We noted some occasional performance impacts as it ran in the background, but it was largely unobtrusive in its efforts. It also offers a software firewall for two-way network traffic monitoring. Total Protection also offers WebAdvisor as an option, steering you from known problem sites and warning you when you visit questionable ones. It is very simple to use once you’ve walked through the guided steps for giving it permission to work behind the scenes it is essentially something you can just leave to get on with its job. McAfee Total Protection is a dedicated software security tool that will monitor your Mac as you work, looking for unauthorised software activity such as browser search engine hacks, attempts to trick you into installing unwanted software, and actual malware and virus attacks. Whether you’re a novice or advanced user, Clario is an effective and supportive security program.

We did encounter some issues with performance, with the program sometimes running slow before we were fully set up, but once we were fully configured everything ran smoothly. And from the Dashboard you can trigger a quick virus scan, which is actually quite thorough. The VPN will kick in if Clario detects you using an unprotected network. Once installed you can access information about the security of your Mac and monitor the status of your online accounts and personal data. Set up is quick and painless with a wizard that takes you through configuration of all the key features while allowing you to evaluate the different options and determine which ones you want to enable. The three devices included in the plan can include a combination of Macs and iOS or Android devices.

Payment is by subscription, and currently Clario has 54% off the usual $107.88 / £107.88 a year, so you can pay $50.00 / £50.00 a year (billed at $4.17 / £4.17 a month). Clario 1.5 for the Mac is much more than an antivirus package, it packs a healthy amount of security into one package, including real-time and on-demand malware scanning, ad blocking and website trackers, a VPN, and data breach monitoring to alert you if your email is caught and potentially exposed in a cyberattack.

Norton 360 total protection