• Protecting your computer helps keep your personal information safe.computer image by blaine stiger from Fotolia.com
  
  According to the 2009 Census Bureau report, a staggering 68 percent of all American households have Internet access. What this means is more than half of the country is susceptible to some form of technological attack in the form of viruses, trojans and worms at any given moment. In response to this growing threat, the anti-virus software market has grown tremendously, and there are now hundreds of anti-virus packages on the market. The top ten all offer certain advantages.
  
  

Threat Detection

• In order for an anti-virus software package to be worthwhile, it needs to be able to effectively identify and detect threats. It used to be that as long as you didn't open up any suspicious e-mail attachments, you were safe. Times are changing though and today, there are many websites that have been infected with malware (software that is basically up to no good), through no fault of the domain owner. Simply visiting one of these sites can open the door for spyware, adware and other baddies to come and make themselves comfortable in your home PC. The top 10 anti-virus packages are all capable of detecting viruses, malware, spyware, adware, worms and trojans.
  
  

Updates

• Technology is growing and developing at a blinding rate, and unfortunately so is the malware out there. Simply owning anti-virus software doesn't do you any good if their are tons and tons of snippets of malicious code that it has never heard about and therefore can't recognize. The top 10 anti-virus packages all do regular updates, ranging from every five minutes to every hour. Though this may seem excessive, the truth is that new viruses are being born every minute. As quickly as 10 are identified, 20 more take their place. Having anti-virus software that keeps abreast of the newcomers is vital to your security.
  
  

Scanning Ability

• One thing that anti-virus software cannot protect you from is malware that is already on your computer before you install the anti-virus or entered your computer before the software had updated itself on your PC. The best anti-virus programs have the ability to scan your system, identify and remove any threats that are already present. In addition, these programs will also allow you to schedule regular scans or have continuous scans running to detect anything that may have broken through before it had been identified. Scanning is the anti-virus software equivalent of hyper-vigilance and without it, your system is just as good as unprotected.
  
  

Additional Features

• The top 10 anti-virus packages also offer additional protection measures such as detecting any key-logging programs that maybe present on any site you visit and protecting your computer from known Internet browser exploits, which allow hackers to access your sensitive information virtually undetected. If you use your computer for any form of personal business, be it banking, bill payment or even just pictures of your kids, it is worthwhile to invest in a package that offers this additional protection.
  
  

Top Performers

• According to independent reviews performed by PC Mag and Top 10 Reviews, the top antivirus packages, which offer all of the tools needed to keep your home or business computer safe include Bit Defender's Antivirus package, Kapersky's Internet Security package and Norton's Antivirus. Also scoring high marks for both affordability and functionality were Avast!'s offering and Panda Antivirus.