Antivirus software is essential to protecting against malware infections. It can scan your computer for viruses, trojans, ransomware and other forms of malware. When choosing antivirus software, however, you’ll need to decide whether local or cloud antivirus software is right for you. Both types of antivirus software offer protection against malware. Nonetheless, they work in different ways.
What Is Local Antivirus Software?
Local antivirus software refers to any antivirus product that’s installed and executed locally. It’s also known as on-premise antivirus software. You can still download local antivirus software over the internet, but you’ll have to install it on your computer where it will scan your computer for malware.
What Is Cloud Antivirus Software?
Cloud antivirus software, on the other hand, refers to any antivirus product that’s installed and executed remotely on the cloud. It’s a relatively new alternative to local antivirus software. In the past, all antivirus products were installed and executed locally. It wasn’t until recently when cloud antivirus software emerged.
Choosing Between Local and Cloud Antivirus Software
Each type of antivirus software offers its own benefits. Local antivirus software, for instance, doesn’t require an internet connection. It can scan your computer for malware with or without or an internet connection. If your business happens to experience an internet outage, you can rest assured knowing that it will be protected from malware thanks to local antivirus software.
Local antivirus software is oftentimes cheaper than cloud antivirus software. Most premium antivirus products are sold as a service, meaning you’ll have to make regular payments to continue using them. Nonetheless, local antivirus software typically costs less than its cloud counterpart. If you’re on a budget, you may want to choose a local antivirus product for this reason.
By choosing cloud antivirus software, your computer will be protected from malware. Cloud antivirus software is features malware definitions that are updated in real time. When a new form of malware is discovered, its definition is added to a database. Local antivirus software is also updated with new malware definitions, but these updates may not occur in real time.
Another reason to consider choosing cloud antivirus software is performance. It won’t slow down or otherwise harm your computer’s performance. The same can’t be said for local antivirus software. As it scans your computer for malware, local antivirus software will consume computing resources. Therefore, you may experience lag and other performance issues when using local antivirus software.
#antivirus #cloudvslocal