Best antivirus for business 2017: 10 of the best business antivirus software available in the UK

Bitdefender scored 100 percent on protection, performance and usability score from AV-Test.org.

Bitdefender's Endpoint Security is our number one business antivirus. And while it gained 100 percent during protection testing, this had minimal effect on performance, and generated only three false security detections, matching the industry standard.

Bitdefender Endpoint Security offers a two-way firewall, multiple thread web filtering and along with malware, spyware, trojan and rootkit detection. Bitdefender can also be used on virtual servers providing a whole host of intelligent deployment and scanning features.

A great business antivirus product from Kaspersky, Small Office Security also earned a perfect score from AV-Test.org with full marks on performance, usability and protection. 

With only one false security detection found during its testing, making Kaspersky Lab Small Office Security a highly recommended product.

One Kaspersky Lab Small Office Security licence will cover five desktops, one server, five mobile devices and five password managers for around £90, which is pretty good for smaller businesses.

Also scoring very high on AV-Test.org. Kaspersky Lab's Endpoint Security offers solid antivirus software for all endpoints including laptops, desktops, file servers and mobile devices.

Definitely worth your consideration, Seqrite's product for business doesn't let itself down in protection or usability, scoring full marks in AV-Test.org's testing. Although, Seqrite did lose half a mark for performance as it was slightly slower to launch than similar standard software. 

However, don't let that put you off too much, Seqrite does offer detailed security reports and a safe browsing function that others lack. So if you've got a good PC, laptop or tablet, its slower than average performance won't be that noticeable. 

What's more, Seqrite does provide good asset management and application controls, designed for business users, while also offering important web filtering and behaviour-based ransomware detection.

Scoring full marks for usability and only missing out on two half marks in the performance and protection fields, AVG's business offering is another top scoring antivirus software. 

Great for small and micro businesses, AVG Antivirus Business Edition comes packed with business-focused features including remote management, safe web surfing, data privacy protection and free phone support.

One of the most attractive features of AVG's offering is its network antivirus, adding an extra layer of protection for devices connected to a work or office network. Other notable features include a firewall, file encryption, a smart scanner and server protection.

Symantec offers perfect protection but does suffer minor issues on performance and usability. Symantec Endpoint Protection is a solid option for small to medium sized businesses as it provides a central management system and a relatively small download time, so businesses can get up and running relatively quickly. 

Offering both antivirus and a personal firewall, Symantec users will be able to protect both devices and virtual environments from intruders within their office networks. Additionally, Symantec's endpoint protection enforces 'rules' across work networks that can iterate company best practices and limit information flow from device to device. 

However, this solution does require a sizable amount of RAM which should be part of the consideration process for businesses.

McAfee produces a business-focused antivirus that offers perfect usability and near perfect protection. This solution does lose a point in performance and recorded one false security detection during AV-Test.org testing.

McAfee Endpoint Security boasts excellent dashboards and enviable screen reports. However, like Symantec the solution does consume a lot of RAM so making sure your PC is capable of running McAfee is vital. 

In addition, this antivirus offers good device management and software deployment features for businesses with up to 250 staff members, while also providing great guided web and online messaging usage. 

F-Secure Client Security provides users with 100 percent protection, missing a point each for usability and performance. Making it a solid choice for businesses that don't mind getting to grips with its user interface. 

F-Secure did witness one of the highest amounts of false security detections, with 11 taking place during its testing. This means that F-secure did lose out on a top rating from AV-Test.org.

However, all hope is not lost, this antivirus does provide access to multiple administrators via a centralised policy manager, ideal for growing businesses and device control for preventing malicious infections via USB ports.

Scoring top marks for usability, G Data Antivirus Business offers almost perfect protection and a good performance.

In tests, G Data encountered the odd false security detection but suffered the most snags in performance with a slower than average launch of standard applications compared with its peers. 

Ultimately, this is still a great product that provides good protection at an affordable price. 

G Data's protection focuses on malware, spam and phishing protection, mobile device management (MDM) and security administration.

Sophos Endpoint Security and Control scored well under AV-test.org testing with perfect protection and usability ratings. It did stumble on performance, however.

The Sophos dashboard is sometimes sluggish and web filtering often slow. But in terms of protection, this product cannot be faulted.

By using behavioural analytics, Sophos aims to monitor and detect suspicious behaviour, enabling the system to detect malicious campaigns. Sophos also integrated its network and endpoint communications so that immediate action can be taken if a thread is suspected.

Trend Micro Office Scan is solid business antivirus product, offering perfect protection at a slight performance cost.

There was a false security detection in AV-Test's labs but the overall shining performance should settle any doubts you may have about this solution.

In addition, Trend Micro offers an accurate spam filter and effectively blocks malware. A top contender for your office security.