Windows Defender (Finally) Earns Top Antivirus Marks

[gvv]

The free, built-in antivirus software in Windows 10 performs just as well as -- or even better than -- many of its paid competitors.

After years of lagging behind competitors, Microsoft Windows Defender has earned a coveted AV-Test "Top Product" award. The free, built-in antivirus software in Windows 10 performs just as well as — or even better than — many of its paid competitors. Your Windows PC can now repel the vast majority of malware threats right out of the box.

AV-Test, a German testing lab, periodically evaluates security suites for Windows, Mac, Android and occasionally Linux systems. As recently as 2015, Microsoft Windows Defender ranked among the weakest antivirus programs on the market.

Since then, however, Microsoft has been making steady strides toward the top, and the tech giant's efforts finally paid off in AV-Test's latest rounds of tests. While it has yet to achieve a perfect score — something that rivals Avira, Kaspersky Lab and McAfee were able to accomplish — Microsoft can finally make a convincing argument that you don't really need to install a third-party antivirus program to protect Windows 10. (Microsoft's Windows 7 security protocols earned similar accolades back in March.)

For those of you not familiar with AV-Test's protocols, it rates software out of a possible 18 points: six for protection, six for performance and six for usability. Anything that gets a 17.5 or 18 is a Top Product; anything that gets below a 10 is not recommended. This time around, all 18 programs evaluated did pretty well.

Avira Antivirus Pro, Kaspersky Lab Internet Security and McAfee Internet security all earned perfect 18s. (McAfee, like Microsoft, was an underdog in AV-Test's rankings for a long time.) Ahn Lab V3 Internet Security, Avast Free Antivirus, Bitdefender Internet Security, Microsoft Windows Defender, Microworld eScan internet security suite, Symantec Norton Security and VIPRE Security all earned 17.5 points apiece, which also made them AV-Test Top Products.

At the other end of the spectrum were Comodo Internet Security with 15.5 points, and F-Secure Safe with 16 points. However, since both of these programs earned perfect 6s for protection, they are capable of keeping your PC safe; it's just a matter of performance and usability.

BullGuard Internet Security, G Data InternetSecurity, K7 Computing TotalSecurity, PC Pitstop PC Matic and Trend Micro Internet Security all earned 16.5 or 17 points, which means they're all reliable and functional, but not the absolute best the AV market has to offer.

No matter what program you use, though, there's a lot of good news in this round of AV-Test's rankings. More than half of the programs tested earned top marks, and even the laggards stopped just about every piece of malware dead in its tracks. Furthermore, thanks to Windows Defender, you can now keep your computer pretty safe just by following recommended Windows protocols.

Source

[lyldz]

webroot

[eurobyn]

ESET not in the list   ? 

strange av test.

 

 

[Gamkutopolowk]

Kaspersky forever

[Screen]

Defender will always be the base line.

[Ryrynz]

7 hours ago, Screen said:

Defender will always be the base line.

 

Now most antivirus software falls below and around it.

[spudboy]

Imo AV-Test is not nearly as thorough or accurate as  AV-Comparatives. While Microsoft Defender offers comparable protection as a few other top dogs, it lags behind in things like false positives and overall system performance impact.

[jango]

No Emsisoft ❓

[Nastrahl]

10 hours ago, spudboy said:

Imo AV-Test is not nearly as thorough or accurate as  AV-Comparatives. While Microsoft Defender offers comparable protection as a few other top dogs, it lags behind in things like false positives and overall system performance impact.

 

It tops in AV-Comparatives too, and doesn't impact performance if you set it to stops scanning on access.

[Radpop]

On 8/3/2019 at 2:59 PM, spudboy said:

While Microsoft Defender offers comparable protection as a few other top dogs, it lags behind in things like false positives and overall system performance impact.

 

This isn't true. Windows Defender got maximum score, so there wasn't false positives or any big slowdowns. The only area where Windows Defender doesn’t beat the industry average is the installation of frequently-used apps.

 

 

It's also very popular: Microsoft’s Windows Defender antivirus is currently protecting more than half of the Windows devices out there!

[FaeGiN]

I must say I am surprised to read such support for antivirus software here. I usually have ESET installed but not monitoring everything I open and not using many many components...not firewall, not http scan, not email scan, etc etc. Just two things: scan a file if I choose the file and point it there and say 'scan it please'. And also I may do a full PC scan once in 3 to 6 months if Iremember. I never get a virus you see and I rarely find any in files either. I do have Sandboxie too for opening/checking out those kinds of rar and zip files we so like to download (and sometimes I will go anywhere online to find a 'medicine' for a software so it is then I know I need to be extra extra careful).

That is what I am getting at.

If you are aware and careful you do not need AV.

I first stopped using it because of the CPU hit, years ago, hogging my machine and making it sluggish. But now I don't use them as a principle. I think it is an idea that has been sold to the public and is mostly propoganda with a bit of reality thrown in.

 

If you are aware and are careful you do not need AV.

 

 

[spudboy]

On 8/6/2019 at 1:54 PM, Radpop said:

 

This isn't true. Windows Defender got maximum score, so there wasn't false positives or any big slowdowns. The only area where Windows Defender doesn’t beat the industry average is the installation of frequently-used apps.

Except other reports say otherwise.