


There's no instant-scan button, but a scan is only two clicks away from the main screen. Malware signatures are updated several times a day, sometimes as often as every 15 or 20 minutes. Like most antivirus software, Kaspersky Total Security detects threats both by comparing files and programs to a database of known malware "signatures" and by real-time analysis of the behavior of unknown code running on the computer. Kaspersky's anti-malware engine, along with those of nearly two dozen other vendors, was subjected to an onslaught of the world's worst malware in January and February 2015.

To assess Kaspersky Total Security's ability to protect against malware, we used the most recent set of antivirus-software evaluations conducted on Windows 8.1 by Germany's AV-TEST lab. MORE: Best Antivirus Protection for PC, Mac and Android
