Regarding which antivirus to use, the truth is that the range of options is quite wide. You can use Microsoft Defender, Avast, Bitdefender… You can always look for information on the net and verify that it really is a program that will protect you and that it will work perfectly.
What happens if you misuse the antivirus
But what if you have badly installed antivirus or do you use it wrong? The protection will not be correct and may even aggravate the risk of suffering computer attacks. You will see that you could have a false sense of security, but in reality they could be sneaking malware without you realizing it.
It will not detect viruses
The first problem you are going to have if you install the antivirus wrong or it is directly a bad program, is that will not detect threats. At least, it will not detect them correctly and that can mean that you will get all kinds of viruses, Trojans, keyloggers to steal your passwords and many more threats.
Security programs are created to protect your devices. It is the best tool to detect a malicious file that reaches you by mail, social networks or any download you make on the Internet. If it fails, you are exposing your security and you are going to have problems.
False positives
Another point to keep in mind is that you can generate false positives. That can become a major problem, as it could detect safe files as dangerous. For example, they could send you something by mail and automatically delete it by giving that false message that you are looking at something dangerous.
But the opposite case can also happen, showing you a false negative. Maybe your antivirus is malfunctioning, you do a system scan and it tells you that everything is fine. You have a false sense of security, but in reality there is some spyware or virus that is on your computer and you don’t know it. It could be stealing passwords, spying on you, etc.
Conflicts with other programs
It can happen that this antivirus, especially when you have it installed or configured incorrectly, generates conflict with other programs. It could cause the browser, for example, to malfunction or even not be able to open it. This can happen for several reasons, such as a false positive towards that software, processes that interrupt the operation of others, etc.
This is something we can see with firewalls as well. Any security program that you install could generate conflicts. Therefore, to avoid it, it is key to have it well configured and use one that is guaranteed.
affect your connection
One more problem is that it could affect internet connection. You can see that the speed of the connection slows, that you have cuts or even you cannot use the Wi-Fi. A badly configured antivirus or that is directly a program that does not work well, can become a significant problem in this regard.
Whenever you install an antivirus, it is convenient to check that everything works well. One thing you can do is simply perform an Internet speed test. You will be able to see if the speed is adequate and take action if necessary. You can also see the differences between antivirus and antimalware.
In short, as you can see, you can run into certain problems if you misconfigure your antivirus or use one that is not guaranteed. It’s key to always use programs that work well, especially when it comes to software designed to protect your security and prevent problems.