For all PC-owners, and for gamers especially, it’s important to keep yourself safe and protected when using the internet and a good antivirus should be an important part of your repertoire. You don’t want to have your save files corrupted, or your MMO game logins leaked so that any digital criminal can steal all your well-earned resources – not to mention card details and any other private information that’s stored on your PC.
So what’s the best antivirus for PC? Well, many gamers are content with Microsoft Defender. Built-in with all modern Windows platforms, Microsoft Defender provides a solid antivirus, along with malware defence, biometric logins (e.g. fingerprints), and more. By all means, it’s not a bad place to start, but what about those who aren’t fond of Windows Defender? Or those who are looking for something a little more comprehensive?
We’ve got you covered. In this guide, we’ve gone over eight of the best antivirus providers, weighing up the costs and benefits of each one in order to help you better defend your own PC.
The best antivirus providers for PC are:
- McAfee
- Malwarebytes
- Norton
- Avast
- AVG
- F-Secure
- Bitdefender
- Surfshark
Choose your planMcAfee
The best antivirus for parental control.
McAfee is a business that, I’m sure, needs no introduction. For the few who don’t know, it’s provided internet security solutions around the world since the 1980s, so you know it knows its stuff. It offers a selection of different packages. These are your options:
- AntiVirus Plus plan: this basic package gives you simple antivirus protection for up to ten devices per year. This will cost you $29.99 for the first year and $59.99 for every year after.
- Plus plan: this one costs $39.99 for the first year and then $109.99 for each year after. It encompasses the following features:
- Identity monitoring: your email and bank accounts will be extensively monitored 24/7 in order to identify any risks/unusual behaviour and keep you safe online.
- Protection Score: easily see how safe you are online with a Protection Score, and get advice given about improvements you can make.
- VPN access: gain five licences allowing you to use a VPN for further internet security.
- Protection for up to five devices.
- Premium plan: turning things up a notch, you can get the Premium plan at $49.99 for the first year and $129.99 for each year thereafter. It includes the following features:
- Parental Controls: giving you more power to keep your children safe on the internet.
- Protection for up to ten devices.
- All other features of the Plus plan are also included in this one.
- Advanced plan: McAfee’s biggest plan is $74.99 for the first year, and $179.99 for each year after. It includes the following:
- Identity monitoring, Protection Score, Parental Controls, and VPN access as detailed in the Plus and Premium plans above.
- $1 million identity theft coverage: in the unusual event that you’re the victim of identity theft despite having the Ultimate plan in place, you’ll be covered for up to one million dollars in damages.
- Protection for an unlimited number of devices for one year.
- With $85 off for the first year, McAfee pushes this one as the best value pack.
Please note, if you are shopping in the UK, the Plus Plan is called the Basic Plan, the Advanced Plan is called the Plus Plan, and the Advanced Plan is called the Premium Plan.
Choose your planMalwarebytes
The best antivirus for malware.
Big players in the internet security arena for almost two decades, Malwarebytes provides antivirus protection and other services to both individuals and businesses alike. Not only is it good for protecting your devices from being infected from viruses at the first instant, but it’s also useful for removing viruses from infected devices. It offers the following protection plans:
- Premium plan: this is $39.99 a year for 1 device or $79.99 a month for five devices. It gives you access to all of the following features:
- Advanced antivirus, anti-malware, and anti-spyware software.
- Protection from phishing scams and malicious websites on Windows devices.
- Protection from ransomware and zero-day exploits on Windows devices.
- On top of that, it claims to remove threats on “40% of devices that already have another antivirus installed.”
- Malware Browser Guard: which removes ads, blocks ad trackers, blocks malicious webpages, and protects against online scams.
- Premium + Privacy plan: in addition to all of the benefits mentioned in the Premium plan, you also gain access to a VPN, which boasts the following benefits:
- No-log protection, meaning none of your activity is recorded while you use it, thus protecting your privacy even moreso.
- Over 400 servers in over 30 countries to choose from.
- Protection when using public wi-fi hotspots.
- A friendly user-interface that allows you to switch the VPN on and off as you please.
Choose your planNorton
The best antivirus for gaming.
Good old Norton. Another mainstay in the internet security world, providing antivirus software since the early 1990s. If you plan on going for this stalwart, you may be pleased to learn that it offers a service specifically for gamers, which will probably be particularly appealing to readers. At $44.99 for the first year (and $99.99 for each year after) Norton 360 for Gamers offers all of the following:
- Protection for up to three PCs, Macs, smartphones, or tablets.
- Optimisation for your devices, helping them to run games more smoothly.
- Notifications if any of your account information becomes available on the dark web.
- 50GB cloud backup for games.
- Using full-screen detection, you won’t be disturbed if you’re playing a game, unless it’s something absolutely critical.
- VPN access for added security.
- Real-time threat protection keeps you safe from new and existing threats.
- A password management system gives your accounts an extra layer of protection from online threats.
- 24/7 customer support.
Additionally, Norton has what it calls the 100% Virus Protection Promise, where in the event that any of your devices contract a virus that bests its software, you will get your money back.
Choose your planAvast
The best free antivirus.
If you’d like to save a pretty penny and explore free solutions, then Avast is worth a look. While the basic antivirus and firewall protection is completely free to use, you can then build your own internet safety package on top of that by paying for additional internet features, many of them geared towards enhancing your computer experience beyond simple security features. Additional premium features include:
- VPN services.
- Computer cleanup.
- Battery life extension.
- Driver updates.
It’s a good choice for anybody who might not be interested in all of the features that the comprehensive packages of other providers include. Here, you pay only for the features that are most important to you.
Choose your planAVG
The best affordable antivirus.
Another option for those who are looking for a free or affordable antivirus solution. Funnily enough, it’s actually owned by Avast, but it provides quite a different service. At $59.88 for the first year (and $119.99 afterwards), you can access AVG Ultimate, which brings together all of the following:
- AVG antivirus: protects you when gaming, shopping, and browsing on the internet.
- AVG Secure VPN: gives you that extra slice of privacy and makes it safer for you to access the internet through public wi-fi spots. (A 7-day free VPN trial is also available if you wanted to trial it.)
- AVG TuneUp: cleans up any junk files on your computer and helps it run at maximum capacity.
It’s a great all-rounder, helping to maintain safety, privacy and performance for you while you surf across the oceans of the net.
F-Secure
The best antivirus for personal use.
Based in Finland, F-Secure is another well-established antivirus provider and has solutions in place for both business and personal use. Similar to Avast, F-Secure takes steps to ensure that you’re not paying for anything you don’t want to use. When you visit its website, you’re given a series of questions to answer to determine the right package for you. The questions ask you to choose which aspects of cyber security are in important for you, encompassing:
- Protecting your identity online.
- Protecting your personal devices.
- Extra protection for those who travel and access the internet around the world.
- Extra protection for online banking/using your credit card on your phone.
- Extra protection for children in your household.
- Protection for Android TV.
- Password protection software.
Once you’ve done this, you can choose the right package for you. Of course, if you want all the internet security features that the brand provides, then F-Secure Total is one to look at, with $67.49 for the first year and then $89.99 for each year afterwards.
Bitdefender
The most comprehensive antivirus.
Another antivirus provider that specialises in solutions for personal-use and businesses alike. With over two decades of experience under its belt and 500 million systems using its software, it is another fine choice and one that offers a number of different internet security packages, with two focused on antivirus software:
- Antivirus Plus: if you’re after a standard antivirus package that’ll keep your computer safe, along with a bit of added phishing protection for good measure, this is one to look at. This can be used with up to three devices. It’s just $29.99 for the first year and $59.99 for each year afterwards.
- Antivirus for Mac: a special package for Mac users. In addition to antivirus protection, it also includes adware blocking and removal services.
If you want to step things up a bit and access more of its services, consider the following:
- Total Security: this is the most popular package and it includes a Privacy Firewall, extra protection for microphones and webcams and removes unnecessary files to speed up your device. For use on up to five devices, you’ll get the first year for $39.97 and $89.99 for each year after.
- Premium Security: this one ups the ante a little by including a VPN in the package, and allowing you up to ten devices, rather than five. The extra features bring the price up to $74.98 for the first year, and $149.99 for each consecutive year.
These are just a few highlights from its selection and if you visit the website, you’ll find a long list of security packages, with many of them tailored for use on specific types of device.
Surfshark
The best antivirus with a VPN.
Surfshark is best known in the internet security world as VPN providers, and sure enough, we list it in our best VPN for gaming guide. However, it also provides an antivirus solution, and when it comes to keeping yourself protected online, VPNs and antiviruses go together like cheese and onions. If you opt for the Surfshark One package, you gain access to all the following benefits:
- Surfshark VPN: with over 3,200 servers in 65 countries around the world, this VPN supports unlimited simultaneous connections and gains you access to regional exclusive internet content, while keeping your data safe and private.
- Surfshark Antivirus: regularly scan your device as often as you like) to keep it free from unwanted files and malware.
- Surfshark Search: this search tool will give you only organic results, not littered with adverts, and keeps your search history completely discreet as it does not keep logs.
- Surfshark Alert: keeping its metaphorical eye on the internet, if you ever happen to have any personal information leaked onto the internet, this will notify you immediately and allow you to take appropriate steps.
So those are our choices for the best PC antivirus. We hope that this helps you to narrow down your options and choose the option that’s right for you. If you want more cyber security content, take a look at our best VPN deals guide.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained the final judgment for an initial coin offering (ICO) promotion scheme against late entrepreneur John McAfee and accomplice Jimmy Gale Watson, Jr., filed on October 5, 2020.
In the original complaint, the SEC alleged that McAfee and Watson promoted ICO investments on Twitter without disclosing that they were paid for them. Watson allegedly assisted McAfee in negotiating promotional deals with ICO issuers and cashing out the crypto payments, among other pump-and-dump charges.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found Watson guilty of violating the law and imposed a cumulative fine of $375,934.86. In addition, Watson has been barred from participating in ICO-related issuance, purchase, offer or sale. The litigation states:
“However, that such injunction shall not prevent Watson from purchasing or selling securities for his own personal accounts.”
Providing closure to the impending case, the SEC’s claims against McAfee were dismissed after the Commission filed a notice of death for the infamous entrepreneur.
Related: US Treasury calls for public comment on digital asset policy, following Biden’s executive order
The U.S. Treasury sought input from the public to include in reporting to the president on the possible implications of digital assets on finance and payment infrastructures. Sharing his views on the matter, Nellie Liang, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance stated:
“For consumers, digital assets may present potential benefits, such as faster payments, as well as potential risks, including risks related to frauds and scams.”
Therefore, Liang hopes to gain input from Americans and market participants to understand better the impacts of mainstreaming crypto assets.
Having the very best Android antivirus app installed on your smartphone or tablet is a no-brainer. After all, Android is the most common operating system in the world, and with that comes a hefty target for those looking to scam users.
We do so much with our Android devices - such as mobile banking and shopping - that getting malware on your smartphone or tablet could be incredibly serious indeed, which is why it's vital to install one of the best Android antivirus apps you'll find on this page.
In this article, we’re going to highlight 10 of the best Android antivirus apps in 2022 - a few of which are completely FREE apps to download.
Many of them do much more than run automatic scans, and they’ll actively try to prevent malicious web pages and files from being opened or downloaded in the first place. In short, they're the easy way to protect your Android phone or tablet.
- Check out the best Android VPN for another great way to stay safe online
Our top Android antivirus picks
The best Android antivirus is:
Bitdefender Mobile Security (opens in new tab) offers excellent protection for your Android device, with a raft of features including anti-theft, and top-notch antivirus capabilities. In fact, this android antivirus mobile app got full marks in the latest AV-Test roundup, and AV-Comparatives (the other major independent antivirus test lab) observed a protection rate of 99.9%. That’s impressive indeed.
Mobile Security gives you real-time protection for Google’s Chrome browser, and an autopilot feature that claims to be capable of making intelligent recommendations for security actions depending on your system and typical usage pattern.
There’s also a nifty privacy advisor tool that adds a layer of security to your smartwatch via its WearOn technology, which alerts you if you accidentally leave your phone behind - clever stuff.
Another interesting extra is a bundled VPN, although don’t get too excited. The provided version is restricted to extremely light use at just 200MB daily, but still, that could be useful in a pinch.
As mentioned, there are anti-theft capabilities here, and Bitdefender Mobile Security allows you to remotely locate and lock your device, or send a message to the phone or tablet (which could be very useful if you’ve lost it). It’s also possible to completely wipe the device remotely if you so choose.
There are a lot of features on offer here, then, and the asking price is more than reasonable to cover a single Android device for a year (plus if you want to give the app a spin before you buy, there’s a 14-day free trial available).
Head straight to the Bitdefender website to see more and sign up (opens in new tab)
Norton Mobile Security for Android (opens in new tab) offers a wealth of features, including an App Advisor which is powered by Norton Mobile Insight, and vets apps for any possible privacy risks, or other unwanted behavior like being overly taxing on your battery (you can even get these evaluations before you install an application, which is very handy).
This mobile security suite also gets top marks for the protection its antivirus engine delivers going by AV-Test’s findings (the other main test lab didn’t evaluate Norton recently).
Other features include call blocking to protect against spam phone calls, Wi-Fi security that alerts you when you connect to an insecure wireless network, plus anti-theft features that allow you to remotely lock a stolen (or lost) device, or wipe all your data.
All this adds up to an impressive level of protection for your Android device – but are there any downsides here? Well, the app is pricey, or at least the recommended asking price is, but given the discount on offer at the time of writing, it’s actually the same price as Bitdefender above (making it an excellent buy currently, given that you get coverage for three Android devices, not just one).
You can sign up for Norton Mobile Security on its website (opens in new tab)
Antivirus giant Avast has produced another quality app which goes above and beyond being a mundane scanner, although that said, it does virus scanning very well, and is highly rated by the independent test labs.
Avast Mobile Security’s nifty features include an anti-theft system allowing you to track and remotely lock (or wipe) your Android device if it’s stolen, or if you lose it. There are also some interesting performance enhancing features including a junk cleaner to free up storage space, and a ‘RAM boost’ which aims to speed up your device.
The app used to be paid but is now free, albeit supported by ads. You can pay a small monthly or yearly premium to remove the adverts if they annoy you, though. Another very useful premium feature is ‘in-app locking’ whereby your device will ask for a PIN before opening certain apps. This prevents malware from launching apps such as internet banking automatically.
AVG AntiVirus Free (opens in new tab) is another high-quality app for securing your Android device, and it delivers an impressive level of protection at no cost whatsoever. In fact, it uses the same well-liked antivirus engine as Avast above (remember that Avast bought up AVG back in 2016).
This isn’t the same product, though, and it doesn’t have some of the features you’ll find in Avast’s freebie offering. It is, however, still built around very robust core antivirus protection, plus anti-theft features which allow you to locate, lock or wipe a stolen (or lost) phone. Also like Avast, this app is ad-supported, but by upgrading to the premium version you can get rid of those adverts.
The paid Pro version of AVG comes with a whole load of extra features, including extended anti-theft capabilities (such as the device locking itself if the SIM card is replaced, and sounding an alarm), a Photo Vault to secure your photos, an app lock, Wi-Fi security scanner, and additional privacy settings, such as for blocking callers.
There are also a host of other features such as performance enhancement measures, which aim to kill unnecessary processes, turn off battery-draining settings, as well as deleting junk files such as those commonly found in temp and cache folders.
Note that you can try out all these Pro features for free, at least for the first two weeks when using AVG AntiVirus Free; but after that, you have to pay.
With so many features bundled in the Pro version, it’s no wonder this app is the most popular antivirus when you search for one in the Google Play store, with more than 100 million downloads, over 6.5 million reviews and an average score of over 4.5.
The Trend Micro Mobile Security (opens in new tab) app not only scans new apps for malware before they are downloaded and installed, it prevents newly installed apps from accessing other applications, which can be useful for device admins and parents.
There’s also a built-in privacy scanner for Facebook which warns you if your profile settings are displaying sensitive personal information. Indeed, there are a huge number of features here, which include web protection, anti-theft, a Wi-Fi checker for making sure any wireless networks you connect to are safe, plus system tuning utilities, a full suite of parental controls, and Pay Guard ensures that any online banking or shopping transactions are fully secure.
Furthermore, both independent testing labs rated Trend Micro Mobile Security as protecting against 100% of threats, making it top of the tree in this respect at the time of writing.
There’s a lot to like here, then, but the downside is that the asking price is rather steep compared to many of the alternatives on this page. That said, you’re getting a lot for your money, and there’s a free version of the app which allows you to have the full run of all features for seven days, so you can try it all out before having to purchase a license.
McAfee is another well-known name when it comes to antivirus software, and this Android app – McAfee Mobile Security for Android (opens in new tab) – doesn’t disappoint. Besides the android antivirus scanner itself, the free version gives you quite a lot, including anti-theft features and the ability to track a lost device, or lock it (or wipe your data) remotely.
Other highlights include the ability to scan apps to check if they leak sensitive information, and lock them if necessary. McAfee also evaluates the security of any Wi-Fi networks you connect to, and comes with several features to help your phone run better, including a storage cleaner, plus memory and battery booster.
Note that the free app, as with many, shows the user adverts, but you can get rid of these by upgrading to the premium version. That also gives you phone support, plus some extra features like Safe Web protection for added security when surfing the web. However, bear in mind that the paid app is a relatively pricey proposition.
Sophos Intercept X for Mobile (opens in new tab) antivirus app is completely free, yet it doesn’t contain any adverts, unlike many freebie apps. So while Sophos Intercept X is certainly impressive in that respect, there is a slight question mark over its malware protection chops in that the app hasn’t been tested by the major independent labs this year. That said, it scored full marks for antivirus protection throughout AV-Test’s reports in 2019.
Sophos scans apps for malware or otherwise harmful content as they are installed and further alerts you if they might leak any sensitive information. The antivirus scanner can be scheduled to scan files and folders periodically, too.
Another nifty feature is the Secure QR Code Scanner, which as the name suggests will check any target URL for possible threats when you scan a QR code, ensuring that you can use these safely. Intercept X also benefits from an authenticator which you can use for multi-factor authentication with any app that supports Google Authenticator, and you can manage all these 2FA accounts from this central hub.
As well as some of these more unusual features, the standard anti-theft functionality is present here, so this is a well-featured effort overall. It isn’t the most intuitive or user-friendly app, mind, and the fact that it hasn’t been recently evaluated by either of the main independent test labs might be a slight concern for some (and we hope that situation changes soon).
AhnLab V3 Mobile Security (opens in new tab) from South Korean AhnLab is not as famous as the others on this list, but nonetheless has very high detection rates for Android malware according to AV-Test. In fact, it defended against 100% of threats, and so ranked up there with the best performers (but note that AV-Comparatives hasn’t evaluated AhnLab since 2015).
Another strong point of this app is that it runs well even on older Android devices and is generally undemanding in terms of system resource usage. Furthermore, it has a built-in booster to help speed up your phone’s performance.
Other handy features include a privacy cleaner to securely clear your browsing history, and a privacy advisor which vets the apps installed on your device, ensuring they aren’t compromising any of your sensitive details. There’s also a hidden gallery for personal photos, so privacy is definitely a strong suit with AhnLab.
All this adds up to a robust offering for a free app, for sure, although there is a piece of the puzzle missing in terms of anti-theft capabilities.
Avira Antivirus Security (opens in new tab) is another security app which gets a big thumbs-up from the independent testing labs when it comes to the quality of its antivirus engine. The free version is ad-supported, but has plenty of features, including a Permissions Manager which rates applications on a privacy scale to help you easily decide how worthy they are of being trusted with your data.
The integrated Identity Safeguard feature regularly checks if your email address has been leaked in any major data breaches, informing you of the details of any leak, which is pretty handy. You also get a raft of anti-theft capabilities that include the ability to locate your phone, remotely trigger an alarm, or remotely lock or wipe your Android device.
Avira’s App Lock is also on hand to protect any sensitive applications by requiring a PIN to start them, and a new addition is that a VPN is now integrated with Avira Antivirus – although you only get a tiny amount of daily data.
The premium version of the app gets rid of the adverts, and incorporates better support, the automatic blocking of malicious websites, more frequent (hourly) updates, along with microphone and camera protection to stop people abusing that hardware to spy on you.
Editor's note: Kaspersky's Internet Security app used to appear on this list. Considering the current climate however, we've taken the decision to remove the provider. Although much of the company's core processes are now take place in Switzerland, the fact that its headquarters remain in Moscow and there have been previous allegations around government coercion, it feels prudent to use the provider with caution. And, when there are so many other excellent providers to choose from, it's impossible to whole-heartedly recommend Kaspersky at this time.
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Aemetis, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTX) Q2 2022 Results Conference Call August 4, 2022 2:00 PM ET
Company Participants
Todd Waltz - EVP and CFO
Eric McAfee - Founder, Chairman and CEO
Andy Foster - President, Aemetis Advanced Fuels and Aemetis Biogas
Conference Call Participants
Manav Gupta - Credit Suisse
Jordan Levy - Truist Securities
Derrick Whitfield - Stifel
Amit Dayal - HC Wainwright
Matthew Blair - Tudor, Pickering, Holt
Marco Rodriguez - Stonegate Capital
Edward Woo - Ascendiant Capital
Operator
Welcome to the Aemetis Second Quarter 2022 Earnings Review Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.
It is now my pleasure to introduce you to your host, Mr. Todd Waltz, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Aemetis, Inc. Mr. Waltz, you may begin.
Todd Waltz
Thank you, Kelly. Welcome to the Aemetis second quarter 2022 earnings review conference call. Joining us for the call today is Eric McAfee, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis; and Andy Foster, President of Aemetis Advanced Fuels and Aemetis Biogas.
We suggest visiting our website at aemetis.com to review today's earnings press release, the Aemetis corporate and investor presentations, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, accurate press releases and previous earnings conference calls. The presentation for today's call is available for review or get on the Investors section of the aemetis.com website.
Before we begin our discussion today, I'd like to read the following disclaimer statement. During today's call, we'll be making forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements with respect to our future stock performance, plans, opportunities and expectations with respect to financing activities and the execution of our business plan. These statements must be considered in conjunction with the disclosures and cautionary warnings that appear in our SEC filings.
Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements made on this call involve risks and uncertainties and that future events may differ materially from the statements made. For additional information, please refer to the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, which are posted on our website and are available from the Company without charge.
Our discussion on this call will include a review of non-GAAP measures as a supplement to financial results based on GAAP. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is included in our earnings release for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, which is available on our website.
Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income or loss plus to the extent deducted in calculating net income, interest expense, gain on debt extinguishment, income tax expense, intangible and other amortization expense, accretion and other expense of Series A preferred units, loss on lease termination, gain on litigation, depreciation expense and share-based compensation expense.
Now I'd like to review the financial results for the second quarter of 2022. Revenue during the second quarter of 2022 increased 20% to $65.9 million compared to $54.9 million for the second quarter of 2021. Our California Ethanol operation experienced steady sales volume with an increase in the selling price of ethanol from $2.78 per gallon in the second quarter of 2021 to $3.13 per gallon in the second quarter of 2022. Delivery corn price significantly increased from an average price of $8.04 per bushel during the second quarter of 2021 to $10.21 per bushel during the second quarter of 2022, as continued poor railroad performance impacted both the delivery cost and supply of corn into California.
Gross loss for the second quarter of 2022 was $214,000 compared to $3.6 million gross profit during the second quarter of 2021. Our California Ethanol segment accounted for substantially all of the reported consolidated gross loss of profit respectively in both periods.
Selling, general and administrative expenses were $7.1 million during the second quarter of 2022 compared to $5.8 million during the second quarter of 2021 as a result of investments in our ultra-low carbon initiatives and noncash charges for stock compensation.
Operating loss was $7.6 million for the second quarter of 2022 compared to an operating loss of $2.1 million in the second quarter of 2021. Interest expense during the second quarter of 2022 was $6.7 million, excluding accretion and other expenses in connection with Series A preferred units in our Aemetis Biogas LLC subsidiary compared to $5.2 million during the second quarter of 2021. Additionally, our Aemetis Biogas LLC subsidiary recognized $1.5 million of accretion and other expenses in connection with preference payments on its preferred stock during the second quarter of 2022 compared to $3.8 million during the second quarter of 2021.
The EdenIQ litigation was settled during the second quarter of 2022 for $4.8 million, including litigation costs, allowing for the release of $1.4 million of litigation reserves. Additionally, a grant of $14.2 million was received from the United States Department of Agriculture Biofuel Producer Program.
Net loss was $209,000 for the second quarter of 2022 compared to a net loss of $10.6 million for the second quarter of 2021. Cash at the end of the second quarter of 2021 was $3.6 million compared to $7.8 million at the close of the fourth quarter of 2021. Investments in capital projects of $12.1 million were made during the second quarter of 2022, further highlighting our commitment to build ultra low-carbon projects.
This completes our review of the second quarter of 2022. Now I'd like to introduce the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aemetis, Eric McAfee, for business update. Eric?
Eric McAfee
Thanks, Todd. Aemetis is focusing on producing below zero carbon intensity products, including negative carbon intensity renewable natural gas and renewable aviation fuel with carbon sequestration. Our projects maximize the value of favorable federal and state carbon reduction programs, while reducing feedstocks and operating costs by using waste materials as feedstock, hydrogen supply and energy sources for the production of renewable fuels.
In early 2022, we announced an updated five-year plan, which projected revenues to grow to about $1.5 billion and annual EBITDA to increase to more than $460 million by year 2026. We are monitoring federal legislation that strongly supports almost every aspect of our business and, if passed, would be expected to significantly Improve our five-year plan. If the legislation becomes law, we will provide further updates.
Our plan is to fund growth by using the approximately $100 million of lower interest rate senior secured lines of credit that were signed in March of this year, in addition to low interest rate U.S. government guaranteed long-term loans. In the past 1.5 years, we have repaid more than $80 million to reduce higher interest rate bridge loans from Third Eye Capital, which has expanded our access to lower interest rate funding. We recently closed two credit facilities at 8% and 10% interest rates with the same lender, who will have an aggregate availability of up to $100 million subject to certain criteria.
The carbon reduction line of credit is designed to fund the completion of the carbon reduction projects at the Keyes ethanol plant and to provide the development funding prior to project financing for the jet/diesel plant and the two CO2 sequestration wells. The working capital line of credit is intended to provide liquidity for ongoing operations.
We're also on track with financing growth using long-term 20-year low interest rate project financing from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our first $25 million of an expected $100 million or more of USDA Renewable Energy for America funding for our biogas subsidiary was approved last week by the National USDA Investment Committee and is in the closing process now for funding this month.
The positive regulatory trends for renewable fuels have continued to improve, including the accurate approval of year-round 15% ethanol known as E15 by the EPA and the release of the California Air Resources Board 2022 LCFS scoping plan that significantly increases the number of credits required under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program. We expect that LCFS credit prices will increase significantly as traders learn more about the number of LCFS credits that will be required starting in January 2024 in order to meet the expanded decarbonization goals set forth by CARB.
Last week, investors were pleasantly surprised to hear the news that the energy provisions of the Build Back Better legislation received the support of key congressional leaders and the White House, and the bill is now on a fast track for approval. Though the legislation is not final, a brief summary of the provisions and the potential impact on Aemetis includes the following direct benefits to Aemetis projects, a $1.25 to $1.75 tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel. The proposed sustainable aviation fuel tax credit could result in up to $80 million per year to support the construction and operation of the 90 million-gallon per year Aemetis Carbon Zero one sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel plant in Riverbank, California, assuming a 50% SAF production allocation and a 50% renewable diesel production allocation. Renewable diesel is expected to continue to receive the dollar per gallon blenders tax credit.
Next, a 30% investment tax credit for renewable natural gas capital investments. The ITC for renewable natural gas projects is expected to result in more than $90 million of cash received by Aemetis in the next five years from investment tax credits. This cash will be additional equity investment into the Aemetis Biogas project, which makes project financing much easier by reducing the amount of long-term project debt by $90 million and reducing interest costs by more than $60 million over the life of the 66 dairy digester project.
Also, an increase in the carbon sequestration tax credit from $50 to $85 per metric ton of CO2, but paying the credit in cash as an IRS tax refund to companies in a process called Direct Pay. We are developing two CO2 injection wells located at the Aemetis biofuels plant sites in California to sequester 2 million metric tons per year of CO2 into a saline formation about 7,000 feet underground. 2 million tons x $85 per ton equals $170 million per year of cash that could potentially be paid to Aemetis by the IRS each year for the first five years of the project, providing $850 million of IRS funding to repay the capital costs and operating costs of the two projects.
With another seven years thereafter as a tax credit valued at $1.2 billion, the total value of the $85 per metric ton tax credit would be $2 billion in just the first 12 years of operations of the two Aemetis carbon sequestration wells. Several provisions in the legislation are valuable to the ethanol business, including $500 million for biofuels fueling infrastructure to support 15% and 85% ethanol blends, a tax credit for low carbon intensity ethanol and adopting the GREET model, so the carbon intensity of ethanol is calculated correctly. These regulations are driven by initiatives to decarbonize transportation, the need to reduce the cost of fuels as petroleum prices increase and a renewed interest in energy security.
In the second quarter of 2022, Aemetis achieved important milestones toward revenue growth and sustained profitability in each of our businesses.
Now Andy Foster, the President of the Aemetis Biogas and Aemetis Advanced Fuels businesses, will review some highlights. Andy?
Andy Foster
Thanks, Eric. The Aemetis Biogas renewable natural gas project in California has progressed with the completion of construction of more than 20 miles of the 40-mile biogas pipeline and is on track for completion later this year. Additionally, we've completed construction and testing of the $12 million centralized dairy biogas-to-RNG upgrading facility and construction of four additional dairy digesters that are scheduled for completion this quarter is well underway.
Importantly, we have successfully completed and been approved by PG&E for product and mechanical testing of the interconnection unit, which will inject RNG into their utility pipeline. By the end of this quarter, we plan to have seven operating dairy biogas digesters connected to the utility pipeline, generating approximately 200,000 MMBtus per year of RNG valued at more than $20 million per year of ongoing revenues.
We plan to begin injecting RNG into the pipeline later this month, storing RNG underground initially until we receive CARB pathway approval for LCFS credit generation, which takes about six to nine months. Since we believe that the LCFS credits are presently undervalued as the market waits for the revised LCFS targets to be adopted, beginning sales of RNG early next year will potentially provide increased revenues compared to RNG sales that would have occurred this month.
With the completion of the central RNG production facility and the utility gas pipeline connection as well as more than 20 miles of biogas pipeline, our focus will be on the construction of dairy digesters to fill the pipeline. We have signed 24 leases or participation agreements with dairies and have many more dairies in progress. While continued supply chain challenges for items such as compressors could impact project schedules, our existing backlog of new dairy digesters takes us into year 2024. So we expect to be on track with the five-year plan.
To date, Aemetis has been awarded $23 million of grants related to the biogas project from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Energy Commission, Pacific Gas and Electric and other government agencies for the dairy biogas project and the production of renewable gas.
As Eric mentioned earlier, we expect to close $25 million of a 20-year debt at a low interest rate under the USDA Renewable Energy for America Program. This month was our first USDA funding for the biogas project, and we expect to receive approximately $6 million of grants during the next few months for the RNG projects.
Let's briefly discuss our California Ethanol plant. As Todd mentioned earlier, we generated a 20% year-over-year increase in revenues from ethanol sales in Q1 2022 compared to Q1 of 2021. That said, higher energy and corn prices, combined with inexcusable railroad price increases, coupled with poor performance issues, increased the delivered cost of corn to more than $10 per bushel. Ongoing labor issues with the major rail carriers continues to cast a negative shadow on our industry and the economy as a whole. We are hopeful that the President's Emergency Board will resolve this issue as soon as possible.
On a positive note, strong demand and favorable pricing for ethanol, wet distillers grains and distillers corn oil helped to offset the increased cost of corn and energy in the quarter. Our California Ethanol plant is being upgraded to operate using high-efficiency electric motors and pumps powered by low or zero carbon intensity renewable power sources, including our solar microgrid and local renewable electricity. As a strong endorsement of this strategy, Aemetis has been awarded approximately $16 million of energy efficiency and other grants by PG&E, the California CPUC and other entities to supplement our own funding to complete these projects.
Let me take a moment to provide a few updates on the Keyes ethanol plant projects that are expected to materially increase cash flow when the projects are completed. The Mitsubishi ZEBREX ethanol dehydration unit has been installed and a test run has been completed. We are currently installing a specialized pretreatment unit and additional process upgrades. We expect to have this ZEBREX unit fully operational this month. The ZEBREX unit is designed to significantly reduce steam consumption in the plant by approximately 20,000 pounds of steam per hour. This is a 75% reduction in natural gas generated steam use for the ethanol dehydration and is expected to reduce our operating costs by decreasing petroleum natural gas use and increasing our revenues through lower carbon intensity ethanol.
The solar microgrid with battery backup is progressing nicely, and we have a signed EPC contract with Total for the installation of the $12 million solar microgrid system. This project is supported by an $8 million grant from the California Energy Commission. The solar unit is designed to generate approximately 1.9 megawatts of zero carbon intensity electric power at low cost for operation of the ethanol plant.
Mechanical vapor recompression system, which will further reduce petroleum natural gas and steam use, is now in the detailed engineering phase and contractors have submitted initial bids. When completed with the ZEBREX system, we expect to reduce about 85% of our natural gas use at the Keyes plant when the MVR system becomes operational next year. Currently, natural gas cost the Keyes plant more than $10 million per year. So we expect to save on natural gas costs while also reducing our ethanol carbon intensity.
In summary, operational performance and project milestones for the Aemetis Biogas and Ethanol plant businesses are well on track with our five-year plan. Eric?
Eric McAfee
Thank you, Andy. Let's discuss our Carbon Zero one sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel project in Riverbank, California.
We are pleased that the Aemetis Carbon Zero biorefinery under development at Riverbank near Modesto continues to achieve major milestones. In December 2021, after three years in negotiations with the City of Riverbank and the U.S. Army, Aemetis signed the acquisition of the 125-acre Riverbank Industrial Complex. This site is a former U.S. Army ammunition production facility with 710,000 square feet of existing manufacturing space, a rail loop with storage space for 120 railcars on site, a 20-megawatt electricity substation and 100% zero carbon intensity renewable power with a direct power line connection to the hydroelectric dam.
In Q2 of this year, Aemetis took operational control of the 125-acre Riverbank Industrial Complex for construction of our sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel plant as well as the Riverbank portion of our CO2 sequestration well project. We have signed and announced more than $3.4 billion of sales contracts with Delta Airlines, American Airlines, Japan Airlines, Qantas and other airlines.
Along with signed letters of intent, we have contracts for about 45 million gallons per year of blended sustainable aviation fuel to be produced at the Riverbank plant. Under the sales agreements, the neat SAF will be trucked from the Riverbank production plant to the San Francisco Bay Area for blending with jet fuel. The blended SAF will then be delivered via pipeline to the San Francisco Airport for use by airlines.
In addition to the $3.4 billion of blended sustainable aviation fuel sales contracts, we signed a $3.2 billion renewable diesel sales agreement to deliver 45 million gallons per year under a 10-year sales contract with a major travel fueling chain for its Northern California locations.
Incentives included in the pending federal legislation expand the market for sustainable aviation fuel by allowing a price to airlines that is competitive with petroleum jet fuel. We look forward to completing engineering and permitting in order to begin construction of the plant early next year.
Let's review our new subsidiary, Aemetis Carbon Capture. In October 2020, the Aemetis plant in California was identified in the study issued by the Stanford University Center for Carbon Capture as one of three ethanol plant CO2 sources in California that have the highest potential return on investment from building a carbon capture and sequestration facility compared to the oil refinery, cement plants and natural gas power plants that comprise 61 largest CO2 emission sources in California.
Our ethanol plant currently captures about 150,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, which is compressed in the Messer liquefaction plant into transportable liquid carbon dioxide, from which we already generate IRS 45Q tax credits worth $30 per metric ton from CO2 reuse. Current operations generated about $4 million per year of tax credits under the 45Q program. That could increase to about $8 million per year under the pending legislation.
The carbon sequestration study that Aemetis commissioned from Baker Hughes indicated that the Aemetis Keyes plant and the Riverbank plant site are located above a 7,000-foot deep strata known as a caprock and an 8,000 foot deep strata known as a basement rock. Between the two layers is a saline formation that was cited by Stanford University as ideal for safe carbon dioxide sequestration. Over a long period of time, the CO2 reacts with saline to form a mineral that is permanently sequestered underground and does not return to the atmosphere.
In Phase 1 of the Aemetis carbon capture project, we plan to inject up to 400,000 metric tons per year of CO2 emissions from our biogas, ethanol and jet/diesel plants into two sequestration wells, which we plan to drill near our two biofuels plant sites in California. We expect to construct two CO2 injection wells that each have a minimum of 1 million metric tons per year of injection capacity with additional CO2 supplied by other emission sources to sequester a total of 2 million metric tons per year of CO2.
The initial phase of construction includes drilling two characterization wells to provide empirical data for the EPA Class 6 permit. The injection wells will then be drilled at the same site after receiving EPA and other permits. We are currently in the engineering and permitting process for the two characterization wells with an expectation we will drill the first characterization well at the Riverbank site.
A direct feature of the pending legislation would provide $85 per metric ton of CO2 as a cash refund to Aemetis each year. As we mentioned earlier, the 2 million metric ton per year Aemetis carbon capture project would generate $170 million per year from the Federal Direct Pay tax credit as well as an estimated $400 million per year at a projected $200 per ton of sequestered CO2 from the Low Carbon Fuel Standard in California. The fixed amount of $850 million provided by the Direct Pay funding over the first five years of the project could support funding of the estimated $250 million capital cost of the two injection wells and related equipment.
Let's review our biodiesel business in India. The National Biofuels Policy in India was updated in 2022 and is now being implemented to achieve a 5% blend of biodiesel that is equal to about 1.25 billion gallons of biodiesel per year. This month, our India Biodiesel subsidiary bid on a tender offer from the three government oil marketing companies, where about 180 million gallons per month of biodiesel was tendered for purchase by the OMCs.
For the past 15 years, the pricing formulas have largely been driven by petroleum diesel prices. For the first time, a feedstock plus pricing formula was used for the OMC tender, reflecting the real cost for feedstock to produce biodiesel in India. The pricing formula and the timing of the two months tender by the oil marketing companies is expected to be the ongoing format for sales to the OMCs. We expect the formula to be a successful mechanism for the rapid growth of biodiesel production in India due to the predictability of the pricing formula.
We began operations of our India Biodiesel plant in early August and expect to produce at full capacity to fulfill the tender offer. We believe this revised OMC purchasing process will allow us to maintain strong production levels on an ongoing basis. Since our India subsidiary has no debt and the 50 million-gallon per year biodiesel plant is fully constructed and commissioned, we are well positioned for a rapid revenue increase as we restart biodiesel production after a long delay.
In summary, Aemetis is expanding a diversified portfolio of negative carbon intensity projects, Dairy Renewable Natural Gas, sustainable aviation and diesel fuel, low-carbon ethanol using zero carbon intensity electricity and CO2 sequestration. All these projects are synergistic and create a circular bioeconomy within Aemetis, in which we use byproducts and waste products from our facilities in local areas as feedstocks to produce low and negative carbon intensity renewable fuels. Our company's values include a long-term commitment to building value for shareholders, the empowerment of and respect for our employees and business partners and making significant and positive contributions to the communities we serve.
Now let's take a few questions from our call participants. Kelly?
Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
[Operator Instructions] Your first question is coming from Manav Gupta with Credit Suisse.
Manav Gupta
So the first question, Eric and team, I wanted to ask is this letter that Gavin Newsom seems to have sent on July 22 to Liane Randolph, the CARB Chair. And looking at the letter, he clearly wants a faster pace of decarbonization in California. I think he's calling for 20% sustainable aviation fuel, and again, pretty much higher carbon reduction targets everywhere. And I mean, looking at the comments you have provided where you just went through the calculations, where you're calling on like a $200 LCFS price, again. So when we put these things together, are you optimistic that this letter and everything else that you're seeing out there will have an impact, the carbon targets will be raised and the LCFS price will rebound in your opinion?
Eric McAfee
I think that if you talk to CARB staff, they will tell you they have worked as hard as they can to communicate to the market that the goals that they have set forth in scoping plan are realistic, achievable and that they are now being asked to stretch even beyond those goals. And so there's a very significant gap between traders and investors and their current view of the current requirements of LCFS credits and what the January 2024 and onward credit requirements the CARB stated very clearly in the scoping plan and other disclosures. And so the governor's letter, I think, just seals that CARB is committed to this.
You may know that the Board of Directors of CARB is largely appointed by the governor. So this is not a casual commentary by the governor. This is a direct instruction. And so I think it's very hazardous to be obligated to deliver LCFS credits and not own them. So I think as traders over the next 18 months, increasingly get more and more information about the specific numbers on an annual basis, we have two analyst reports that say we will be at the cap. There is a $200-plus cost of living index, current cap is roughly $250. The system is just structurally set up so that we'll be at the price cap.
And the only question really is, does that happen in the next six months as traders start to see the information come out in the first quarter of next year? Or does it take us 18 months as traders wait for the real legislation and regulatory activities to be completed in the first quarter of 2024?
Manav Gupta
Perfect, Eric. The second thing which I wanted to touch base was clearly this Inflation Reduction Act. There was a lot of revisions, which help you guys, whether it's renewable diesel, whether it's $85 a ton. The one which I just quickly wanted to focus was because this really disproportionately benefits you is the 30% ITC. Help us understand why this works for you, how this means that the money that you're spending you can get credit for it, how you can monetize it. And does it also mean that given this benefit, if it comes through, is there a possibility that Aemetis increases the pace of dairy farm development because you're basically getting cash for the money you're putting in? Help us understand how this all works.
Eric McAfee
Thank you, Manav. First of all, it's about a $100 million contribution of equity. So we don't have to enter into $100 million worth of debt financing, which is available to us and which we're currently executing on. That decreases the interest payments from the project by about $60 million, which means it increases the profitability of the project by about $60 million. And by providing $100 million of essentially new equity of the project, of course, the debt financing is that much easier. It's approximately 1/3 of our total capital expenditure. And so we now already have equity, but this is a tremendous boon to our equity commitment, making our debt even less expensive.
In terms of the pace of the project, we'll be revising our five-year plan. We are scheduled to do that in the first quarter next year. What I think we're going to do in the interim if this passes is probably in the September time frame issue some indications. We talked today about some of those indications. But the real five-year plan, I think, will still be updated first quarter next year. But the indications could be added to the 2022 plan to kind of see what the annual impact would be for us.
It's certainly -- in terms of being able to execute more rapidly, this would definitely have a positive impact on being able to do it by reducing the lead times involved with the debt financing. So the net effect is acceleration of methane capture, quicker improvement in air quality in California and all the benefits of biogas would happen quicker with the passage of this legislation.
Manav Gupta
And the last question, sir, by, let's say, year-end 2022, how many dairy farm RNGs would you be able to connect and start producing from? Even if you're not directly making a sale at this point, which you explained why you won't be for the credits, but how many of those would be complete and ready to produce by year-end 2022? And I'll leave it there.
Eric McAfee
Yes. We have seven that will be fully producing actually. And we -- as you know from our process, we inject into storage. And then we'll be in the process of construction of five more in the fourth quarter this year. But we'll have seven that are fully producing and going in storage, and we'll be rapidly scaling that up to 12 early next year.
Operator
Your next question is from Jordan Levy with Truist Securities.
Jordan Levy
First, maybe you'll have a lot of high-impact projects going on in different stages. Maybe so we kind of know the trajectory over the near to medium term here. Can you just touch on pretty briefly what the big milestones for the Company we should be looking towards or and, call it, the remainder of this year and into early next year, if there's anything on each of the big projects going on?
Eric McAfee
Not any particular order, but seven fully operating digesters injecting -- upgrading to RNG and injecting into the pipeline. Major milestone that I think is valuable because the positive cash flow from that business is really a major step forward for us, and additional five under construction, leading to a total of 12 that will be going into next year.
I think on CO2 sequestration, the characterization, well number one leads us to a whole pathway that as -- if you see the math that we just talked about today, is a tremendous injection of about $570 million a year of new revenues in the Company. And we are in just excellent position to be one of only a couple of CCS, carbon capture and sequestration, companies in California. So I think that would be something to look for is the characterization well process.
We also have completion of several upgrades at our Keyes ethanol plant. We've completed our heat exchanger upgrade. We have a ZEBREX upgrade being completed this month. That was a five-year investment of time in effort and money. We have our solar project that will be well underway and get completed next year and then mechanical dairy compression. So you'll see a couple of press releases just as we move through permitting and construction on those projects.
We also have a set of off-takers, customers in the airline business. We have a couple of letters of intent that'll be converted into offtake orders. And I think we're talking about a couple -- maybe $0.5 billion more of contracts there to kind of wrapping up that process. Everybody is already in LOI, so we're just converting it to [tentative] agreements, but should have that all wrapped up this year. And further progress on permitting and final signed EPC agreement, which we would expect to be done in the first quarter of next year. So you'll see some progress, press releases as that comes to pass.
And then lastly, I should mention our India plant has begun operation. It's in full production right now. And so over the next couple of months, we'll see ongoing progress as we ship to customers first purchase orders for two months. And we expect to see another purchase order to come out here October and ongoing months. So this new OMC purchasing process is much more rapid than the one year at a time, fixed price structures they had before. Now it's a flexible feedstock plus contracting mechanism, and it happens every two months. So I think you'll see more news coming out of India as we operate that business.
Jordan Levy
Maybe just briefly as a follow-up. Can you just talk to the regulatory environment for the CCS side of things and how that maybe evolved since you first announced that business and what you're kind of looking towards there in terms of Class 6 well permitting and that sort of thing?
Eric McAfee
In some accurate federal legislation, the EPA has been -- provides some additional resources in order to staff the Class 6 well process. We have been directly supported by the White House as well as top EPA well drilling executives in both federal as well as the state level. And we've gotten a lot more support and, frankly, a lot more interest in our project than we expected.
And so I would say from when we initially announced a subsidiary where we expected quite a long and arduous process with the EPA, we've gotten the opposite. I would tell you, they are enthusiastically supporting what we're doing and making every attempt possible to make this process move smoothly. So we expect further support. And I'm not talking financially here, I'm really talking the staff work that needs to happen to get our Class 6 characterization well process done. And so we're very, very pleased with that support, and that starts with the White House.
Operator
Your next question is coming from Derrick Whitfield with Stifel.
Derrick Whitfield
For my first question, I wanted to ask if you could offer color on the dairy RNG competitive landscape. More specifically, are you guys sensing less competition as a result of the weaker LCFS pricing environment? Or do you sense competitors are looking through this period of weakness?
Andy Foster
Derrick, this is Andy. Good question. I think we have seen some backing off, I would say, by outside investors. I mean, as you know, in California, where there's primarily been three developers that have largely been driving the business here and it did -- two others in addition to Aemetis. And I think that still continues to be largely the case here. They're with lots of discussions. Some other groups were poking around in here last year. And it's not to say that there isn't some additional outside private investment that's going on, but I do think that there has been some pullback from other parties.
Derrick Whitfield
Great. And then for clarification on Manav's earlier question, if the IRA is approved next week, what's your understanding or assumption on how soon you could begin to receive funds from the $90 million you noted in your prepared comments?
Eric McAfee
The current structure is that we file our tax returns and then get a refund. So we have planned at our projections, that would be Q2 of the following year. So for CapEx happening this year, we wouldn't receive a refund until probably the almost [June] time frame, so Q2 of next year. And you plan that out over a five-year span and it ends up being about $100 million.
Derrick Whitfield
Terrific. And lastly, regarding REIT financing, are there any remaining steps that are required for approval between now and later this month when you guys receive funding?
Andy Foster
No, it's just -- this is Andy again. It's just -- right now, it's just paperwork. No more approval process. It's just us kind of ramping up the paperwork with our lender.
Operator
Your next question is coming from Amit Dayal with HC Wainwright.
Amit Dayal
With respect to the India operations, what is the time line within which the plant could be restarted, et cetera, over there?
Eric McAfee
The plant was restarted in early August, so we are in full production right now. During this time of COVID, we took advantage of the opportunity to have our, what is it, [90] employees spend their time on replacing equipment and upgrading seals and doing tests and really got an opportunity to go through the plant and be ready for full operations. So the operational restart was smooth. Probably the only delay we have was getting the local power authority to give us the power to switch back on. That took us an extra week. But other than that, we've acquired billions of dollars of feedstock ahead of this restart and are well positioned to be running at full production capacity under this two-month contract. And then the customers are telling us it's just going to keep on flowing from that point onward.
So there's always minor technical issues around testing and temperature and some other stuff as we get into winter, but we're managing through that. Certainly, for the next two months, we've got a plan laid out for execution. And at 180 million gallons a month, our entire production capacity is only about 4 million gallons a month. The demand is 180 million. So you can see there's a significant -- we can basically grow our business over there for the foreseeable future without a lack of appetite by the OMCs in terms of meeting their needs.
Amit Dayal
So are there any additional start-up costs that we should be sort of thinking about as you enter the -- in this phase of restarting the plant over there?
Eric McAfee
Yes, the plant is fully restarted already, and we didn't have any onetime CapEx or operating costs that were notable. We planned for this and we're, if anything, waiting for this for a while. So there was no unexpected startup.
Amit Dayal
And then revenues, et cetera, from this will show in maybe the 4Q results?
Eric McAfee
It would be in the Q3 results and also just continue on into Q4. So our goal is full operation for the foreseeable future. What we have in hand is the two-month tender offer that has been accepted. And so we're expecting, though, that the oil marketing companies will be an ongoing customer base that we could supply with all of our capacity.
Operator
Your next question is coming from Matthew Blair with Tudor, Pickering, Holt.
Matthew Blair
I was hoping we could revisit the CapEx guidance for 2022. I think at one point, you were expecting around $85 million. Think you spent about $22 million in the first half of the year. Is that $85 million, is that still a good number? Or should we expect something lower? And at this stage, do you have any early thoughts on 2023 CapEx?
Eric McAfee
I think we're on track for 2022. The -- there's a blend of different projects, as you know, that goes into that number. And so our five-year plan for 2022 does have some flow of biogas between the fourth quarter this year and the first quarter of next year based entirely upon how the pace of construction goes. So there's some variability there. No real diversion on anything else we're doing. The budgets haven't changed, and I don't think the timing has materially changed. So we'd probably be on track to certainly be within $10 million of that CapEx number.
Matthew Blair
Sounds good. And then I wanted to clarify on the timing of the RNG monetization. It sounds like you're waiting for the LCFS pathway to come through. Would you be able to monetize any D3 RINs in Q3 or Q4? Or should we really expect everything to happen in sometime in the first half of 2023?
Eric McAfee
Andy, you want to...
Andy Foster
Yes, I would say that's the right expectation. Well, we'll take it to storage, and then following the approval by CARB for the pathways, well, that's when we'll actually exchange the gas out of storage and start to monetize it.
Matthew Blair
Got it. And then last question, could you provide any sort of a rough range on profitability per gallon for this India Biodiesel restart?
Eric McAfee
Not with any specificity at this point in time. It's a price of INR 106 in per liter. That is a publicly announced price. And so you can do some math on what the market looks like and probably can get pretty close. But right now, the numbers are definitely positive, and we expect to be able to put these numbers in the third quarter and as well as the fourth quarter. And it's a restart of the entire industry. So the formula of feedstock plus is structured so that we would be provided not only just profitability, but frankly, growth capital to be able to expand our capacity from 50 million gallons to 100 million gallons and even more. So the design of the program is to be able to fund the growth.
Operator
Your next question is coming from Marco Rodriguez with Stonegate Capital.
Marco Rodriguez
I was wondering if maybe, Eric, you could spend a little time just coming back to the CapEx plan for the five-year plan. Just kind of give us a little bit better of a sense or an update on the funding sources. I know you've got the new line here. But if you can maybe frame the sources, the mix of the sources, whether that's from capital markets, grants, cash flow would be helpful.
Eric McAfee
Certainly. Each one of our businesses have different sources. But in general, we combine a combination of grants and now, frankly, investment tax credits, either direct pay or transferable, because it appears that all these biofuel tax credits will either have transferability or direct pay as a feature. Essentially, they turn into cash rather than us having to wait for some number of years before we can get the tax benefit.
So the grants we've already received is about 50 -- grant awards we've received about $57 million and that's across the portfolio. These ITCs, as I described it, are just very, very large contributions of additional equity that are an adjustment to our five-year plan. And so in addition to grants and ITC, we also have government-guaranteed debt. And USDA is probably the partner that we have the most relationship with. Certainly on biogas, that is true. And so we can grow our business just using that.
But in addition to that, we have the California municipal bond market for what are called private activity bonds. They're typically in the $50 million range, whereas the Renewable Energy for America Program under USDA is a $25 million loan per project company. So I wouldn't be surprised to see some California municipal bond money mixed in with the USDA to fund our biogas business.
Same template, frankly, for our jet and diesel business, where we have a signed $125 million commitment letter from the U.S. Department of Ag under the 9003 Biorefinery Assistance Program with the U.S. Department of Ag. So expanding that relationship, adding some Renewable Energy for America Program funding there. There's even tax-exempt financing available for that project. When you add in the value of the $1.25 to $1.75 tax credit, that's essentially additional equity being contributed into the project, which makes us debt financing that much easier to arrange.
And then carbon sequestration, we spent about $18 million in carbon sequestration characterization wells for our two wells plus the consulting for permitting. And that's pretty much our only investment. And we're expecting in 2024 to then get a Class 6 license, and at that point in time between the $850 million of direct payments and using that for a financing source and just good old USDA relationships we have, we think we'll be able to fund the scale-up of that business using those long-term financing sources.
So in general, we're looking for the confidence of the U.S. government that their policies will be enforced to be reflected by the U.S. government's loan guarantee programs. And we've seen that, that actually is a good business strategy. And if the municipal bond market in California has a strong appetite for these kind of projects, which it currently does, then we can add that in as needed. But if for some reason, it does not have an appetite, then with these U.S. government-guaranteed 20-year bond structures have worked for us, and I expect it would continue to work for us in the future.
Marco Rodriguez
Great. And last quick question. Just on the gross margins that you guys saw in this quarter from ethanol. Just kind of can you talk about how you're thinking about the mechanics behind that, just kind of given the rising price in corn and the rail issues, how you're thinking about that in the second half?
Eric McAfee
I would say that we are all suffering under the railroads insufficient reaction to the recovery after COVID. They should have hired a lot quicker, trained a lot quicker, and that added some rail cost. That is temporary. They are fixing it. The [indiscernible] Management Board is aggressively following their progress. So I would anticipate over the next six months that there will be gradual improvement in that.
The other side of the equation is what everybody knows, which is when you shut off Ukrainian corn, you're going to have a reaction, somewhat speculative by the market. And as we get through this corn harvest and the yields seem to be doing better than some expected and as some corn starts flowing into Ukraine, we will see how that market reaction occurs. We are largely subject to how the Ukrainians do to see a steep down curve. If we saw a resolution in Ukraine next week and a flood of corn in the market because it's -- where in the middle of harvest, that would have an impact. But I personally think we're in a temporarily elevated situation through the combination of rail and the Ukrainian lack of supply in the marketplace.
Andy, do you want to add anything to that?
Andy Foster
No, I would say that this is -- August typically in the ethanol industry is usually one of our rougher months from a corn pricing perspective because there's a lot of wishing, hoping and praying about what the harvest is going to look like, what the carryout is going to look like. And so I think if you go back and look, typically in August, we -- I kind of identified January, February and August is my three least favorite months of the year when it comes to purchasing ethanol.
So the real price of corn has come down some, but corn basis is very high right now. So we're not really getting a lot of relief because farmers aren't selling. And that's typical at this time of the year. As we get closer to the harvest, they have to start making room and elevators for the new crop corn. I think this is going to be an average corn year. I don't think it's going to be a spectacular year. I think it's going to -- there's some very dry -- the Western corn belt is pretty dry right now, but the rest of the corn belt is kind of doing as expected.
So barring any major disruptions, any further escalation in Ukraine, as Eric was talking about, that's more of a psychic thing than a real grain supply issue, and a lot of that's wheat. But I think as we start to get into the harvest, we'll start to see things normalize a little bit more. And if there's opportunities for us to take advantage of some of that pricing, we'll try to do so.
Eric McAfee
In the medium term, though, I think that investors should reflect on the fact we don't actually sell corn as one of our products. We sell ethanol. So it's a demand for ethanol that generates our margins. Our most profitable year, we generated $40 million of EBITDA from our ethanol plant in California, and we had corn prices were roughly the same as where they are right now. So E15 and E85 funding of $500 million will significantly expand the market for ethanol.
Andy Foster
Yes. And I don't know if you saw the EIA numbers yesterday, but demand fell right off the cliff as we sort of all expected sooner or later that was going to happen with high gas prices. And so gasoline demand, ethanol demand was down almost double digits. And that is just a week of data. And I don't -- I tend to look at more weeks combined of data or a month of data. But I think with sort of back-to-school time, you're going to start to see that. And I think people have sort of gotten to their -- the edge of their limits in terms of paying for a high price of gas. So I think Eric's point is correct.
It's -- let's look at the ethanol demand and how we go into the in the fall with that because the ethanol industry in the U.S. has had record exports this year. That's one really positive spot. And we haven't had a lot of imports from Brazil. I think one just landed in California. I don't think we'll see another one this year. So largely speaking, we've had positive trends in that perspective. But demand has really, really dropped off pretty sharply. Refiners will tell you that, everybody will tell you that. So I think that's kind of the thing we're keeping our eye on right now. Corn is running its normal cycle, but we'll have to see where ethanol demand goes.
Operator
Your last question is coming from Edward Woo with Ascendiant Capital.
Edward Woo
You answered a lot of my questions about the outlook for ethanol. But we've seen some pullback in gasoline prices from record levels, and there's been a lot of [grumpy] by the federal government to get oil prices down. Do you think we'll see sustainable decreases in the outlook for oil? And may that possibly increase demand for gasoline and obviously back for ethanol to rebound?
Andy Foster
This is Andy. I kind of think we're -- again, a lot has to do with geopolitical stuff in terms of the price of oil. I'm not going to speculate. I'm not an oil expert, and I follow it like you do. But Ukraine and things going on with China and all the rest have weird influences on traders in New York. So I'm not going to guess there. I think we're sort of starting to feel like we're getting back into our normal rhythm when it comes to cycles for demand, at least on the ethanol side. Usually at this time of the year, you do see a decrease in demand as you get toward the end of the summer and people stop summer vacations and you get back to school.
So I kind of feel like we're -- barring any outside events, which in the world we're living in today could be tomorrow, but I think it starts to feel like we're getting into more normalized. I mean, definitely, the price of gas has come down. As you look around, I was on East Coast last week and that was incredibly cheap compared to California. But California gas prices have gone down a little bit. So I think we're kind of cycling back into, as I look at the ethanol business, it's back-to-school time of the year.
And I think people have kind of wrapped up summer vacation time or they will this week, and then we're sort of getting back into more of a normal cycle. So I'll put that out there with all the caveats that, as of this afternoon, we could have some other international crisis that jacks the price of oil and makes all that go away.
Operator
There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the floor back over to management for any closing comments.
Eric McAfee
Thanks, Kelly. Thanks to Aemetis shareholders, analysts and others for joining us today. Please review the Company presentation and the investor presentation that is posted on the home page of the Aemetis website. We look forward to talking with you about participating in the growth opportunities at Aemetis.
Todd Waltz
Thank you for attending today's Aemetis earnings conference call. Please visit the Investors section of the Aemetis website, where we'll post a written version and an audio version of this Aemetis earnings review and business update. Kelly?
Operator
This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
FNB Connect, through its Service Provider Value added Services business, has extended its software vouchers to more business clients.
This includes Microsoft 365 Business Standard, predominantly used by businesses, as well as market leading antivirus software such as McAfee, Kaspersky and Norton, all available through the FNB App.
Moreover, given the increased cost of doing businesses, clients can conveniently use their eBucks to purchase the software vouchers at a discounted rate.
Bradwin Roper, CEO of FNB Connect, says that with the “success of the software vouchers on our platform to our retail clients launched in November 2021, to date just short of 100 000 software vouchers have been purchased and we are now extending these software vouchers to our commercial clients”.
Businesses can also purchase and send software vouchers to other parties via the FNB App. All purchased software vouchers are stored within the app and can be redeemed at their convenience.
“Many businesses have become accustomed to using Microsoft 365 for its numerous benefits, including improving efficiency among employees, easy licensing, larger mailbox storage as well as cloud services to securely store and access their data on the go,” says Andiswa Bata, co-head of SME at FNB.
“Furthermore, with more businesses adopting a hybrid working model as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, working remotely through software such as Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams has become the norm.”
Convenience
Says Roper: “The software vouchers will provide value and added convenience to our clients, enabling them to access a wide range of services on a single, trusted digital platform. Furthermore, we are working hard to bring in more partners who can help us to diversify our vouchers and coupon solutions by introducing more relevant solutions needed by our customers.”
“As more small businesses migrate to digital channels, having the best antivirus programs to remain protected against malware and other cyberthreats, has never been more important. As result, we have made the best antivirus software in the market available to our business clients,” says Bata.
Businesses can purchase software vouchers by logging into the app. They then select the “buy” tab, “vouchers” and “online tab”, choose the desired voucher, pay from their bank account or with eBucks, enter their e-mail address, and confirm their details.
- This promoted content was paid for by the party concerned
Curious Films is producing “Running With The Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee,” a feature length documentary for Netflix telling the story of the life and death of software pioneer John McAfee.
British-American McAfee was the inventor of one of the most successful, and reviled, pieces of software of all time: McAfee Antivirus. At his peak, McAfee was worth $100 million. But when his neighbor was murdered, he went on the run — and invited a film crew with him. McAfee claims he is running for his life, chased by armed gunmen. McAfee and the film crew travel deep into the Belizean rainforest, across international borders, up river in the jungles of Guatemala and through the Bahamas on a boat loaded with guns, drugs and alcohol, trying to stay one step ahead of their alleged pursuers.
More from Variety
In 2020, McAfee was arrested in Spain over U.S. tax evasion charges. In 2021, he was found dead in his prison cell.
With exclusive access to hundreds of hours of previously unseen, footage of McAfee and in-depth accounts from the people who knew him best, “Running With The Devil” aims to the definitive story of a larger-than-life character, a man who ran for U.S. President twice, escaped from jail multiple times, and claimed to have hacked the world.
The documentary is directed by Charlie Russell and executive produced by Dov Freedman, co-founders of Curious Films, who previously produced Amy Winehouse documentary “Reclaiming Amy.”
Freedman said: “ “Running With The Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee” is a story that’s been over ten years in the making, it’s a stranger-than-fiction story like no other, about a powerful man who lived his real life like it was a high-octane Hollywood movie — and the consequences this has for those closest to him. We are incredibly proud to be telling this extraordinary tale for the first time for Netflix.”
The documentary streams on Netflix from Aug. 24.
Watch the trailer here:
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Putting one of the best Android antivirus apps on your Android smartphone or tablet can help protect them from corrupted or malicious apps and other kinds of malware.
There are a wide range of choices available to suit both your budget and your desired protection level. In addition to excellent malware detection and prevention, the best Android antivirus apps also include privacy and anti-theft features. While most of these apps have a free service tier that allow you to test them out before paying for an annual subscription, some are entirely free.
Some of the best Android antivirus apps on this list will backup your contacts and other important data, track your phone or tablet via GPS, take a picture of a phone thief using your device’s camera and even allow you to use your Wear OS smartwatch to find your phone.
We’ve rounded up the best offerings from the biggest names in the mobile antivirus business – Avast, Bitdefender, Lookout, McAfee, Norton and even Google itself – and rated their Android apps based on setup, interface, usability, extra features and of course, their ability to protect your devices from the latest cyber threats.
To determine the level of protection offered by each app, we used data from the independent German testing lab AV-Test which rates most major security apps on their ability to detect malware and other threats. We also used the Geekbench 5 app to measure the impact each of these apps have on overall Android performance.
What are the best Android antivirus apps?
Based on our tests, the best Android antivirus app today is Bitdefender Mobile Security ($15 per year) which offers nearly flawless malware protection and a wide range of features.
While Norton Mobile Security (starting at $15 per year) has even better protection, Norton has discontinued the excellent free tier of Norton Mobile Security and its anti-theft features, so you’ll need to pay something to protect your devices.
Both Avast Mobile Security and McAfee Mobile Security offer a lot of features for free and do fairly well in malware-detection tests. However, Avast’s anti-theft and call-blocking tools didn’t work well and the free versions of both apps show a lot of ads.
Lookout Security & Antivirus was one of the first mobile antivirus apps and has a compelling identity protection option. Still though, there’s little third-party lab testing data on the efficiency of Lookout’s antivirus, so we don’t really know exactly how well it protect against malware.
Google Play Protect on the other hand is pre-installed on every Android phone with Google Play. Unfortunately, It’s not the best at protecting against malware but it has certainly improved over the years.
For malware protection on other platforms, be sure to visit our pages on the best antivirus software and the best Mac antivirus.
Editor's note: Future, the parent company of Tom's Guide, has chosen to stop doing business with Russian companies, including Kaspersky. We remain committed to helping our readers to source and find the best products and will offer multiple alternatives in the categories affected.
The best Android antivirus app you can get
Bitdefender's Android security app has nearly flawless malware protection, a very light performance impact, Android Wear watch integration, a VPN client and a malicious-website blocker that works with most Android browsers.
It also has robust privacy-protection tools, including an app lock, a Wi-Fi scanner, anti-theft features and data-breach notifications. A newly added feature, Scam Alert, flags possibly malicious links in SMS text messages, messaging apps and screen notifications.
Bitdefender Mobile Security offers a 14-day trial period, but this is not a freemium app. The separate Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Android app (which is indeed totally free) only scans for malware.
The built-in VPN client gives you only 200MB of free data per data — just enough to check your email while traveling. If you want more data, you'll have to pay $7 monthly or $50 yearly.
But at $15 per year, Bitdefender Mobile Security is well worth the expense. It's our choice for the best Android antivirus app.
Read our full Bitdefender Mobile Security review.
Norton Mobile Security, aka Norton 360, offers the best malware protection of any of the Android antivirus apps we tested. Unfortunately, it no longer has anti-theft functions, nor its contacts backups and Link Guard malicious-link blocker.
Norton also killed Norton Mobile Security's free tier, which was the best among all the Android antivirus apps we'd recently tested. That's been replaced with a security-only app for one device that costs $15 a year.
For $50 a year, a medium-priced tier called Norton 360 for Mobile adds unlimited VPN service and "dark web" monitoring of your personal information. The most expensive plan, Norton 360 Deluxe, $105 per year, is actually part of Norton's antivirus lineup and lets you protect up to five Android, Windows, Mac or iOS devices.
All of these subscriptions can be paid for right through the Norton app, which has a 14-day free trial period.
Norton's killer feature is the unique App Advisor, which checks apps on your device for heavy data usage and unusual behavior. It also checks apps in the Google Play store for security and privacy risks even before you install them.
Read our full Norton Mobile Security review.
Avast Mobile Security & Antivirus is one of the most full-featured of the best Android antivirus apps, offering everything from a privacy adviser to a system optimizer to a customizable blacklist.
But while Avast's malware protection is good, it's far from perfect. Some of Avast's anti-theft functions didn't work for us, and its call-blocking feature didn't work at all. (It's since been removed.) And the free version's ads and constant nags to upgrade are annoying and intrusive.
Those ads go away if you pay for either of Avast Mobile Security's paid tiers, Premium ($2 monthly or $20 yearly) or Ultimate ($7 monthly or $40 yearly). Users of either paid plan also get additional anti-theft features, an app locker and tech support.
The built-in client for Avast's SecureLine VPN is just a tease, and the only way to use it is to pay for an Ultimate tier. Since the stand-alone price for SecureLine is $60 per year, paying an extra $20 on top of the premium Android antivirus tier for unlimited VPN data is not a bad deal.
Read our full Avast Mobile Security review.
Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus, also known as Kaspersky Internet Security for Android, offers nearly-perfect malware protection, a small system impact and a call blocker that actually works.
There are no ads in the free version, and not much nagging to upgrade to the paid plan. Free users get call filtering, Android Wear support and a strong set of anti-theft functions, but you have to scan each new app manually.
Paying users get automatic scans of new apps, an app lock and blocking of known phishing websites. And that's about it. There's no Wi-Fi network scanner and none of the privacy tools that other Android antivirus apps now offer.
If you're just looking for malware protection, you can't really go wrong with Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus's free tier. But while the paid version is inexpensive, it feels stripped-down, and you can get more from Bitdefender's rival paid app for $5 less.
Read our full Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus review.
Lookout Mobile Security, now rebranded as Lookout Security and Antivirus or Lookout Personal, was one of the first Android antivirus apps, and for a long time the best. Its ease of use, clean interface and lack of ads explain its continued popularity.
But Lookout's costs can rack up quickly. The free tier is bare-bones; it just scans for malware and locates lost phones.
The premium tier charges $30 per year, even though some of its features — malicious website blocking, Wi-Fi network scanning — come free with other Android antivirus apps. An unlimited VPN and a data-breach notification service make the premium price worthwhile.
At $100 per year, the "premium plus" plan is actually a fairly inexpensive identity-protection service that offers many of the same benefits you'd get from LifeLock or IdentityForce. It might well be worth the expense.
The trouble is that Lookout doesn't often submit its app to third-partly lab evaluations, so we don't really know how well Lookout protects against malware. Its active scans are also slow and heavy.
Read our full Lookout Security & Antivirus review.
Like Avast, McAfee offers (or used to offer) a ton of useful features, but its free version is also full of ads and upsell suggestions. The malware protection is decent, if not fantastic.
In the summer of 2021, McAfee Mobile Security phased out many of its most useful functions (opens in new tab), including its App Lock, Guest Mode, Anti-Theft, Memory Booster and Storage Cleaner features. It's not really clear why this was done, other than to "adjust our product portfolio."
You'll get some good stuff with the free version of McAfee Mobile Security, such as a way to track each app's data usage and a Wi-Fi security scanner.
You'll get even more with the "Standard" premium tier, including a URL screener, 24/7 tech support and no more ads. But it's a bit pricey at $30 per year considering that Bitdefender and Kaspersky give you the same features for less.
The top paid tier, "Plus," costs $80 per year and gives you the Standard features plus unlimited VPN access, but only for that single phone or tablet. You can get one of the best VPN services to cover all your devices for less.
Read our full McAfee Mobile Security review.
Google Play Protect comes built into every Android device that runs Google Play, and it would be great if it worked well. Unfortunately, Google Play Protect's dismal malware detection makes the strongest possible argument for using a third-party Android antivirus app.
We did like that Google Play Protect's interface is minimal, there are no ads and the system impact is light. Some of Android's other built-in features, including Find My Device and Chrome Safe Browsing, mirror what third-party antivirus apps do on the side.
Google Play Protect's best feature is that Google can use it to remotely disable dangerous apps. This stays the case whether you're running third-party antivirus software or not. We recommend you not disable Google Play Protect.
But overall, Google Play Protect is awful at protecting you from malicious apps. For your own sake, please use something else.
Read our full Google Play Protect review.
Best Android antivirus app comparison chart
| Avast Mobile Security | Bitdefender Mobile Security | Google Play Protect | Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus | Lookout Security & Antivirus | McAfee Mobile Security | Norton Mobile Security for Android | |
| Price per year | Free; $12; $24 | $15 | Free | Free; $15 | Free; $30; $100 | Free; $30; $80 | $30 |
| Minimum Android support | 5.0 Lollipop | 5.0 Lollipop | 4.4 Kit Kat | 5.0 Lollipop | 5.0 Lollipop | 7.0 Nougat | 6.0 Marshmallow |
| Ads | Free version | No | No | No | No | Free version | No |
| App lock | Premium only | Yes | Yes | Premium only | No | Discontinued | No |
| Anti-theft | Partly premium | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly premium | Discontinued | No |
| App advisor | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partly premium | Yes | Yes |
| URL screener | Yes | Yes | Yes | Premium only | Premium only | Premium only | Yes |
| Wi-Fi scanner | Yes | Yes | No | No | Premium only | Yes | Yes |
| VPN | Costs extra | Unlimited data costs extra | No | No | Premium only | Costs extra | No |
| Wear OS support | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Why you should use an Android antivirus app
In order to keep your Android smartphone or tablet safe, you should keep its software updated to the latest version. This is because each new version of Android is more secure than its predecessor, and each monthly Android security update fixes newly found flaws.
However, unless you have a Google Pixel or Android one phone, you won’t get these updates and upgrades right away. Most device makers need extra time to make sure that changes to Android won’t break their devices or software.
The time between updates can be a couple of weeks though it can also take months. To make matters worse, some Android phones stop getting Android OS upgrades after two years and a few never receive monthly security patches at all.
This is where the best Android antivirus apps come in. They stop attacks that try to get around Android’s built-in defenses, especially those that Google has patched but your device doesn’t yet (or never will) have. They also stop new attacks that Google Play Protect won’t catch, even on Pixel devices.
How to choose the best Android antivirus app for you
Android antivirus apps typically come in three pricing schemes: fully free, fully paid and freemium.
Freemium apps let you choose between getting a limited set of features for free or upgrading to the premium version which gives you access to all of their features, similar to fully paid apps. Apps that offer a lot of features for free may also show you a lot of ads.
Some of the features included in the best Android antivirus apps might include anti-theft mechanisms, an “advisor” to help you examine and choose apps, a Wi-Fi network security scanner or an app lock that requires a passcode to open specific apps.
Both paid apps and premium tiers generally cost between $15 and $30 per year. However, some app makers try to limit the number of devices you can install their premium/paid versions on. Meanwhile, others tack on a super-premium tier that gives you unlimited access to a VPN or identity protection service, often at a pretty good price.
Still though, the most important factor when deciding on which Android antivirus app to use is malware protection.
Norton and Bitdefender lead in this area while Kaspersky isn’t far behind. Avast is good but not great while the built-in Google Play Protect still needs some work. We’re not sure about both Lookout and 360 Security since neither company has submitted their apps to accurate lab tests.
How we tested the best Android antivirus apps
To gauge the security protection of each of the best Android antivirus apps, we used the latest bimonthly testing results from AV-TEST (opens in new tab), an independent lab in Germany that measures how well major Android security apps detect zero-day malware and other threats.
Because some apps' scores are inconsistent from one test to the next, we also looked back at the previous two years of results.
We also used some results from AV-Comparatives (opens in new tab), a lab in Austria that once a year tests nearly all the Android antivirus apps in Google Play, even those that don't cooperate with testing labs. But these tests are less detailed.
To measure the impact antivirus apps have on overall performance, we used the Geekbench 5 benchmarking app on a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 smartphone running Android 12. For each app, we ran Geekbench without an antivirus app installed to establish a baseline before running it with one of the review apps installed as well as during each app’s full scan.
We also took a closer look at the number and usefulness of each app’s features and evaluated which features were reserved for paid users. Additionally, we assessed the user interface and installation process of each Android antivirus app on this list.
Editor's note on Kaspersky
Kaspersky antivirus products have been banned from U.S. government agencies and U.S. defense contractors, and we can understand why. Because the company is Russian and antivirus software can peer deep into a PC, using Kaspersky software would create an unacceptable risk for persons and organizations involved in national security and critical infrastructure.
Furthermore, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has led most Western companies, including our own, to stop doing business with Russian companies. We have suspended our affiliate-sales relationship with Kaspersky.
We still think Kaspersky software is generally safe for home users. We've seen no evidence to convince us otherwise. Kaspersky researchers are well respected throughout the antivirus industry, and the company has publicly exposed Russian cyberespionage campaigns as well as those from the United States and other countries around the world.
We don't know whether the economic sanctions on Russian companies will result in Kaspersky software becoming unavailable or unreliable for users in Western countries. The Kaspersky company has moved many of its operations outside Russia, so it's possible there will be no effect on the software's operations.
Whether you choose to use Kaspersky software is up to you. We can only make recommendations on how well antivirus programs work and how easy they are to use. There is certainly antivirus software available that comes with fewer geopolitical issues attached.
