It kinda depends on you surfing habbits..
🙂 In my case i'm sufficiently protected with the free Microsoft Security Essentials and the build in M$ firewall. No fuss easy on the PC's resources, basic protection and update automaticaly with windows and never ever a virus not in 10 years.
Antivirus is a global protected shared sources by antivirus program providers. All have the very same database to update from. It can't be that one has a beter database than the other, if so the World Wide Web would be vurnable and trashed in no time with tons of infected pc's.
What the programs compete with is extra services to give you the idea they are beter. But beeing beter means they provide you with services you don't actualy need. One of the most laughable services is "Scanning Outgoing E mails" Why would you use resources on this? If there is a virus in your out going e mail than it didn't do its job in the first place because it let the virus come in without a warning.
🙄 Than claim you are beter than others? You must be joking..
Does and don'ts to protect yourself on the internet are.
Never visit questionable websites with free online services such as online games. Than the game might be ok, but the culprit is often in additional advertisements and or services to click.
Same goes for questionable video "winkink tube
😉😉 etc." The video is ok but in all heat klicking linked advertisements is dangerous.
Never use E-cards to send to friends and ask friends not to send you one. E-cards like my happy valentine " Oh I love you so much!" But you give them valid e-mail adresses and they will love you so much back to spam you.. Once you are stored in the spam bot you'll be in it for ever.
Never open E-mail attechments from unknown parties or people and never click links in e-mail text from unknown parties or people. No matter how tempting it looks, just don't.
Use 2 e-mail adresses one for serious personal contacts such as friends, family and work.. And one for web based contacts such as forums, webshops online services etc. For example use M$ Outlook for serious messaging and Gmail for other crappy stuff that aint serious. This way you keep your serious e-mail adress in a small and serious party.
Be very aware for phishing mails, they are popular nowadays but almost all contain obvious flaws giving away it aint real.
And they always ask sensitive personal data and you need to log in for it. Info that actualy never will be asked via e-mail for example from your Bank account. They never send mails for personal info but always will send you a personal letter if its necessary. Goes for all official entities such as energy providers, medical centres etc.
Never open attachments and or links send by messenger services msn messenger or facebook chat even if you think to know the sender. Ask them personal if they sended it first and why?
Never use hacked (free) software that you normaly need to pay for.
🙂 Hackers don't work for free to serve humanity..
99% of them install backdoors to obtain and sell data.
For the rest any antivirus program is like law inforcement, they always run a step behind. First you need to invent the crime before the can and will create a law against it. So the (smart) criminals always come first. Than antivirus developers are lucky with employees thinking like criminals. You can do little about it, you never will be 100% safe.. But still as said Antivirus programs have a globaly shared security knowledge centre.
Passwords are a laugh, anything incrypted can be decrypted.. There are hacking tools available that hack a regular 6 digit password in less than a minute with about any character you can think of. What you can do is extend the time to hack it with creating long passwords preferable longer than 19 characters, the longer the password the longer it takes to decrypt it. Than rather use a phrase from a popular song than your sons birthdate. But if you are not a millionair with a huge public fan croud you have little to worry about. Why would one go through all the hassle to hack you and find nothing.
Such is my girlfriends dad.. 
