Windows 10 has a default malware and anti-virus software named Windows Defender. Well, you should know it by now if you are using Windows 10. It was first introduced as a default program in Windows 8 and then later in Windows 10.
It was available many years before only in a downloadable form. It wasn’t that much functional as it is now. Now, from the moment you are installing Windows 10, you will get protection from malware. You don’t have to download any antivirus right away.
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But the question is whether Windows Defender is enough for your PC? A lot of people have a common question if they need to install another antivirus software. It’s a great question indeed.
Though Windows defender has a lot of features along with it but can it be the ultimate antivirus? Microsoft has developed this tool for years and now it is ready to combat viruses and other kinds of malware. Before going into details, let’s see what features does Defender has.
The defender has the following features:
- Cloud-delivered protection
- Always on real-time protection and machine learning based protection
- How end users interact with the client on individual endpoints
The AV-TEST Scores
If you don’t know what AV-TEST is, then I’ll tell you in brief. AV-TEST is a Magdeburg, Germany-based security firm that will test best AV software from time to time.
It’s for to know how well they perform for a variety of platforms, such as Windows, Mac OS, Android, and Linux. According to AV-TEST, the company’s May/June 2021 result suggests that Windows Defender has a top protection score. In the protection test, Windows Defender got 6.0/6.0 score. That’s wonderful, AV-Test used 277 samples of 0-day malware and Defender blocked them all. Also, in the known malware test Defender blocks all the 6572 samples.
The Performance score was not that much good as the protection as it only gains 5.5/6.0. However, the Usability score is again 6.0/6.0.
Though it might lack at specific points, still the scores have improved tremendously.
Is Windows Defender Good Enough?
After installing Windows 10, you’ll always get an antivirus running on your PC, protecting 24/7. It will automatically scan the files you open and update virus definitions regularly.
You can also use a thorough scan to see if there are any malware on the PC. And most importantly, it won’t make your PC run slower than usual. So, that’s a plus point, right?
Other antiviruses will just slow down your PC to a significant amount. According to The Windows Club, Windows Defender merely provides average protection. And it’s best suited for typical day to day usage, no extra fuss.
When Microsoft first introduces Windows Defender, it had failed almost all tests compared to other software programs, but now it has improved quite a lot.
But the situation has changed, and it has started to provide much better protection than before.
So, the answer would be, yes. It can be an excellent protection for your PC. But it’s better if you can couple it with any other anti-malware software program.
Well, it’s still an average level protection suite. Maybe not the best one. But running it with another anti-malware can boost up your protection. If you are aware about your browsing habits, tech-savvy and do not involve in suspicious stuff, it might be a good option.
But downloading files from many sources would require another level of protection that the defender cannot give.
So, if you want to keep it all full proof, then try out reliable security solution from other vendors.
Defender Isn’t Enough: Use Anti-Malware
I know antivirus programs are essential, but it’s good if you use anti-malware to protect your browsers from dangerous malware attacks. The makers of Malware are targeting browsers mostly these days, and you can’t defend it all by only Windows Defender.
According to How-to-Geek, Only Windows Defender is not enough. You should integrate with other anti-malware software for better solution.
MalwareFox is good at finding any unwanted programs. Though they claim that they can replace the traditional antivirus, it’s best not to go with it entirely. Antiviruses will detect the harmful programs. On the other hand, MalwareFox will stop it from ever infecting the PC.
Well, it won’t interfere with the Windows Defender. So, it will be an excellent combination to have both of them working together.
You’ll get some features for free, but if you want the best protection, you should go for the premium one. The premium version has anti-exploit and anti-ransom features that you will not get in the free one.
Malwarebytes is also a similar kind of software for your protection. So, if you want, you can even try it out. I would recommend you to try out MalwareFox first, though.
Now that you know that Windows Defender is an average and simple kind of antivirus for our PC, you should get extra help. Well, the combination of antivirus and antimalware and with some common sense, you can avoid any dangerous software indeed.
Hasib is a born geek and loves tweaking his computer and gadgets for effectiveness and productivity. At WindowsChimp, he specializes in writing Tutorial guides and discovering new hacks to share.
Windows Defender + Avast Premier is my choice. Works very well.
I have been using Windows embedded antivirus/malware protection for about 10 years. I have used other 3rd party products but I found all of them more or less intrusive and even detrimental to system performance. Users above all need to take care to what they expose themselves. They also must have good backups and be aware of recovery procedures.
This reads more like an ad for Malware Fox than anything else. While acknowledging Malwarebytes (a well known and long established producer of anti-malware) it mentions no test reports or comparisons of Malware Fox to other such products. I would have preferred to have seen a bit more discussions – or at least a reference to some evaluations – of various malware products (as the author did in referring to AV-TEST and anti-virus programs).
Hi Dave,
This article focused on Windows Defender and its competitor antivirus programs and hence author covered evaluations from AV-TEST.
While doing comparison of anti-malware programs (second opinion scanners), you should see MalwareFox and related programs.
my company uses Windows Defender on our computers, once we upgraded to Win 7 Pro and Win 10 Pro … we used to use McAfee Anti-Virus but I think the company wanted to save on licensing fees. I added Malwarebytes (freeware) personally to my computer as an addendum to the Windows Defender (even when we were running McAfee as well.)
Glad to hear that you added second opinion scanner in addition to traditional antivirus program (McAfee).
It should toughen up security layer.