What is the Best Antivirus Option for Your Business?

Ten years ago this question had a simple answer: pick a reputable scanner, install it everywhere, renew it yearly. The word “antivirus” now covers three different things, and a small business needs at least two of them. This guide explains what changed, what to look for, how the main options compare, and what we run for our own clients and why. It does not rank thirty products; it explains how to choose one and what to put beside it.

Three things called antivirus

• Traditional antivirus recognises known malicious files by their signatures. It is still useful and still catches most of the junk, but a new variant, a script or a stolen password walks straight past it.
• Next-generation antivirus and endpoint protection watch behaviour: a program that starts encrypting files, a script that launches from an email attachment, a process that injects itself into another. Good products stop the behaviour automatically and can roll a machine back to before it started. SentinelOne is the product we use for this.
• Endpoint detection and response, and its managed form (MDR) record what happens on every machine and add people who investigate what the automated tools flagged or missed, isolate the machine from the network and say exactly what to fix. Huntress is the service we use, and it works with either of the above.

The practical minimum for a business today is the second layer on every computer and server, plus a person watching. The person can be an in-house security team, which few small companies have, or a managed detection service, which is why Huntress managed detection and response exists.

What to look for

1. Behaviour-based detection with rollback. Ask what happens when ransomware starts. The right answer is that it is stopped in seconds and the files come back.
2. Central management. One console that shows every machine, its protection status and its alerts. Products that are installed one PC at a time and never looked at again are the ones that are quietly off.
3. Isolation. The ability to cut a machine off from the network from the console while keeping it reachable for investigation.
4. Coverage. Windows, macOS and Windows Server at least. Servers hold the files; leaving them on an old scanner is the common mistake.
5. Someone reading the alerts. A product that emails alerts to an inbox nobody checks is decoration. Either your provider watches it or a managed service does.
6. Identity coverage. The most common breach now is a stolen password used from elsewhere, which no endpoint product sees. Cloud account monitoring, such as Huntress’s Microsoft 365 protection, closes that gap.
7. Independent testing. AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives publish results for business products; consistent top marks over years matter more than one good quarter.

How the common options compare

Microsoft Defender

The scanner built into Windows is genuinely good now and free. Defender for Business, included with Microsoft 365 Business Premium, adds a management console, behaviour-based detection and isolation, which makes it a reasonable endpoint layer for a company already on Premium. It still needs someone watching, and it does not cover Macs as completely.

SentinelOne

A behaviour-based endpoint product with automatic response and rollback, central management, and coverage for Windows, macOS, Linux and servers. It consistently scores at the top of independent tests, and it is what we install on every client computer and server. It is priced per machine; the rate is on our pricing page, with a lower rate when it is paired with Huntress.

Huntress

Not a replacement for antivirus but the layer above it: a 24/7 security operations centre that investigates what the endpoint product flags, hunts for the persistent footholds attackers leave behind, isolates machines and writes up exactly what to do. It also watches Microsoft 365 accounts for takeover, which is where most small-business claims come from. We run it beside SentinelOne on every client machine.

Consumer and free products

Norton, McAfee, Avast and their peers make fine home products. In a business they lack central management, their licences usually forbid commercial use, and nobody is responsible for the alert. The money saved is small; the exposure is a whole company.

What we run, and why

Every computer and server we manage runs SentinelOne for automatic protection and Huntress for the human response, with Microsoft 365 account monitoring and email security in front of the mailboxes. The layers overlap on purpose; each catches what the one before it missed, which is the only approach that has held up against the attacks we see in Minneapolis businesses. Our managed cybersecurity services page explains the full stack, and the pricing calculator shows what the layers cost together.

Where antivirus stops and the rest begins

No endpoint product stops a person from wiring money to a fake supplier, and none of them stops an attacker who has the real password and no second factor to defeat. Multi-factor authentication, security awareness training and tested backups are not alternatives to antivirus; they are the layers around it. Insurers know this, which is why their forms ask about all of them; the cyber insurance readiness check shows the whole list.

Common questions

Is Windows Defender enough for a business?

The built-in Defender is a capable scanner for known malware. For a business the question is who is watching it, whether it can isolate a machine and roll it back, and whether it covers servers and Macs. Defender for Business, included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium, adds central management; adding a managed detection service adds the people.

Do I still need antivirus if I have Huntress?

Yes, and the two are designed to work together. Antivirus stops known and behaviour-based threats automatically in the moment; Huntress adds analysts who investigate what got through, isolate the machine and tell you what to fix. Most of our clients run SentinelOne and Huntress side by side.

Does it cover Macs and servers?

Modern endpoint products cover Windows, macOS and Windows Server, and some cover Linux. Servers matter most: they hold the files ransomware wants, so leaving them on an old antivirus is the common mistake.

How much does business antivirus cost?

It is priced per computer or server per month, and it is one of the cheaper layers in a security stack. Our rates for SentinelOne and Huntress are published on the pricing page rather than hidden in a quote.

Can I use free antivirus at work?

Free consumer products are licensed for home use, have no central management, and leave nobody responsible when an alert fires at 2 a.m. For a business the saving is small and the exposure is not.

Talk to us

If you are not sure what is protecting your computers today, or who is watching it, we will look and tell you. Call 952-548-5558 or contact us; the first conversation is free and there is no long-term contract.