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What is a digital footprint?

Digital footprints

Did you know that every interaction you have online can shape the way you’re perceived on the web?

You’ve likely spent years creating your online identity, without even knowing it.

While it’s important for most of us to have a digital presence, our digital footprint can reveal a lot about our lives – and in some cases, perhaps a little too much.

Here, we discuss the different types of digital footprints, why they are important, and how to check and protect your online reputation to make sure you’re giving off the best impression and keeping your private information out of the public domain.

Defining a digital footprint           

What do we mean when we use the term ‘digital footprint’?

Essentially, your digital footprint refers to the trail of data that you create while using the internet.

It includes all the information you leave behind – either intentionally or unintentionally, actively or passively – every time you engage with websites and apps. Much of this data is gleaned from public social media profiles; if you’re active on sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn, and your account isn’t set to private, all your activity will be easily discoverable by anyone who is interested in finding it.

As you can imagine, your digital footprint can reveal a lot about your habits, preferences, location, and relationships. Leaving this information out to public scrutiny isn’t always a bad thing in itself – but unfortunately it can be used by companies for targeted advertising and even used to facilitate privacy breaches. So, it’s a good idea to be conscious of what you’re putting out there, how your digital footprint can affect how you’re being perceived and the experience you’re receiving online, and how it might be used against you.

What are the different types of digital footprints?         

There are four types of digital footprints that the average web user needs to be aware of:

Active digital footprints

Your active digital footprint consists of all the data you intentionally share online. This information is both visible and traceable, but you can control how you engage with online communities and decide to only share what you’re comfortable with.

A typical active digital footprint might include:

  • Posts, likes, comments and shares on social media
  • Comments on forums, blog posts, news articles and YouTube videos
  • Emails, including attachments and signatures, specifically if you’re using web-based email services like Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook
  • Information submitted via online forms
  • Information you’ve shared on your own website or within your own digital portfolio, which likely includes your direct contact details
  • Reviews you’ve left on platforms like Amazon, TripAdvisor, and Google Reviews
  • Information you’ve provided when signing up for online accounts with, for example, Netflix or Spotify
  • Information you’ve submitted in online surveys and quizzes
  • Contributions you’ve made to collaborative websites like Wikipedia, GitHub, or Udemy
  • Content you’ve sent through instant messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Telegram
  • Questions and responses you’ve posted on boards in communities like Reddit or Quora
  • Files you’ve uploaded to cloud services like Dropbox, iCloud or Google Drive
  • Petitions you’ve signed
  • Cookies that you’ve agreed to install on your devices

Passive digital footprints           

The data generated by your passive digital footprint is often a byproduct of the things you’ve been doing online. This information is not created mindfully, but nonetheless, it’s used by service providers and marketers to analyse your behavior and serve you targeted ads. It often consists of things like:

  • Your browsing history, including the websites you’ve visited, the pages you’ve viewed, how you’ve interacted with them, and how long you’ve stayed on each page (usually collected through cookies, tracking scripts, and tracking pixels)
  • Your IP address, which is logged by websites, servers and online services every time you connect to the web
  • Your search engine queries
  • Your app usage data
  • Your location data
  • Your shopping cart data
  • Information about your device, including its model, operating system, browser type, screen resolution, and MAC address or IMEI number
  • Information about the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks you have connected to
  • Logs of your online activity, including login/logout times and errors
  • Timestamps and geotags from social media websites
  • Email tracking data
  • Streaming data

Anonymous digital footprints

These footprints consist of actions that aren’t directly tied to your personal identity, but still contribute to your online profile. Even when you’re visiting a website in incognito mode or using a pseudonym, your activity is never truly private – metadata can still be collected and linked to your activity pattern.

Examples of the data points often found in anonymous online footprints are:

  • Your IP address (without any personal information, if you’ve requested that the data remains anonymous in your settings)
  • Data on your browser type, operating system etc that’s been collected by the websites you’ve visited
  • Cookie data
  • User experience data, such as your page engagement and navigation behaviors
  • Ad tracking and targeting data
  • Incognito browsing histories
  • So-called ‘anonymous’ search queries
  • Anonymous feedback and surveys
  • Anonymous social media interactions
  • Activity carried out on the Tor network, which is typically anonymized by being routed through multiple servers
  • Interactions with blockchain networks
  • VPN usage

Pseudonymous digital footprints     

These are digital traces linked to an alias rather than a real identity. For instance, if you’re a blogger, you might decide to write under a pen name. By doing so, you’ll be creating a pseudonymous footprint.

While this approach can offer some privacy, sophisticated tracking techniques can sometimes link pseudonyms to real people, particularly when combined with other data points. The bottom line is, you might think you’re beating the system, but you’ll never be truly anonymous!

Some examples of pseudonymous data points include:

  • Aliases and usernames
  • Email addresses without your real name
  • Anonymous posts on forums
  • Pseudonymous names or handles on social media
  • Pseudonymous ecommerce accounts (with the likes of eBay and Etsy)
  • Online gaming profile tags
  • Cryptocurrency wallets
  • Contributions to open-source projects
  • Contributions to crowdfunding projects

Why is your digital footprint important?

As we mentioned earlier, your digital footprint reveals a lot about you. It’s a reflection of your entire journey online – and it’s out there for anyone to see, meaning that, unfortunately, it can be exploited.

It’s permanent

The information your digital footprint holds will help other people shape a view on who you are, how you behave, and what you value. Old media from decades ago can be found, analysed, potentially misinterpreted, and used to create a profile of you that might not be entirely accurate. Even content that you thought was long deleted can often resurface, which is why it’s so essential to be careful about what you share on the web.

It can help determine your reputation – both online and offline

If you once expressed a controversial opinion on Facebook, made an inappropriate joke to a friend on Twitter, or berated somebody in a forum, these seemingly off-the-cuff comments can still be unearthed, affecting your credibility. You might have evolved since then, but your character can still be tarnished by what went on before.

It helps employers and officials with their vetting processes

Statistics show that more than three quarters of employers google their prospective hires during recruitment drives, so whatever you are associated with online could have a bearing on the opportunities you’re offered. Plus, colleges, universities, security companies, police departments and even government representatives may be inclined to examine your digital footprint to better understand your public profile.

You might be wondering how employers and officials can access and analyze your digital footprint without spending days trawling through your data. Well, the truth is, there are lots of background checking tools available, including:

Maigret, an open-source intelligence (OSINT) platformwhich helps companies find accounts and websites that are associated with a particular username.

MOSINT, another OSINT tool that gathers information associated with a specific email address.

Nexfil, which enables employers to find profiles allocated to particular usernames.

It might threaten your personal safety

Companies and cybercriminals can use the data in your digital footprint to learn more about you and use this information for their own gain.

Perhaps they’ll simply use this data to serve up more relevant advertisements to you while you’re browsing – or maybe they’ll use your data to develop a convincing spear-phishing attack or release sensitive information about you without your consent (something which is known as doxing). Be aware that, if there’s lots of information about you in the digital ether, there’s a chance that somebody, somewhere will try to use it to their advantage. 

Digital footprint examples        

We’ve touched on a few examples – but let’s take a closer look at what actually makes up your digital footprint and delve into the kinds of data points that are going to leave a lasting impression online.

Social media

  • Logins from any device, including your mobile phone
  • Connecting with friends – for example, accepting a friend request on Facebook
  • The content you share with your friends and followers
  • Logging into third party websites using your social media account details
  • Joining a dating site or app

Online shopping data

  • Making online purchases
  • Creating an account with an online retailer
  • Signing up for coupons
  • Registering for newsletters from retailers
  • Browsing and making purchases via shopping apps

Online banking

  • Using a mobile or browser-based banking app
  • Submitting an application for a new credit card
  • Buying or selling stocks
  • Subscribing to financial content (blogs and online magazines)

Reading the news

  • Browsing articles on a news app
  • Subscribing to an online news outlet
  • Signing up for a newsletter
  • Reposting news articles on forums or social profiles

Health and fitness

  • Using fitness trackers
  • Using calorie counting or recipe apps
  • Using healthcare apps
  • Registering your contact information with a gym or sports center

There are a whole host of other elements that will be recorded when you’re actively using the internet. Your IP address will be noted, the browsers you’re using (and some of their settings) will be tracked, and there will be information available on every online form you complete.

How to check your digital footprint

Interested to see what your digital footprint looks like? There are several ways you can check in on your activity and get a better feel for your online reputation:

Search for your name on search engines

Open a search engine like Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo, then enter your full name in quotation marks (e.g., “John Doe”) to search for exact matches. You should also try variations of your name – including nicknames, middle names, or any professional aliases you use – to see if these data points have been indexed, too.

Keep an eye out for personal information about yourself, any publicly accessible social media profiles that you’ve made, any mentions in news articles or publications, and links to online content you’ve created. You can also use reverse image search tools to see where your profile picture appears online.

Check aggregated websites

Visit websites that aggregate personal information, such as Whitepages, Spokeo, MyLife, or Pipl. Search for your name, email address, or phone number on these sites, and review the information that’s returned, which will likely include your contact details, addresses, social profiles, and any other public records.

These aggregator websites often have their own processes for removing or opting out of listings. Look for an opt-out link, which is usually found in the site’s privacy policy or help section. From there, follow the instructions to remove or hide your information from public view. This might involve submitting a request or verifying your identity.

Set up Google Alerts for your name

Go to Google Alerts. In the search box, enter your name in quotation marks (e.g., “John Doe”) to track exact matches. You can customize the alert by choosing how often you want to receive notifications, the sources you’re interested in (news, blogs, web), and the language and region. Finally, enter your email address to receive alerts and click “Create Alert.” You should start receiving round-up emails straightaway.

This will keep you across any new mentions that might have a damaging impact on your reputation. Reviewing your Google Alerts may also help you spot opportunities to correct any misinformation or thank authors for positive coverage of you.

Review your old social media activity

There’s no fast way to do this. You’ll need to log into each of your social media accounts individually and review your profile information, photos, posts and interactions to make sure there’s nothing housed on these sites that could be held against you (or give away too much information about you). Most of these platforms have search and/or activity log features that enable you to review all your past actions.

How to protect your digital footprint         

If all this talk of your online footprint is making you uncomfortable, don’t worry – there are plenty of things you can do to safeguard your digital reputation and protect your sensitive information.

Be mindful sharing of personal data online

The less you share, the harder it is for cybercriminals to analyse your digital footprint, and the better reputation you’ll have overall. Remove references to your personal phone number and email address and take a breath before posting anything that could be perceived in a negative light in the future; it might come back to haunt you.

Use strong, unique passwords and utilise a password manager

This should be common practice, but it’s easy to resort back to familiar passwords, most of which are easily compromised through hacking. To keep attackers at bay, use complex pass phrases that combine letters, numbers and symbols, and don’t be tempted to use easily guessed information like birthdays or names. Using a reputable password manager will help you generate and store passwords for each account.

Use two-factor authentication (2FA) where possible

Activate 2FA on your accounts to add an extra layer of security. This usually involves a secondary verification step, such as a code sent to your phone, in addition to your password.

Delete old accounts

Regularly audit your online accounts and close any that you no longer use. This will reduce the number of places where your data is stored, and in turn lower the risk of breaches.

Regularly review social media privacy settings

Take back as much control over your social visibility as you can! Check to make sure your profiles and their contents are not visible to the public and learn how to maximise the privacy settings on each site. 

Avoid logging in with Facebook

Sidestep potential security risks by finding another way to access third-party sites that request you login using your Facebook credentials. You don’t need to be sharing your social media sign-in data unnecessarily.

Frequently update your software

Outdated software typically contains a ton of data points that could be more easily accessed by cybercriminals. Make sure everything you use is updated regularly so it’s running the latest security patches.

Use security software

Cybersecurity threats come in all shapes and forms, so you need to install a high-grade anti-virus solution across all your devices that can stop any intruders in their tracks. SUPERAntiSpyware’s Professional X Edition package protects every PC against malware, spyware, trojan attempts, keyloggers, and much more. It also quarantines any potential files and deletes them securely, if required.

Review your mobile apps

The last thing you want to do is review all those lengthy terms and conditions – but take a moment to read each app’s user agreement so you know precisely what you’re signing up for and how your data might be used by the app’s creators. If it turns out they’re mining personal information, you may want to find an alternative that doesn’t store data on, for example, your location or your online activities.

Use a VPN

A virtual private network (VPN) masks your IP address and encrypts your internet connection, making it more difficult for third parties to track your online activities. Choose a reputable VPN service and activate it whenever you’re browsing the internet, especially on public or unsecured networks.

Who can see my digital footprint?  

Remember, it’s not just you who can see your online footprint. Your web profile is visible to:

  • Employers
  • Schools
  • Colleges
  • Hackers
  • Peers
  • Internet providers
  • Phone companies
  • Advertisers
  • Law enforcement
  • Data brokers

This is why you need to:

  • Understand how data about you is collected online, whether actively or passively
  • Take steps to minimize the personal information you share online
  • Protect your data as far as you can, using the methods listed earlier
  • Regularly review your digital footprint and remove any references or content that could affect your reputation
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How to wipe a hard drive

Using a drill to destroy a hard disk drive

If you’re selling your computer on and want to get rid of your files for privacy reasons – or simply want to erase everything on the system and start afresh – you’ll need to wipe your hard drive completely clean.

When you delete a file in the usual way, the operating system removes the reference to the file from the file system’s index, so it’s not easily discoverable. However, the data itself remains on the hard drive until it’s overwritten by new data. Deleted files can often be recovered using specialized software because the actual data still exists on the disk. Wiping a hard drive goes a step further by overwriting the entire drive’s data with zeros, ones, or random data multiple times. This process ensures that the original data is irretrievable, even with advanced recovery tools, making it a much more effective way to get rid of anything you don’t want others to see.

Wiping can be done on individual files, partitions, or the entire drive, depending on the method used. The process is slightly different on Windows and Mac devices, too.

Read on to discover when it’s appropriate to wipe a hard drive, the steps you need to follow to get rid of your files forever, and some of the third-party tools that can support you along the way. 

When should I wipe a hard drive? 

There are several instances where it makes sense to wipe your hard drive:

When replacing an old computer

Ready to swap your device for a new one? When you’re selling or donating your computer, you don’t want the new owner to access your personal data, including your files, emails, photos, or saved passwords. Wiping the hard drive ensures that all your personal information is completely removed, preventing potential identity theft or data breaches.

When replacing a damaged hard drive

Broken hard drives aren’t much use, but they can still be harbouring some of your personal data. Make sure none of it is recoverable by wiping the drive regardless of its condition.

When upgrading to an SSD

Keen to invest in a better performing hard drive? It’s best to perform a hard disk wipe after you’ve migrated all your data to your new solid-state drive (SSD).

Refreshing an old hard drive

Sometimes, a computer can become sluggish or cluttered with unnecessary files, software, and configurations. If you’re experiencing significant performance issues or want to start fresh without any old data, wiping the drive before you reinstall the operating system can help.

Preparing to wipe your hard drive

Before you commit to the wipe process, we would recommend backing up any critical files. You can copy important files, documents, photos, and other data to an external hard drive or USB flash drive – or alternatively, you can use services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive for secure file storage in the cloud.

You could consider creating a full system image or clone of your hard drive if you decide you want to restore your system to its current state later.

You might also want to:

  • Deauthorize accounts and software, so these licenses are no longer tied to a specific computer
  • Note down product keys and serial numbers, particularly if you’re planning to reinstall software
  • Sign out of accounts you were using on that specific device, and clear any saved passwords
  • Disconnect any external hardware
  • Make sure you’ve got the correct drivers on hand for reinstalling the OS
  • Tell other users of the same computer that the data will soon be wiped, and encourage them to back up their own data

How to wipe a hard drive on Mac      

The method you use for wiping your MacOS will depend on the type of Mac you have. You can find out what you’re working with by clicking the Apple menu in the top left of the screen and heading over to About This Mac.

Devices with a silicon chip       

If you use a Mac that was manufactured after 2020, it will likely contain Apple silicon chips, aka M1, M2 or M3 processors. You can wipe the hard drive by:

  • Going to System Settings
  • Clicking on General, then Transfer or Reset
  • Clicking Erase All Content and Settings

From there, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the wipe. The Mac will restart and reactivate, and you’ll be ready to go.

Devices with Intel processors

For Macs that were produced prior to 2020, you’ll need to follow the process to suit its Intel processor. You can use the Disk Utility function to delete the hard drive by:

  • Shutting down the computer and rebooting it
  • Holding the Command + R keys during the reboot until the Apple logo appears
  • Entering your password if required
  • Selecting Disk Utility in the Utilities window, then clicking Continue
  • Selecting Macintosh HD (or the name you gave to your hard drive, if you’ve customized it)
  • Clicking Erase in the toolbar
  • Confirming the hard drive name
  • Selecting APFS under the Format menu, and clicking Erase

Devices with an SSD        

SSD drives aren’t as simple to wipe. For the best results, you’ll need to encrypt your files before you get rid of them, otherwise they might still be accessible.

  1. Go to System Preferences
  2. Click Security & Privacy and select FileVault
  3. Enable FileVault; this will encrypt your hard drive. It might take a few hours. Make a note of the password that’s given to you, as you’ll need it later
  4. When the encryption is complete, reboot your Mac and hold down the Command + R keys during startup
  5. Go to Desk Utility in the Utilities Window
  6. Choose the correct SSD drive from the sidebar, select Unlock from the File menu, and enter the password you received earlier
  7. Click Erase in the toolbar
  8. Confirm the hard drive name
  9. Select APFS under the Format menu, and click Erase
  10. Enter your AppleID in the popup window, if you need to

How to wipe an external drive with a Mac

Wiping an external MacOS hard drive is a breeze.

  1. Go to Applications
  2. Double click Disk Utility in the Utilities folder
  3. Click View, then Show All Devices
  4. Select your external hard drive from the External menu
  5. Click Erase in the toolbar
  6. Confirm the hard drive name
  7. Select APFS under the Format menu, and click Erase
  8. Enter your AppleID in the popup window, if you need to

How to wipe a hard drive on Windows      

Once you’ve backed up all your data, the best practice is to create a recovery drive so you can reinstall Windows on your new machine. To do this, you’ll need to:

  1. Go to Recovery Drive
  2. Click Yes to allow the Recovery Media Creator function to make changes to your device
  3. Check the box Back up system to the recovery drive, and click Next
  4. Connect your external drive to your device via USB
  5. Click Next, then click Create

Next, you’ll need to restart your PC in Recovery Mode. To do this:

  1. Insert the Windows installation USB drive into your computer
  2. Restart your computer and boot from the USB drive. You may need to press a specific key (like F2, F12, ESC, or DEL) to access the boot menu, depending on your computer’s manufacturer
  3. Select the USB drive from the boot menu and press Enter

Then, it’s time to wipe the hard drive:

  1. After booting from the USB drive, the Windows Setup screen will appear
  2. Select your language, time, and keyboard preferences, then click Next
  3. Click Install now
  4. Enter your product key (if required) or select I don’t have a product key
  5. Accept the license terms and click Next
  6. Choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)
  7. Select the drive or partition you want to wipe
  8. Click on each partition on the drive and select Delete
  9. Select the unallocated space and click Next. This will automatically create new partitions and begin the Windows installation

Windows will now install itself onto the clean drive. The process may take some time, and your computer will restart several times during the installation. From here, you’ll need to follow the on-screen prompts to set up Windows, configure user accounts and preferences, and connect to the internet.

How to wipe an external drive on Windows            

You can use several third-party tools to wipe the hard drive on a Windows device, but it’s often easiest to use the Disk Management feature by following these instructions:

  1. Connect your external hard drive to the computer
  2. Press the Windows key + X
  3. Select Disk Management from the popup window
  4. Go to the Volume column and right-click the external drive
  5. Select Format, and click Yes in the next window
  6. Uncheck the box called Perform a quick format in the Format D: window and click OK, then OK again to start the disk wipe

How to wipe an SSD

Solid-state drives are generally much faster and more efficient than their hard disk equivalents, but they are harder to wipe. To make sure every last piece of your data has been deleted, we recommend wiping an SSD with either:

The Basic Input-Output System (BIOS)

You can use the in-built utilities of your SSD’s firmware to erase all data from the drive and make sure it’s unrecoverable. The feature to look for is Secure Erase; you’ll need to access this via the system’s BIOS settings (or UEFI settings if you’re working with the more modern equivalent).

If your BIOS/UEFI does not have a Secure Erase option, you’ll need to use the SSD manufacturer’s software, which often includes a bootable tool for this.

Manufacturer software

You’ll need to download the correct utility from your SSD brand. You can usually find the manufacturer information by checking the SSD model in your system settings or by physically inspecting the drive. Some common tools include Intel SSD Toolbox, SanDisk SSD Dashboard, and Samsung Magician.

Download and install the software to get started – and, as always, make sure you’ve backed your data up before you start the wipe process.

Third-party software

Some third-party options are more user-friendly than the utilities available straight from the manufacturers – and they’re just as secure. Some are free, whereas some require payment. Try CCleaner, Parted Magic, Eraser, or GParted.

How to physically wipe a hard drive on a dead computer that won’t turn on     

These may seem like drastic measures, but they’re some of the only foolproof ways to destroy the drive platter on a device that won’t start up.

To start: Disassemble the hard drive

Take apart your hard disk’s components with a screwdriver before destroying it using any of the methods listed below.

Drill holes in the hard drive

Drill a series of holes across the entire piece of hardware to make sure hackers can’t access the data in any undamaged components. You’ll need to be thorough, otherwise your data could still be at risk.

Use a powerful magnet to degauss the hard drive

Magnetic force will damage the hard disk beyond repair (although the same can’t be said for SSDs, which use electronic circuits instead of magnetic disks). Remove the magnetic field around the hard drive by waving a degaussing wand or other powerful magnet around it for around a minute. 

Send to an electronic disposal company for shredding

Contact a reputableprovider that will provide you with a quote for breaking your device into small pieces using industrial grade equipment. This will destroy the drive platters, mechanisms and electronic components beyond recognition. You’ll to make sure your shredding company disposes of or recycles the product responsibly.

Third-party tools that help to wipe a hard drive      

Designed to make the wiping process even easier, third-party software can make getting rid of your sensitive data quick and painless. Discover some of the most popular third-party hard drive wiping tools below and click on their names to download them. 

CCleaner: Though its primary purpose is freeing up space, CCleaner can also be used to wipe your hard drive totally clean. It’s compatible with all major operating systems, including Windows, MacOS and Android, and it’s one of the most intuitive tools of its kind.

DBAN: Otherwise known as Darin’s Boot and Nuke, DBAN is a recognised program that can be initiated from a USB or a CD. It uses an algorithm to overwrite the information on your hard disk drive many times. Please note, DBAN isn’t ideal for wiping SSDs. It’s also best suited to home use. And just a heads up – development for DBAN also stopped in 2015, so it hasn’t received any new bug fixes or support for a few years now.

Disk Wipe: Simple by name and simple in nature, this works in a similar way to DBAN. It’s a Windows-only tool and works on memory devices that are accessible and formatted with either NTFS, Fat, or Fat32.

Active KillDisk Freeware: This sanitization tool’s One Pass Zero method replaces all the data on your drive with zeros, so you can wave a permanent goodbye to everything that was stored on your device.It can be installed across Windows, MacOS and Linux, and it’s great for erasing multiple disks at the same time.

CBL Data Shredder: This overwrites your hard drive witha more complicated bit pattern, so the data cannot be recovered. It’s designed for Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard: This tool’s Wipe Hard Drive feature will get rid of your data permanently. There’s also a lot more to this software than meets the eye; it offers a safe hard drive manager, a data migrator, a disk converter and a partition recovery feature, plus more.

ShredOS/Nwipe: This is a USB bootable distribution that works with all Intel 32 and 64 bit processors and erases the contents of a hard drive using the nwipe program.

Eraser: This is an advanced security tool for Windowsthat, at the time of writing, is supported under Windows XP (with Service Pack 3), Windows Server 2003 (with Service Pack 2), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, 8, 10 and Windows Server 2012-2022.An added benefit of Eraser is, it also works with a customisable scheduler, so disk sweep tasks can be planned ahead of time and executed whenever suits you best.

A final piece of advice…

If a virus has corrupted your system and its data, you may need to perform a hard drive wipe to start from scratch. You’re much less likely to fall victim to a malicious attack (and have to deal with the fallout!) if you have robust anti-virus and anti-malware protection in place.

SUPERAntiSpyware’s Professional X Edition will stop threats in their tracks long before they have a chance to get to your sensitive information. With an AI-powered detection engine, real-time threat blocker automatic database updates and scheduled scanning, it’s a user-friendly and super convenient software that’s more affordable than you might expect.