360 Total Security Review: Is It the Right Antivirus Option in 2024?

#1 360 Total Security Review in 2024

360 Total Security, a product from the Chinese cybersecurity company Qihoo 360, has been making waves in the antivirus world. With its promise of all-encompassing protection and a suite of useful features, I decided it was time to put it to the test. Is it really as good as they say? That's what I aimed to find out in this thorough 360 Total Security review.

In this article, you'll learn:

• How well 360 Total Security performs in malware detection and removal
• The effectiveness of its web protection features
• Whether its performance optimization tools actually work
• How user-friendly the interface is for both novices and advanced users
• If the additional features like data shredder are worth your time

Let's examine and see what 360 Total Security has to offer in 2024.

In a Hurry? Here's a Quick Summary

If you're short on time, here's a quick overview of what I discovered during this 360 Total Security review:

What You'll Like:

• Wide range of features beyond basic antivirus protection
• Intuitive and visually appealing user interface
• Effective performance optimization tools
• Strong web protection capabilities
• Regular updates and improvements

What You May Not Like:

• Limited customization options for advanced users
• Some features only available in the premium version
• Occasional false positives in malware detection

What Makes This 360 Total Security Review Different?

Many antivirus reviews you'll find online are shallow, often just repeating information from the product's website. They don't give you the real, hands-on experience you need to make an informed decision. That's where this review is different.

I spent two weeks thoroughly testing 360 Total Security on my personal devices. I installed it on my Dell XPS laptop running Windows 11, put it through its paces, and explored every aspect of its features. I didn't just run a quick scan and call it a day - I simulated real-world scenarios, tested its impact on my system performance, and even threw some challenging malware samples at it.

Throughout this 360 Total Security review, you'll find over 20 screenshots I personally captured during my testing process. These aren't stock images from the company's website; they're real, unfiltered glimpses into my experience with the software. My goal is to give you an honest, detailed look at what it's really like to use 360 Total Security, imperfections and all.

Buying 360 Total Security

When it comes to purchasing 360 Total Security, you have two main options: the free version and the premium package. For this review, I opted for the premium version to get a full picture of what the software offers.

The buying process was simple. After comparing the features of both versions on their website, I clicked the purchase button for the premium package. This took me to their store page, where I could choose between 1, 2, or 3-year subscriptions. I went with the 1-year option to start.

The payment steps were simple and secure. I entered my customer information, including name, email, and credit card details, reviewed everything, and completed the purchase. Within moments, I received an email with the installer and detailed installation instructions. The order page also provided me with the license key and a download link for the installer.

What I appreciated was the clear breakdown of features and pricing on their website. It made it easy to understand exactly what I was getting for my money. The whole process, from deciding to buy to having the installer ready, took less than 10 minutes.

Installation

Installing 360 Total Security was effortless. I simply ran the installer I downloaded from the order page, and the process began. The first step allowed me to choose my preferred language from an impressive list of 14 options. I also had the ability to change the installation location if I wanted.

The installation itself was quick, taking only about 30 seconds. This is faster than many other antivirus programs I've used, which can sometimes take several minutes to install.

After installation, 360 Total Security prompted me to create an account. I had the option to use Google for a quick sign-up or provide an email and password. I chose the latter, and I liked that the software showed me the password strength as I typed. It's a small feature, but it encourages users to create stronger passwords.

Once I verified my email address, the program activated automatically. The whole process, from running the installer to having an active, ready-to-use antivirus, took less than five minutes. It's this kind of user-friendly experience that can make a big difference, especially for less tech-savvy users.

Interface

The user interface of 360 Total Security is one of its strongest points. It's modern and intuitive, making it easy for both novice and experienced users to navigate.

The main interface of 360 Total Security

The main window is divided into three sections: a left sidebar, a main content area, and a top bar. The left sidebar is where you'll find the main security categories: Protection mode, Full check, Virus scan, Speedup, Cleanup, and Tool box. Clicking on any of these populates the main content area with relevant options and information.

The top bar includes some interesting features. There's a link to a program for earning points (though I didn't investigate this in depth), your user account information, theme options, and a drop-down menu with settings and additional features.

One thing that caught my eye during this 360 Total Security review was the theme customization options. 360 Total Security offers a choice of 57 different themes, all featuring digitally created artwork. The default theme uses a pleasant blue and white color palette, but I had fun exploring some of the more vibrant options. It's not a crucial feature, but it does allow users to personalize their experience, which I appreciate.

The interface also supports 14 different languages, making it accessible to a global user base. You can enable theme animations if you want a more dynamic look, though I preferred keeping it simple.

Overall, I found the interface to be well-organized and easy to use. Everything is where you'd expect it to be, and the design is clean and simple. It strikes a good balance between providing plenty of information and not overwhelming the user.

Major Features

Let’s explore what 360 Total Security antivirus brings to the table. We’ll examine its standout features and discuss how it could align with your personal security requirements.

Protection Mode

The Protection mode is the first tab you'll see in the user interface, and it's essentially the command center for your device's security.

The advanced protection settings include privacy protection, internet protection, system protection, and more.

Here, you can see which security features are currently active. One feature that caught my attention was the fileless attack protection. It's recommended to turn this on, and after reading about the increasing occurrence of fileless malware, I made sure to enable it.

The Configure button in this section lets you choose between different protection modes: Performance, Balanced, Security, and Custom. Each mode enables a different number of protection features:

• Performance mode enables 9 protection features
• Balanced mode enables 11 protection features
• Security mode enables 14 protection features
• Custom mode lets you toggle 15 protection features on or off individually

For my 360 Total Security review tests, I opted for the Security mode to see how 360 Total Security performed with all its defenses up. However, I appreciate the flexibility offered here. Users who are more concerned about system performance can opt for the lighter modes, while those who want maximum protection can go all out.

The ability to customize which features are active gives advanced users detailed control over their security setup. It's a level of customization that not all antivirus programs offer, and it's definitely a point in 360 Total Security's favor.

Web Protection

In today's connected world, web protection is crucial, and 360 Total Security doesn't disappoint in this area. The software offers several internet safety features, including Downloaded File Scan, Online Shopping Protection, and Malicious Website Blocking.

The web protection settings are focused on online and download protection.

These features can be enabled or disabled in the Protection Mode settings. Additionally, in the Active Protection tab of the general settings, you can fine-tune how these features work. For example, you can choose to be notified when entering a shopping website, when scanning downloaded files, or when a downloaded file is deemed safe or unknown.

360 Total Security also offers a browser extension, though I found it to be quite minimalistic. The only option it provides is to enable Shopping Protection.

To test the effectiveness of these web protection features, I visited several test websites designed to mimic malicious sites. Here's what I found:

• The malicious website test at maliciouswebsitetest.com wasn't blocked.
• The WICAR test site was successfully blocked.
• On the AMTSO (Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization) site, 360 Total Security blocked 12 out of 15 threats.
• On the EICAR test site, it blocked 2 out of 4 threats.

360 Total Security catching a malicious webpage.

While these results are generally good, there's still room for improvement. The failure to block the maliciouswebsitetest.com site was concerning, and missing 3 threats on the AMTSO test isn't ideal. However, the performance on the WICAR test was excellent, and blocking 2 out of 4 EICAR test files is about average for antivirus software. Other solutions, like Bitdefender or McAffee stopped 4 out of the 4 threats.

Overall, 360 Total Security's web protection is solid, but not perfect. It should keep you safe from most online threats, but it's always good to practice safe browsing habits as an additional layer of protection.

Scan

360 Total Security offers several scanning options to keep your device free from threats. Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Full Check

The Full Check is a comprehensive scan that aims to resolve both security and performance issues on your computer with a single click. You can access it via the left side menu under the Full Check tab.

Full Check results in 360 Total Security

When you click on "Check Now", the software begins scanning for security threats, system repair needs, system performance enhancements, bootup speed optimization, and registry issues. In my test, the Full Check took just under two minutes, which is impressively fast for such a comprehensive scan.

The scan found 813 issues to fix on my system, most of which were related to registry cleaning. I was able to fix all of these issues with a single click, which is convenient. However, it's worth noting that you should be cautious when cleaning registry items, as making changes to the registry can potentially cause system instability if not done correctly.

In the General Settings, you can customize the Full Check by allowing or disabling checks for performance enhancements, system junk, or driver updates.

Quick Scan

The Quick Scan can be accessed via the Virus Scan tab. This scan focuses on checking system settings, common apps, running processes, startup items, and system critical files.

Quick Scan in progress

In my first test, the Quick Scan examined 28,000 files in 1 minute and 42 seconds, finding no issues. This is a reasonable speed for a quick scan, allowing you to run it frequently without significant disruption to your work.

During the scan, the software displays the number of threats found (if any), time elapsed, number of files scanned, and their path/location. You also have the option to pause the scan if needed.

Full Scan

The Full Scan is the most thorough scan offered by 360 Total Security. It examines your system settings, common apps, running processes, startup items, and all files on your device.

The Full Scan results include threats found: 194266 objects to be precise.

In my test, the Full Scan checked 353,000 items in 57 minutes and found and resolved one issue. While this is a bit slower than some competitors, it's still within an acceptable range for a full system scan.

Like the Quick Scan, you can see the threats found, time elapsed, number of files scanned, and their path/location during the scan. You can also pause the scan if needed.

In the General Settings, you can choose whether to scan compressed files and determine how large files should be to be scanned (the default is 50 MB).

Custom Scan

The Custom Scan allows you to select specific locations on your device to scan. It provides the same information during the scan as the Quick and Full scans: threats found, time elapsed, number of files scanned, and their path/location.

Overall, 360 Total Security's scanning options are comprehensive and user-friendly. The ability to pause scans is particularly useful for those times when you need to use system resources for other tasks. While the Full Scan could be a bit faster, the Quick Scan and Full Check offer speedy alternatives for routine checks.

Ransomware Protection

In today's digital environment, ransomware is one of the most feared types of malware. 360 Total Security includes a ransomware protection layer that you can enable or disable via the Protection Mode under Privacy Protection.

To test the effectiveness of this feature, I used a ransomware simulation tool. The results were impressive: 360 Total Security successfully stopped 16 out of 22 ransomware simulations. This is actually above average, considering that the typical success rate for antivirus software is around 14 out of 22.

The 360 ransomware decryption tool took 6 seconds to finalize.

In addition to active protection, 360 Total Security also includes a Ransomware Decryption Tool, which you can find in the Tool Box. This tool allows you to scan and attempt to decrypt files that may have been encrypted by ransomware. To use it, you simply select the directory that needs to be scanned and decrypted, along with any system-critical directories.

While I couldn't test the decryption tool with actual ransomware (for obvious reasons), the feature's presence is reassuring. It could potentially help recover files in case ransomware somehow slips past the active protection.

The strong performance against simulated ransomware attacks, combined with the decryption tool, makes 360 Total Security a solid choice for users concerned about this particular threat.

Firewall

360 Total Security includes a firewall that you can access via the Tool Box. This feature provides a comprehensive overview of your system's network activity.

The firewall protects 61 applications with 77 internet connections.

The firewall interface displays:

• Applications currently open on your device
• The number of network connections each application establishes
• Total download and upload speed of all opened applications
• Individual download and upload speeds for each application
• A menu with options to control each service or application, including blocking network access, setting download/upload limits, viewing application details, terminating the application, and scanning processes for threats

To test the effectiveness of the firewall for this 360 Total Security review, I used a popular firewall test tool (https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2). I'm pleased to report that the firewall passed the test: it did not respond to the test's UPnP probes, indicating that it's effectively shielding my system from potential network threats.

While the firewall interface provides a wealth of information, I found it to be easy to understand and navigate. The ability to quickly set limits or block specific applications is particularly useful for managing network usage and security.

Speedup

The Speedup feature in 360 Total Security aims to improve your computer's performance and startup time. It does this by optimizing system configuration and disabling unnecessary startup and background programs.

You can select which categories to help speed up: tasks, startup items, services, and more.

To access this feature, you simply go to the Speedup tab in the left sidebar of the main UI and click on the Scan button. After a few seconds, you'll see PC speedup recommendations related to:

• Startup items
• Scheduled tasks
• Application services
• System services
• Network performance optimization

In my tests, the Speedup feature identified several items for optimization, many of which were also detected during the Full Check scan. After selecting the issues and clicking Optimize, the program resolved them in a matter of seconds.

One thing I appreciate about this feature is the ability to add items to an Exceptions List. This means you can prevent certain items from being reported during a scan, which is useful if you have programs that you always want to run at startup, for example.

While it's hard to quantify the exact performance improvement without extensive before-and-after testing, I did notice that my system seemed to boot up a bit faster after using this feature.

Cleanup

The Cleanup feature is designed to free up space on your device by removing unnecessary files, potentially improving your computer's performance.

360 Total Security detected almost 2 GB of junk data.

To use this feature, navigate to the Cleanup tab in the left sidebar and click on Scan. In my tests, it found a significant number of junk files to be cleaned, including Windows system junk files, game and application junk files, and more.

One aspect I particularly like is the ability to select all, none, or just the recommended files for cleanup. This gives you control over what gets deleted, which is important as some "junk" files might actually be needed for certain applications to function correctly.

The Cleanup feature also offers some useful settings. You can enable scheduled cleanup on a weekly or monthly basis, choose whether to prompt for action after a scan or clean automatically, and set the tool to skip scanning when system CPU usage is over 50% or if the battery is low.

While the space savings weren't enormous on my relatively clean test system, I can see this feature being very useful for freeing up significant space on systems that haven't been maintained for a while. Other antivirus solutions like Norton and McAfee have file cleanup solutions that are a bit more advanced.

Data Shield

Data Shield is a tool found in the Tool Box that allows you to add personal documents and folders you want to protect. It's designed to ensure your identity won't be compromised by intruders or malware.

In the Data Shield, you can add personal documents to keep secure.

Using Data Shield is uncomplicated. You open the Data Shield window, click Add Directory or Add File (or drag and drop your files or folders into the window). Once added, these items are protected, and you can enable or disable their protection using the blue sliders to the right.

Data Shield also provides some additional features:

• Interception Records: This shows you attempts to access protected files.
• Trust List: Here you can choose which apps can access selected files.
• Block List: This allows you to choose which apps should not access selected files.

I found this feature to be particularly useful for protecting sensitive documents. The ability to easily add or remove protection for specific files or folders gives you fine-grained control over your data security.

Network Diagnosis

The Network Diagnosis module scans for problems with your network, such as inability to open webpages or abnormal network display.

Network Diagnosis analyzes the network hardware configuration, DHCP settings, and more.

In my test, the scan completed in under 10 seconds, which is impressively fast. It checks:

• Network hardware configuration
• Network connection configuration
• DHCP service
• HOSTS
• Browser configuration
• LSP protocol
• Whether your computer can access your network

After running the diagnosis, it found that all was normal on my system. However, if it does find issues, 360 Total Security provides two methods for resolution: a Brute force repair tool or a list of frequently asked questions and answers.

While I didn't encounter any network issues during my testing period, I can see this tool being very helpful for troubleshooting connection problems quickly.

Privacy Antitracker

The Privacy Antitracker is a utility designed to protect your online privacy by disguising your identity and preventing websites from collecting your information.

The Privacy Antitracker lets you enable tracking protection in selected browsers.

This feature supports several popular browsers including Google Chrome, Opera, Yandex, Firefox, Edge, and Internet Explorer. The Privacy Antitracker window includes four tabs:

1. Protection status: Here you can choose which browsers to protect.
2. Log: This shows the history record for the last 7 days.
3. Settings: You can add URLs to a trusted list here.
4. Privacy cleaner: This can clean unwanted traces and cookies, erasing your Internet and PC activities to protect your privacy.

In my test, the Privacy Cleaner found 1,125 traces, which I was able to delete with one click. This feature seems particularly useful for those concerned about their online privacy and want to regularly clean their digital activities.

Desktop Organizer

The Desktop Organizer is a unique feature that helps organize your desktop with one click. It's a desktop widget that you can open via the Tool Box.

Desktop Organizer is a small utility to tidy up your desktop, search for files, access the calendar, and more.

The widget lives on your desktop and includes a transparent window with a clock, date, a button to clean up your desktop, and shortcuts to various utilities like screenshot, notepad, and eye protection mode.

I found the desktop organization feature to work well. When I clicked "Tidy", the tool neatly organized my scattered desktop files and folders into a special widget-like folder called a storage box. This storage box, which is also transparent and accessible on the desktop, organizes your files into categories: Other, Archives, Directory, and Documents.

For users who struggle with desktop clutter, this could be a very handy feature.

360 ZIP

360 ZIP is a utility that allows you to compress and decompress files. It supports most file compression formats like ZIP, 7Z, RAR, ISO, and GZ.

360 ZIP is a simple zipping/unzipping software alternative.

The interface is similar to other compression tools like WinRAR, providing a user interface where you can navigate your drive and select files or folders to zip or unzip.

In my 360 Total Security review tests, I found it easy to compress and decompress files. When compressing, you have three options:

1. Fastest (ZIP compression)
2. Smallest volume (7z file)
3. Customized compression (choose compression format, method, and volume size)

While it may not offer any innovative features compared to standalone compression tools, having this functionality integrated into your antivirus suite is certainly convenient.

Data Shredder

The Data Shredder allows you to permanently delete files or folders.

Data Shredder lets you add files to be permanently removed.

Using this tool is simple: you select the item you want to shred and click "Shred". In my tests, the shredding process was almost immediate.

However, one drawback I noticed is that you don't get to choose the shredding algorithm, and the software doesn't specify which algorithm it uses. For most users, this won't be an issue, but those requiring a specific level of secure deletion might find this lack of information concerning.

Disk Analyzer

The Disk Analyzer provides an overview of which files are taking up space on your drives.

The Disk Analyzer shows large files that you can delete to save space.

After scanning your storage, you'll see how much data you have on each drive. While this feature works as intended, I didn't find it particularly more useful than the built-in Windows File Explorer for viewing disk usage.

One useful setting is the ability to choose critical file types you want to skip during a disk analysis scan.

Game Booster

The Game Booster automatically enhances gaming performance when you launch a game.

Game Booster allows you to select processes to terminate when a game starts.

The Game Booster window has two main tabs:

1. My games: Here you can add games to boost when launching them.
2. Boost: This is where you can select processes or services to terminate when a game is launched.

There's also an automatic boost option that can choose which processes and services to close when you're gaming. For gamers concerned about getting the best performance out of their system, this could be a useful feature.

Sandbox

The Sandbox feature allows you to run potentially risky software in a safe environment, protecting your system from possible threats.

The virtual sandbox lets you run risky software.

The Sandbox window includes five tabs:

1. Status: Allows you to switch the sandbox on/off and select a program to run in the sandbox.
2. File List: Includes a file manager for your media files, documents, and directory browsing.
3. Running List: Shows all programs currently running in the sandbox.
4. My toys: Contains programs to be launched in the sandbox automatically.
5. Advanced Settings: Includes notifications settings and sandbox cleanup options.

I found this feature to be particularly useful for testing unknown or potentially risky software without endangering my main system.

Driver Updater

The Driver Updater scans your device's drivers and identifies outdated ones.

Driver Updater shows all drivers on your system and whether they're up-to-date.

In my tests, it found several outdated audio and wireless network drivers. The tool also keeps backed-up drivers, which can be restored if a driver update goes wrong.

While Windows usually handles driver updates well, having this additional tool can be helpful, especially for less tech-savvy users who might not regularly check for driver updates.

Ad Blocker

The Ad Blocker utility blocks popup ads that appear on your desktop, such as notifications or ads from free software you've installed.

Ad Blocker allows you to add apps that show popup notifications.

To remove an ad, you use the "Aim AD" feature and click on the ad – it will then disappear. It's important to note that this ad blocker doesn't block ads on websites; it only stops popup notifications on your desktop.

While not a comprehensive ad-blocking solution, this feature can be useful for reducing annoying desktop notifications.

System Disk Slimming

The System Disk Slimming utility aims to free up space on your system disk through various methods.

System Disk Slimming enables you to save disk space by removing unwanted files.

This tool can:

• Clean up Windows virtual memory
• Turn off the sleep function to increase disk space
• Delete system backup files
• Move personal files to other disks
• Compress system files

While these functions can indeed free up space, users should be cautious, especially with options like turning off sleep function or compressing system files, as these could potentially affect system performance or stability.

Registry Cleaner

The Registry Cleaner aims to clean registry junk and fix registry problems.

Registry Cleaner displays registries that can be deleted.

In my initial test during the Full Check scan, it detected over 300 registry items to clean. A subsequent scan only detected 8 items, suggesting it had effectively cleaned up the registry.

One feature I appreciate is the ability to select which registry items to remove, with a recommended selection provided. However, as with any registry cleaner, users should be cautious and ideally back up their registry before making changes.

System Performance Impact

One concern many users have about antivirus software is its impact on system performance. I'm pleased to report that 360 Total Security is not very resource-intensive.

360 Total Security consumes about 40% CPU during full scans. 

During a full scan, it consumes about 35-45% CPU and 200 MB RAM, which is pretty average for antivirus software. When not actively scanning, it barely takes up 1% of the CPU power and 30 MB RAM.

This level of resource usage means that you can comfortably run 360 Total Security in the background without noticing significant slowdowns in your day-to-day computer use.

360 Total Security Review: Conclusion

After thoroughly testing 360 Total Security, I can confidently say that it's a comprehensive antivirus solution with a wide range of features. Here are my key takeaways for this 360 Total Security review:

1. Reliable malware protection: 360 Total Security demonstrates strong capabilities in detecting and stopping various threats, including ransomware. Its performance in my tests was above average, which is encouraging.
2. Feature-rich package: Beyond basic antivirus functions, it offers a multitude of tools like a data shredder, disk analyzer, and more. While some of these might not replace dedicated tools, having them integrated into your antivirus suite is convenient.
3. User-friendly interface: The software's interface is modern, intuitive, and easy to navigate. The ability to customize themes is a nice touch, allowing users to personalize their experience.
4. Performance optimization: Features like Speedup and Cleanup seem to work effectively, potentially helping to maintain system performance over time.
5. Low system impact: 360 Total Security doesn't significantly slow down your computer, even during full scans.

However, there are a few areas where it could improve:

1. Web protection: While generally good, it missed some threats in my tests. There's room for improvement here.
2. Limited customization for advanced users: Some features, like the Data Shredder, don't offer advanced options that tech-savvy users might appreciate.
3. Occasional false positives: As with many antivirus solutions, 360 Total Security sometimes flags safe files as potential threats.

Overall, 360 Total Security offers a solid antivirus solution with a comprehensive set of features at a competitive price point. It's particularly suitable for users who want an all-in-one security package and appreciate a user-friendly interface. While it may not be perfect, it certainly holds its own in the crowded antivirus market.

When exploring antivirus alternatives, consider Norton, Bitdefender, or TotalAV for reliable protection. Also, explore our top antivirus picks for 2024.

Octav Fedor (Cybersecurity Editor)

Octav is a cybersecurity researcher and writer at AntivirusGuide. When he’s not publishing his honest opinions about security software online, he likes to learn about programming, watch astronomy documentaries, and participate in general knowledge competitions.