Favourability toward AI-powered threat detection among US internet users dropped from 77% to 47% in twelve months. At the same time, more than half of US PC and mobile users now rely on operating system security tools rather than third-party antivirus. Cybernews's second annual Antivirus Market Report, based on a survey of 1,005 US adults conducted in late March and early April 2026, documents a market undergoing structural change on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Built-in security, principally Microsoft Defender and Apple's native tools, is now the primary protection layer for 53% of PC users and 51% of mobile users. Among those still purchasing third-party antivirus, the market has consolidated sharply: McAfee holds 40% of the PC segment, Norton 37%, with Malwarebytes at 19% and Bitdefender at 9%. AVG, which appeared in the 2025 report, recorded zero usage in this year's survey.
On mobile the order reverses: Norton leads at 42%, McAfee at 39%, with Surfshark at 16% and Bitdefender at 15%. Third-party antivirus on mobile fell by roughly 10 percentage points year on year, against a two-point rise on desktop.
Smartphone protection remains the most significant gap. Eighty-five per cent of respondents use a smartphone outside of work, making it the most widely used personal device in the survey. Yet 14% of mobile users have no security software of any kind, and another 16% are unsure what protection they have. That leaves approximately 30% of US smartphone users effectively unguarded.
Among those who continue purchasing third-party antivirus, premium paid plans have overtaken free versions: 68% of PC antivirus users and 66% of mobile users now hold paid subscriptions, a notable shift from 32% in 2025. The data points to a polarising market where most users default to whatever came with the device, while a smaller active segment is spending more than before.
The decline in AI trust is the sharpest year-on-year shift in the report. Nine per cent of respondents said AI features would actively make them less likely to choose a given product, a reversal from prior positive sentiment. The drop tracks with a broader consumer recalibration as AI-powered security promises meet real-world experience.
Cybercrime incidence rose 14% year on year. Seventy-four per cent of those who had experienced cybercrime said it directly influenced their decision to start or continue using antivirus, suggesting the market still relies heavily on harm events to drive adoption rather than proactive purchasing.
Trust is acquiring competitive weight: 40% of respondents had encountered coverage of antivirus controversies, including Kaspersky's US ban and Avast's settlement over selling user browsing data. Among those aware, 82% said it affected their trust or purchasing decisions, with the strongest effect among 18-to-24-year-olds.
VPNs now function as a standard companion tool rather than a specialist add-on: 62% of PC users and 65% of mobile users deploy one, ahead of ad blockers and password managers in overall reach.
