Cyber Security Awareness Month: which VPN and antivirus to get

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, and we wanted to use this opportunity to give our readers a handy overview on the subject. Even if you feel well-versed enough to be secure on the internet, it can never hurt to have a little brush up.

In terms of behaviour online, the FBI recommends three things to avoid in order to protect yourself from cyber criminals. These are:

• Being wary of strangers asking for your help online following real-world tragedies
• Not opening any attachments, or clicking on any links in emails before verifying the sender’s identity
• Avoiding public charging outlets where possible, as they can be used to spread malware

Of course, your own actions and behaviours can only get you so far. So for maximum security online, we recommended using both an antivirus, and a VPN. Technically, a VPN provides you with privacy more than it does security, but the two things go hand in hand. Using both will ensure that nobody knows what you’ve been up to on the internet, and that malicious parties will have an uphill battle if they want to get any malware onto your device.

With so many options available, knowing which to choose can be a little bit of a daunting prospect. We have guides on the best VPN services and the best antivirus which you can read through if you have the time, but if not, we have two recommendations for you right here.

The best antivirus to get this Cyber Security Awareness Month

We recommend Bitdefender as the best antivirus software, so if you need a new one, this could be the way to go. With 500 million systems sailing the internet oceans safely under its protection and over two decades of experience, you know you’ll be in good hands with it.

In addition to standard antivirus protection, it also has services designed to protect you from phishing. Meanwhile, if you go for one of the more expensive packages, it adds several other fantastic cyber security features into the pot: including a Privacy Firewall, extra protection for microphones and webcams, and removing unnecessary files to enhance your device’s performance.

Another particularly appealing feature of Bitdefender is the fact that it has a password manager. This is something that it’s always important to look out for when considering your security on the internet. Too many people use the same password for everything online (increasing the risk of all the accounts being compromised) and Bitdefender’s password manager can help you to have unique and secure passwords for all of your online accounts.

The best VPN to get this Cyber Security Awareness Month

It’s nice to have a solid lock on the door, but are you really going to want to take a shower when all the walls are made of glass? In the online world, privacy and security go together like cheese and onions. To feel truly at ease online, you should get a VPN to go with your antivirus, and we recommend ExpressVPN.

You’ve likely already heard of this provider, because it’s one of the most well-known brands in the VPN world. It has a good selection of over 3,000 servers which span almost 100 countries. It’s compatible with the major streaming services too, and if you have any trouble accessing a certain site or service with it on, the huge number of servers means you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding one that’s compatible (especially as ExpressVPN refreshes its servers IP addresses at a fairly frequent rate).

ExpressVPN uses the TrustedServer system which means that its servers cannot write any data about your activities on the internet. This enables you to search for all of your private interests without worrying about anybody else finding out or judging you for it. It’s a level of privacy that everybody should be entitled to.

Cyber security will always be important and it’s fortunate that there are lots of services like Bitdefender and ExpressVPN are great for keeping you private and secure online.