Avira Free Security Suite

Main Console

You manage all components of Avira Free Security Suite through the Avira Connect console. If Avira releases a brand-new free security product, it will automatically appear in the console.

Full Installation

This suite includes all the same bonus features as the free Avira Antivirus. The big difference is that it installs almost all of them automatically, where the antivirus requires you to manually trigger installation of ancillary products.

Home Guard Installation

Avira Home Guard reports all the devices on your network and notes any potential security risks. It's the one suite component that doesn't get installed automatically, but installing it manually is a cinch.

Antivirus

You get exactly the same antivirus protection with this suite as you do by installing the free Avira Antivirus.

Password Manager

Avira Password Manager is the one component installed with this suite that doesn't appear in the free antivirus. Antivirus users can always download and install it separately.

Software Updater

Among the many components of this suite is Avira Software Updater, which identifies apps that lack important security updates. If you want automatic handling of those updates, you'll have to upgrade to the Pro edition.

System Optimized

The System Speedup component helps with optimizing your startup time and performs some simple system optimizations, but here again, full functionality requires an upgrade.

About Our Expert

Neil J. Rubenking

Principal Writer, Security

My Experience

When the IBM PC was new, I served as the president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That’s how I met PCMag’s editorial team, who brought me on board in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I’ve become PCMag’s expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces.

Before my current security gig, I supplied PCMag readers with tips and solutions on using popular applications, operating systems, and programming languages in my "User to User" and "Ask Neil" columns, which began in 1990 and ran for almost 20 years. Along the way, I wrote more than 40 utility articles, as well as Delphi Programming for Dummies and six other books covering DOS, Windows, and programming. I also reviewed thousands of products of all kinds, ranging from early Sierra Online adventure games to AOL’s precursor Q-Link.

In the early 2000s, I turned my focus to security and the growing antivirus industry. After years of working with antivirus, I’m known throughout the security industry as an expert on evaluating antivirus tools. I serve as an advisory board member for the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), an international nonprofit group dedicated to coordinating and improving testing of anti-malware solutions.

The Technology I Use

Much of the testing I do, particularly testing with real-world ransomware, is just plain dangerous. To perform such tests safely, I sequester them inside virtual machines managed by VMWare Workstation. For cross-platform testing, I use a MacBook Air, a Google Pixel 4, and a 6th-generation iPad.

I rely on my Delphi coding skills to create and maintain small applications. These include programs to check whether an antivirus correctly handled the malware it detected, launch dangerous URLs and record the security program’s reaction, and analyze the malware that I collect for use in testing. I also wrote a tiny browser and text editor for use in testing security apps that have predefined reactions for known products.

I do my writing and research on a Dell OptiPlex desktop, relying on Microsoft Word (my fingers know all the shortcuts). Many of my articles include charts and analysis; Excel is my go-to for those. When work hours end, though, I escape the bounds of Microsoft and Windows. There’s an iPhone in my pocket, I relax with my oversized iPad, and my Kindle Oasis is always loaded with the best science fiction and fantasy.

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