I Can Read Your Mind: You're Relying on One of These 2 Brands to Stay Safe Online

Think of a cybersecurity brand. Got one? OK, let me read your mind…is it Norton? No? How McAfee? According to a survey conducted by CNET Group, which includes PCMag, ZDNET Mashable, Lifehacker, and others, I had a 50/50 chance of getting both of these guesses right. Challenged to name a security brand off the cuff, 34% of survey respondents said Norton, and another 16% said McAfee. Microsoft Defender came in with 11%, but no other brand scored higher than 5%.

I test dozens of security programs on an ongoing basis, so I’m familiar with just every brand. I don’t expect the average consumer to know them all , but I was surprised to find that a fifth of the survey’s participants couldn’t name even one. As a cybersecurity expert, I find this wildly disconcerting. After all, it's tough to pick the right protection when you don’t know what the choices are. Below, I'll unpack the survey data to reveal the surprising hierarchy of security awareness—from the giant legacy brands dominating our memory, to the unexpected products people actually end up using, and finally, the expert-backed alternatives that deserve a place on your devices.

The 2 Legacy Brands in Everyone's Head

Conducted in September 2026, CNET Group's survey quizzed 1,000 Americans on security and privacy topics.

The question I referenced earlier simply asked respondents to name any security brands that came to mind, and more than a third thought of Norton. That’s not too surprising, given that Norton AntiVirus , in one form or another, has been around longer than Windows itself .

Lots of people also thought of McAfee , perhaps for a different reason. Through partnerships with Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others, McAfee comes preinstalled on most new computers. When the initial 30-day trial expires, it nags you to renew. That nagging may not leave you with a positive impression of McAfee, but it does make an impression nonetheless. For those of a certain age, news the global antics of eponymous founder John McAfee may have made the name extra memorable.

The only other brand with recognition in the double digits is Microsoft Defender , at 11%. It’s worth noting that the 20% of respondents who couldn’t name a single security brand are very likely relying on Defender, whether they realize it or not. If no other antivirus is installed, Defender takes up the mantle of protection.

Avast , Bitdefender , LifeLock , Malwarebytes , Nord , and Kaspersky all also made it into the list. A slim 4.4% of respondents thought of Avast, dropping down to a minuscule 0.6% for Kaspersky.

Multiple choice questions are easier than essay questions, and it’s likewise easier to recognize names in a list than to come up with them out of the blue. Another question in the survey presented participants with a laundry list of antivirus , password manager , and VPN products and asked them to check off any they recognized. Only 6.7% indicated that none of the choices were familiar.

Once again, McAfee and Norton topped this list, with recognition rates of 63.6% and 62.5%, respectively. I’m not surprised that NordVPN came in third, with 38.0% of participants recognizing it. The company’s current ad campaign with Shaquille O’Neal is ubiquitous. Avast and AVG came , pulling in 27.7% and 25.4%, respectively.

Mindshare vs. Market : What's Actually Running on Your PC?

You might be familiar with every security app on the market, but if you don’t choose and install one of them, you’re getting no benefit from that knowledge. The third brand-related question simply asked respondents what security brand they use to protect their primary computer.

Here once again, McAfee tops the list, with 19.2% of respondents identifying it as their primary protection. But it’s only a tenth of a percent ahead of the catch-all category for those who have no protection or don’t know what they’ve got. Norton comes at 16.3%, followed by 10.1% of respondents who actively identify Microsoft Defender as their main protection.

The Expert Verdict: Who PCMag Readers Trust

The survey asks participants the security apps they use. Specifically, it asks for ratings on a 10-point scale for attributes such as setup, cost, reliability, and ease of use. There’s also a rating for overall satisfaction, and that’s the one that defines a winner in each category.

In the best antivirus survey block, only four brands received enough responses to make it into the final chart. Bitdefender topped this list, with 9.3 points, followed by Malwarebytes with 9.1. Avast and Microsoft both earned 7.8 points for overall satisfaction.

As for reader reactions to security suites , Norton and McAfee appear, but at the bottom of the list, with 8.0 and 7.5 points, respectively. Malwarebytes leads the pack with 9.5 points, followed by Bitdefender and Avast at 8.9 each. Rounding out the finalists, Microsoft took 8.5 points, and AVG earned 8.4.

CNET Group surveyed 1,000 average consumers. That group clearly put Norton and McAfee on a pedestal. Readers’ Choice respondents are all PCMag readers, and many have actively requested inclusion. This better-informed group strongly leans toward Bitdefender and Malwarebytes.

Considering Microsoft Defender's free pricing and its relative popularity across these lists, do I recommend you use it ? Well, it's better than nothing, but despite Microsoft's claims and improved test scores, relying solely on Defender is insufficient due to its lack of cross-device support, weaker phishing protection outside Edge, missing features like AI scam detection, and a subpar user interface compared with third-party alternatives, like my top picks listed below:

Don't Settle for Whatever Comes With Your PC

How would you have answered the questions in this survey? Would you have easily named one or more security brands? How many brands would you have checked off as familiar? And just what do you use to protect your primary computer?

If you feel you would have come up short on answers, it’s time to broaden your horizons. Check out our roundups of the best antivirus , security suites , and VPNs . Even if you just skim the list of products and note which ones are at the top of the list, you’ve expanded your knowledge of the field. If you dig into the details of the products, you’ll be well prepared to select the best security products for your needs.