A computer virus or malware can be dangerous as it can delete your files, damage programs, and even reformat your hard drive. Some can even flood your networks with traffic, slowing down your computer’s performance. Kaspersky has a long-standing reputation for protecting against online threats with local scanning and cloud-based machine learning.
The antivirus is also packed with valuable features like parental controls, password manager, stalkerware protection, a secure browser for online transactions, etc.
While its malware scanner didn’t recognize some threats during our tests, it is way ahead of its competition. The antivirus has fast speeds and leaves a negligible impact on your computer’s performance.
It is worth noting that Kaspersky is based in Moscow, Russia but has operations in other parts of the world. So, there are concerns that economic sanctions against Russia due to the Ukraine invasion could affect Kaspersky operations. Also, the US government banned Kaspersky because of its alleged involvement with Russian intelligence.
Nonetheless, is the antivirus safe to use today? Read on this unbiased review of Kaspersky to find out.
Kaspersky pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Minimal impact on the system performance User-friendly Regularly updated database with the latest threats and viruses TDSKILLER looks for rootkits and bootkits 24/7 chat, phone, and email support Effective ransomware protection |
Slightly pricier than competitors Low trust because of the 2017 scandal Concerns of continuity after the sanctions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ties with the Russian Intelligence |
Of course, like other premium antivirus programs, Kaspersky’s features depend on the subscription package you pick. This ranges from basic features for the lowest plan to advanced features with additional tools for the premium plans.
Kaspersky security features
Here are some of the notable security features that Kaspersky offers
Antivirus engine
Kaspersky’s malware scanner uses a combination of a virus database and cloud machine learning to identify malware. If the first scan detects anything potentially malicious, it sends the file to the cloud-based artificial intelligence scanner for further analysis.
The malware detection rate is excellent as it caught all of our malware samples when testing it. Other top brands such as McAfee, Norton, and BitDefender also use this mechanism to detect malware.
Kaspersky offers five different virus scans:
- Quick scan – Scans system memory files, startup files, and boot sectors.
- Full scan – A complete scan of every folder, file, and partitioned sector of your system.
- Selective scan – Lets you scan any file, drive, or folder you like.
- Removable Drive Scan – Enables you to scan external drives like USD drives and hard drives.
- Vulnerability – Checks for vulnerabilities in your system like infected software and out-of-date applications.
The antivirus also comes with numerous scan-scheduling options such as after every update, at the specified time, after rebooting the application, etc.
We used over 1000 malware samples such as viruses, rootkits, ransomware, Trojans, and keyloggers to test Kaspersky during our scan.
Quick scan
First, we did the quick scan that only took 3 minutes to complete, which is pretty fast compared to other antiviruses in the market.