| Updated: November 24, 2024
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A VPN encrypts your online activity, hides your IP, and ensures privacy, while antivirus software protects your device from malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks. Combining both offers comprehensive protection against cyber threats, securing both your data and devices. If budget is a concern, prioritize a premium antivirus, but consider adding a VPN for optimal security.
A VPN has its own advantages, and an antivirus protects your device from malware, ransomware, etc. Let us examine if you need both by highlighting their features.
Cybercriminals are getting technically advanced day by day and developing new techniques to scam you. I am not only talking about individuals but corporates are also at risk and the need of VPN clubbed with an effective antivirus is the need of the day.
A VPN hides your IP address, encrypts your data, and lets you access restricted content. An antivirus saves you from malware, spyware, and other kinds of viruses, cleans your devices, and protects you from pushing attacks.
This article will discuss the need for VPN and antivirus in today’s world and if both are needed for complete online security.
With the improvements in Windows Defender, which comes with Microsoft Windows, many people ask if they still need an additional antivirus to secure their device. The answer is yes, you do! And that is because, with improvements in antiviruses, malware and ransomware have become more sophisticated.
Malware can hijack your PC and replace or delete important files. It can also slow down your computer’s performance, which can cause frustration. Additionally, if you are connected to a network, the virus can spread to other computers, making the entire system vulnerable.
Many companies have suffered a ransomware attack in which the hackers have encrypted important files and demanded millions of dollars in Ransome. All of this starts with infecting one device in the network, which is not properly secured with an antivirus.
An antivirus acts as the major line of defense on your devices. Its job is to stop any kind of virus from infecting your device and perform regular scans to identify threats and eliminate them.
In easy words, you can say that your system is wearing a bulletproof vest, which will stop attacks from corrupting your files and system.
An antivirus program has a predefined list of viruses like ransomware, Trojans, Keyloggers, etc. It performs regular checks for these viruses on your system’s files and identifies if there is anything suspicious. The antivirus database is constantly updating itself with new kinds of viruses and codes. A reliable antivirus system will have a deep scan and real-time scanning feature to provide you with basic security.
Avast, Bitdefender and AVG are some of the most popular antiviriese in the market and has been there since decdas. These antivirus software offer a free version which helps keeping your device safe and secure.
However, the premium version has more features enabling you to relax and keep your device secure. Here are a few premium features of an antivirus.
The next burning question is if you need a VPN when you have a premium antivirus installed on your devices. The answer is Yes, you do!
An antivirus manages the security of your devices, whereas a VPN encrypts your data and hides your IP address and identity. It will secure your traffic everywhere and is a must-use software if you connect to public WiFi in restaurants, airports, etc.
A VPN also has added benefits like unblocking restricted content and accessing OTT platforms that are not available in your country, but we will keep this discussion strictly to cybersecurity.
Antiviruses are best for securing your devices and eliminating threats from downloads to your system. A VPN works proactively to secure your online activities by hiding your IP address, encrypting your data, and passing your traffic via a VPN server.
A modern VPN uses protocols like OpenVPN or Wireguard to encrypt your data, which makes it unreadable for hackers if they succeed in breaching the secured tunnel. Here are three thing that will happen as soon as you enable a VPN on your device.
In today’s world of cyber threats, you need to club the security of an antivirus with a VPN. A VPN protects your online activities, hides your IP address, and encrypts your data from hackers. At the same time, an antivirus will safeguard your device from malware, ransomware, and other kinds of cyber threats.
Here is a comparison of a VPN and an antivirus with their security features:
| Security Features | VPN | Antivirus |
| Real-time defense against viruses, spyware, and ransomware | ||
| DNS leak prevention | ||
| Malware removal from infected devices | ||
| Protection against phishing emails | ||
| Permanent deletion of browsing sessions | ||
| Access restricted websites/content | ||
| Anonymous online browsing | ||
| Safeguard against hackers and data interceptors | ||
| Secure public Wi-Fi connections | ||
| Encryption of internet traffic | ||
| Alerts for malicious threats | ||
| Password management tools | ||
| Firewall security | ||
| Ad-blocking features |
You can build your own VPN to encrypt your data and hide your online activities. But for optimum device security, I recommend getting a premium antivirus.
The market of antiviruses is flooded with many big brands like McAfee, AVG, Norton, and Kaspersky. The same is the case in the VPN market where we have big names like ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark.
You can use any of the above-mentioned VPNs and antivirus but my personal recommendation would be combining the powers of Kaspersky with ExpressVPN or NordVPN. I use both ExpressVPN and NordVPN to hide my IP address and browse the internet safely and anonymously. For device protection, I employ Kaspersky, and it does the job perfectly.
If you are low on budget, use a Smart DNS or proxy instead of a VPN, but don’t compromise your antivirus and device security. Here is the difference between a VPN, proxy, and Smart DNS.
A VPN and antivirus are necessary for complete online security in today’s world of cyber threats. I use ExpressVPN and NordVPN with Kaspersky to get complete online security from hackers and malware of all kinds.
I would recommend you to use both a VPN and an antivirus, but if you are low on budget, then you can compromise on the VPN, but don’t neglect subscribing to a premium antivirus.
Yes, you should use an antivirus with Windows 10 and above, as it provides additional protection against advanced malware and ransomware beyond the built-in Windows Defender.
Yes, using a VPN with antivirus is recommended for complete online security. The VPN protects your online privacy, while antivirus secures your device from malware and cyber threats.
I would recommend Kaspersky with a premium VPN like ExpressVPN or NordVPN. I personally use it, and it does not slow my system like other premium antiviruses do.
Yes, this is a perfect combination for online security. You can also use NordVPN instead of ExpressVPN.
Mustafa is a cybersecurity analyst and a co-founder of VPN for What. Since 2017, Mustafa has gained international experience, working with governments, NGOs, and the private sector as a cybersecurity and VPN expert and advisor.
