Is your antivirus "good enough"? New survey shows more and more are paying for protection — but many of us just don't seem to care

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Utilizing the best antivirus can be the difference between a good day and a bad one, especially as cybercrime took a toll of $12.5 billion on the American public in 2023.

New research has revealed just over half (54%) of Americans are now using either the “good enough” default antivirus included on their operating system or none at all, with the rest relying on third-party services for protection.

Of those that use a third-party service, 54% pay for the service, while 43% rely on free antivirus software. The remaining 3% aren’t sure if they pay or not.

Computer, tablet, and phone protection

The statistics come from a recent study by Security.org into the habits of Americans when it comes to device security. For paid protection, the American public tends to favor Norton, McAfee and Malwarebytes, with those using free-services picking McAfee, Avast and Malwarebytes as their device defender of choice.

In terms of devices and operating systems, nearly half (49%) of computer owners chose a third party service to keep their PC safe, with 48% of Windows users choosing a third party service, compared to 31% of Mac users and 24% of those using a different OS such as Linux.

When it comes to more portable devices, just 18% of tablet users chose to download a third party antivirus software, with phones following shortly after at just 17%. When it comes to why people are using antivirus, 84% use it for general security and protection against malware, followed by 56% citing general privacy concerns, and 48% using it for increased protection during online shopping.

Concerningly, 40% of those who currently do not use antivirus say that they don’t need it, with 45% also saying that it is simply too expensive. The survey also looked at the attractive additional services included with antivirus, with 20% saying identity theft protection is most appealing as a feature, closely followed by the inclusion of a VPN at 17%, and a secure browser at 16%.

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Benedict has been writing about security issues for over 7 years, first focusing on geopolitics and international relations while at the University of Buckingham. During this time he studied BA Politics with Journalism, for which he received a second-class honours (upper division), then continuing his studies at a postgraduate level, achieving a distinction in MA Security, Intelligence and Diplomacy. Upon joining TechRadar Pro as a Staff Writer, Benedict transitioned his focus towards cybersecurity, exploring state-sponsored threat actors, malware, social engineering, and national security. Benedict is also an expert on B2B security products, including firewalls, antivirus, endpoint security, and password management.