacker may already have the credentials. This is why...

Ransomware is especially worrying for home users because the target is often personal data rather than a large corporate network. Family photographs, tax records, school documents, and work files can become inaccessible if malicious software encrypts them. An affordable security suite cannot guarantee that ransomware will never succeed, but it can provide several layers that reduce the risk and...