Difference between firewall and antivirus | Which you should choose

Firewall and antivirus software are the terms that most of urser are confues about. Today in this tutorial, we are going to discuss difference between firewall and antivirus and which one you should buy.

Internet security is now getting popular as internet users are increasing. Online fraud and especially online credit card frauds, online banking frauds, and atm card fraud are now the headlines of the news channels. Those who are non-technical and don’t get more into the technicality of computer terms know about antivirus software which can protect you from computer virus but when they came across Firewall terms and found that this is also related to computer safety, they get confused between firewall and antivirus.

The situation becomes more complicated when it comes to choosing the best antivirus for PC. People get confused as there are lots of option available over the antivirus website and irony is that all the product talks about security and protecting pc from virus and malware. We had covered various virus removal tools and software like images.scr.

difference between firewall and antivirus
Difference between firewall and antivirus | Which you should choose 3

Today in this post, we are going to see what is the Firewall, what is Antivirus, and what is Firewall Vs Antivirus, and which antivirus software you should buy for your system to protect you from viruses and malware.

There are two things that can save you from Online frauds and credit card frauds

  1. Self-awareness
  2. Secure network

Self-awareness

The thing to fix self-awareness is to learn the basics of online transactions and what are the do’s and don’t while doing online transactions. Here are some basic things that one should follow to be secure from online fraud

  1. Never ever share OTP with anyone
  2. Never install cracked apps on your phone as they may contain malware that secretly records all data of your phone
  3. Never use public wife to do online transactions
  4. Don’t use unsecured websites or apps for recharge, bill payments, etc.

These were the thing that one should remember while performing online transactions. Now let us move to another point i.e. secure network

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Secure Network

The network can be defined as a connection between the worldwide web i.e. servers, a group of computers, and your computer. Anything you do on your computer over the internet sends data from your computer to the servers using this network. Hence your network should be secure. There are some software that monitors your network and can extract data from the network. To have a secure network, you need to install a firewall. Secure networks can be established with the help of computer protection software and by this, I mean antivirus software. There are lots of software available over the internet that claims to be computer protection software and helps you to secure your pc from viruses and malware. 

What Is Antivirus Software? How Antivirus Software Works

Antivirus can be defined as software that scans the system for the presence of virus trojan horse, spyware, etc, and delete them and thereby secure the devices from the virus. As the name suggests, it is software and implemented in software only. This pc protection software helps to save the system from internal as well as external software attacks. In simple words, if you install antivirus software in your system and your system has some viruses in it, the software starts scanning and after detecting viruses, it deletes them and hence prevents your system from getting corrupt,. This is how antivirus software fights with internal threats. Now if you insert Pendrive or any other storage device and suppose that Pendrive has a virus, antivirus software will scan prior to open the pen drive and delete the pendrive virus. This is how antivirus software protects you from external threats. Some software also scans files that you download from the internet and will delete if found suspicious. This was the working of Antivirus software in computer.

What is firewall | Firewall definition

A firewall is a network security software that monitors incoming data and allows it to pass only if found safe. Data is transferred in the form of data packers,  firewall applies packet filter and acts as a barrier between the internet and your network. Inbound and outbound traffic is being monitored by the firewall and filters any data packets for suspicious files or content. It is implemented on both software as well as hardware and hence, it also protects the system, from the data coming from hardware. The main function of a firewall is to monitor network traffic and prevent any unauthorized entry into the system. Unlike antivirus software, it cannot protect from internal threats.

If your pc is already affected by adware, do read Remove Adware From Computer / Pc

Difference between Antivirus and firewall | Firewall Vs Antivirus | Antivirus Vs Firewall

Antivirus and Firewall are two different things, here we had discussed the same i.e. difference between firewall and antivirus in table form.

Sr No.AntivirusFirewall
1.Antivirus can be defined as software that scans the system for the presence of virus trojan horse, spyware, etcA firewall is a network security software that monitors incoming data and allows it to pass only if found safe.
2.Antivirus checks the threat of malicious software.The firewall checks the threat from incoming packets.
3.Antivirus works on Scanning infected files and software.The firewall works on monitoring and filtering.
4.It is software that scans viruses and malware on both internal and external.The firewall checks the threat from incoming packets and data coming to the system.
5.Antivirus protects you from both external threats and internal threats.The firewall only prevents threats from external sources.
6.Antivirus implemented on only software.A firewall is implemented in both hardware and software.
7.Antivirus saves the system only from viruses.A firewall saves the system from all kinds of threats to the system.

Now, as you had understood what is the difference between Antivirus and software, the question arises which software you should buy and how to protect your computer from a virus.

If you search for the best antivirus software for pc or even you search best antivirus software Reddit to read what the people are discussing, you will get confused as there are n-numbers of software are available such as Quick Heal, Norton antivirus, scan, Avast.

Not only there are many antiviruses, there multiple versions available of the software such as Quick Heal total security, quick heal antivirus pro, quick heal internet security. Similarly, multiple versions can be seen in Avast antivirus i.e. Avast Ultimate Avast premium, Avast free. These are the things that confuse what to choose for.

Let us clear these confusions and see what solutions exist recommend you.

If you are running a business and what to secure your work desktop or work laptop, then recommend you to have Quick Heal total security.

Even if you want to secure your home pc and you do online transactions a lot, we recommend you to have Quick Heal total security. It is paid antivirus software but totally worth it. There is free antivirus software available but I recommend you to go for the paid version as these versions get regular updates which will keep virus definition and signature files updated and keep ready to fight with the latest virus and a new virus.

Quick Heal Total security will help to provide overall protection. You can check the comparison of Quick heal products at – Quick Heal Total Security

Quick Heal Desktop Products Comparison

FAQ (difference between antivirus and network security)

What are the antivirus and firewall software?

Antivirus software is the software that provides security from the viruses, malware, and Spywares. This malicious software can change system files and cause harm to the computer system.

If I have a firewall, do I need an antivirus?

Firewalls provide you protection from other computers or systems to get connected with your system and prevent them from communicating with your system while antivirus software will provide you protection from malware, viruses and adware getting installed in your system.

Do i need a firewall if i have antivirus?

Yes, you need both the software to have complete protection to your system. The purpose of both the software is different.

What are the name some firewalls and antivirus software?

As we had discussed earlier, firewall software and antivirus software are different, and here are some of the firewall and antivirus software examples.
Firewalls Examples
1. WatchGuard Network Security.
2. Avast.
3. GlassWire Firewall.

Here are antivirus software examples
1. Avast
2. Quick Heal
3. Norton Antivirus
4. Kaspersky

Wrapping Up

These were the detailed difference between firewall and antivirus, hope this article had created your mind and now you won’t be confused between Firewall vs Antivirus. This guide will be helpful for you to choose which software is useful to have protection from viruses and malware and also protection from online fraud and the difference between Antivirus vs Firewall confusion will not make you confuse anymore. Do read virus removal articles where we had covered how to remove virus from the computer. Solution Exist had prepared a guide on how to remove malware from PC, do check that out, and save your pc from viruses and malware.

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Avatar für Ronak Prajapati

Ronak Prajapatit is a Chemical Engineer by profession and a Part-Time blogger. He is a passionate tech blogger who likes to share his knowledge and helped to troubleshoot problems of computers and PC.

2 thoughts on “Difference between firewall and antivirus | Which you should choose”

  1. Hi Ronak, Being an IT person, we all have to know about computer security. I read this whole blog and It’s very informative article. I appreciate this article. Keep posting your knowledge!

    Reply

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