And many of my Which? Tech colleagues seem to do be doing just fine with free anti-virus software as well. My colleague John Bogue, from the Which? Computing team, also hasn’t paid for security software since he bought his first computer 20 years ago. This, combined with careful internet-use and a computer kept up-to-date with all of Microsoft’s periodic updates, and I haven’t had any virus problems so far. I’ve been using AVG’s free anti-virus and Microsoft Security Essentials over the last few years. Let alone the fact that many of us seem to be doing just fine with free security software these days. Of course, after the first year is up, you’ll then have to pay a renewal price of some sort. You also get a very high level of support – not only is it designed to be easy-to-use via an internet-based control panel, but Symantec’s promise of a dedicated Norton advisor within two minutes also sounds great. Norton One does have some advantages – you get a year’s protection for up to five devices, be they computers, Android smartphones or tablets. That’s how much Symantec is charging for Norton One, its new premium security service.
How much would you pay for anti- virus security software? Nothing? Maybe £25 or so for an all-inclusive package with some impressive sounding protection features? How about £99.99?