We select the top Windows antivirus software for business based on comprehensive testing of 13 tools.
Security is not something that should be taken lightly. Every business needs to be operating a robust cybersecurity strategy, and the first step in that is ensuring that you have strong, capable antivirus software deployed.
For very small businesses, we have previously looked at the best free antivirus and commercial internet security suites. But for growing or larger businesses, you need business-grade protection with additional tools to help protect multiple computers, enforce security policies and more.
On the next page, we’ve looked in more depth at five of the better business antivirus tools, based on the features they offer, their impact on your system – and, crucially, how effective each one is at detecting both known and zero-day malware, according to independent tests by AV-Test.org.
But first, here are the key results of all 13 business antivirus tools tested on Windows 10 by AV-Test.org in June 2017. The tests evaluated protection against known and zero-day malware; performance, based on how much the antivirus software slowed down various tasks such as launching applications; and usability, based on false detections of legitimate system activities such as running software.
AV-Test.org results: 13 business antivirus tools for Windows compared
| Protection against 0-day malware attacks, including web and e-mail threats (real-world) | Detection of widespread and prevalent malware discovered in the last 4 weeks (reference set) | Performance score (out of 6) | Usability score (out of 6) | |
| AVG Antivirus Business | 99.0% | 98.9% | 5.5 | 5.0 |
| Bitdefender Endpoint Security | 100% | 100% | 6.0 | 5.5 |
| F-Secure Client Security | 100% | 100% | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| G Data Antivirus Business | 99.0% | 100% | 4.5 | 5.5 |
| Kaspersky Endpoint Security | 100% | 100% | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Kaspersky Small Office Security | 100% | 100% | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| McAfee Endpoint Security | 99.0% | 100% | 5.5 | 6.0 |
| Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection | 97.9% | 99.7% | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Seqrite Endpoint Security | 100% | 99.8% | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Sophos Endpoint Security and Control | 100% | 99.7% | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Symantec Endpoint Protection | 100% | 100% | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Symantec Endpoint Protection Cloud | 100% | 100% | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Trend Micro Office Scan | 100% | 100% | 6.0 | 6.0 |
Source: AV-Test.org.
Next: Top five Windows antivirus tools for businesses
