Webroot SecureAnywhere

Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus is a consumer security package from Webroot, now part of OpenText. Its defining design choice is that threat identification happens largely in the vendor's cloud service rather than through a signature database stored on the machine. The result is an unusually small installation and short scan times, with the trade-off that the product expects a working internet connection to do its job properly.

Protection is built around a real-time monitor that watches program behavior and blocks activity it judges to be hostile, backed by web filtering that stops known phishing and malware-hosting sites before the browser loads them. The vendor also lists protection against keyloggers and screen-capture spyware aimed at login and banking data, plus controls that prevent unauthorized access to the webcam. Licences are sold per number of devices, and the same subscription can usually cover a mix of Windows PCs and Macs.

It is a sensible fit for older or modest hardware, and for anyone who has abandoned other antivirus products because of the performance hit during scans. It is a weaker fit for machines that are frequently offline, and for buyers who choose security software by independent laboratory scores, since Webroot appears only irregularly in the published AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives results that competitors are measured by.

One point worth knowing before purchase: Webroot has been reorganising its consumer range, and in some regions this product is now presented under the Essentials name rather than SecureAnywhere. The installed Windows client still carries the SecureAnywhere name, so the two refer to the same line of software.