Panda Cloud Antivirus is a hidden gem

Panda Cloud Antivirus is hard to beat for free PC security.

Unlike other security tools, Panda does its processing in the cloud – it is software-as-a-service. Panda sends data about dangerous looking files to its cloud servers for closer inspection.

Because your computer doesn’t do the hard processing work, Panda imposes almost no overhead. It won't slow your computer down.

Panda Cloud Antivirus benchmarks look good

When I benchmarked the software on my Windows PC there was no performance difference between the system running the software and having the software switched off. If there’s a network overhead, I couldn’t measure it.

Panda’s other big advantage is that, thanks to the cloud, its malware checking database is always up-to-date. There are no signature files to download.

One issue with Panda is the program is so trouble-free, it is easy to forget you have installed. In practice you barely notice it. I previously describedMicrosoft’s Security Essentials as “barely there” – Panda Cloud is even less noticeable.

Performs well by any standard

Panda Cloud Antivirus is noticably better than other free anti-virus products at trapping malware. I previously ran it for a month without any issues and have run it for the past three or four days with no ill effects.

This puts it among the most promising free anti-virus application currently on offer. No doubt at some point the developers will need to make some money and you'll have to pay for the software. I’ll be interesting to see how that works. For now, it is possibly the best free choice.

Of course, you may prefer not to leave your computer’s protection in the hands of free software makers, but there's no evidence the free tools are less effective than paid-for security software.