Following more than a year of testing in a small number of regions, Kaspersky has finally launched its free antivirus software for Windows PCs. It promises award-winning protection from infections and online safeguarding — without slowing down your system.
Obviously you don’t get all the features you would normally receive when you pay for Kaspersky; things like identity protection, extra security for online banking, parental controls, and technical support are missing. But you do get the basic tools you need to protect your computer against malicious files and online phishing attempts.
Kaspersky Free automatically blocks dangerous downloads and warns you when you visit malicious websites. Every email you open is scanned for viruses and phishing links, and anything suspicious is blocked. Real-time cloud data means your PC is always protected from the latest threats, and software optimizations mean Kaspersky Free won’t slow you down.
So, what’s the catch? Well, Kaspersky Free isn’t littered with ads and sponsored popups like other antivirus solutions you don’t have to pay for. In return for protecting your PC for free, it simply uses the data you contribute to improve machine learning across all its products. So by using Kaspersky Free, you’re helping to improve the entire Kaspersky suite.
The worldwide rollout starts this week in the U.S., Canada, and most Asia-Pacific regions. Other countries will then be added in September, October, and November. There’s no word on plans to support other operating systems, such as macOS and Linux, just yet.