Windows Defender good enough ?

I had always heard that Windows Defender is effective protection and that 3rd party anti-malware software is not really needed. Having watched this video of Malware easily sidestepping Defender is making me reconsider : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXtTgP8JkSk

Conversation 24 comments

  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    03 February, 2020 - 7:29 pm

    <p>This stuff is always a cat and mouse game. What slips by today will get caught tomorrow. You also have to take into account what that 3rd party software is doing. Most of that takes significant resources and sometimes clashes with other software on your system.</p>

    • anoldamigauser

      Premium Member
      04 February, 2020 - 11:23 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#517961">In reply to lvthunder:</a></em></blockquote><p>And, as a hapless NSA contractor found out, anti-virus can also copy suspicious files to the providers servers, wherever they may be, for further study…where they may have to be turned over to the government.</p>

  • Patrick3D

    04 February, 2020 - 9:55 am

    <p>It's like Smokey The Bear tells us about forest fires, only "you" can prevent them. Same goes for virus infections. It is a matter of the user not opening a malicious email attachment, visiting a malicious site, and so on. Thankfully, users have been more vigilant about not doing those things but every year or two someone forwards IT an email, complete with infected attachment still intact, saying they opened the attachment and want to know if they did something bad. &lt;facepalm&gt; None of the 3rd party anti-virus solutions ever stopped an infection since the first thing every virus did was knock out the anti-virus product. Ever since Windows Defender has been forced upon users however, I haven't seen a single infection actually take hold on any Windows 10 machine.</p>

  • waethorn

    04 February, 2020 - 12:14 pm

    <p>Turning off Javascript altogether in your browser and not downloading email attachments would keep you safe from a number of malware insertion techniques. Or you could just use Malwarebytes Premium.</p>

    • garethb

      Premium Member
      09 February, 2020 - 9:52 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#518128">In reply to Waethorn:</a></em></blockquote><p>Leaving your computer turned off, preferably at the socket, will keep you safe from a number of malware insertion techniques.</p>

      • wright_is

        Premium Member
        10 February, 2020 - 8:07 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#519436">In reply to GarethB:</a></em></blockquote><p>Burying it in a block of cement works wonders for security as well. ;-)</p>

        • Jackwagon

          Premium Member
          11 March, 2020 - 7:29 pm

          <blockquote><em><a href="#519474">In reply to wright_is:</a></em></blockquote><p>Weird Al had the perfect method of avoiding viruses:</p><p><br></p><p><em>Turn off your computer and make sure it powers down</em></p><p><em>Put it in a 43-foot hole in the ground</em></p><p><em>Bury it completely; rocks and boulders should be fine</em></p><p><em>Then burn all the clothes you may have worn any time you were online</em></p><p> </p>

  • martinusv2

    Premium Member
    04 February, 2020 - 3:32 pm

    <p>I go to these sites to have some idea of AV protections.</p><p><br></p><p><a href="https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-july-october-2019/&quot; target="_blank">av-comparative.org</a> (test a bit old, next one is next week)</p><p><a href="https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/&quot; target="_blank">av-test.org</a></p><p><br></p><p>Windows Defender also rely on browser for first line defense (phishing, download filtering). We see from the video that WD relies alot from cloud. Some AVs are better than others not online.</p><p><br></p><p>WD is also less intrusive than some paid AVs. It all depends on how far you trust 3rd party AVs. I liked Bitdefender before, but found out that it takes alot of resources and does slow down the PC. </p><p><br></p><p>Like others say, you must be a bit more carefull when using WD. But for a free AV. It's hard to beat. </p><p><br></p><p>Always liked the way the guy in The PC Security Channel tests the AVs. </p>

  • ashakantasharma

    05 February, 2020 - 11:08 am

    <p>Agree on this…as I have found out that on several occasions viruses successfully marked themselves in EXCLUSION LIST Of Windows Defender in Windows 10. How that can be allowed to be done by WD ? We would never able to find any viruses in our pc if such things happens and if no body checks the exclusion list of WD.</p><p><br></p><p>Much needs to be done with WD….Hope Microsoft will fix all these HUGE LOOPHOLES. </p>

  • j5

    Premium Member
    09 February, 2020 - 1:52 pm

    <p>I think it really depends on how you use your computer.</p><p><br></p><p>If you're browsing the same safe sites, purchasing games from Steam or other game stores (not Piratebay), you maintain good email security habits (checking links before you click etc.) and good email surfing habits. All the top web browsers have really good security baked into them compared to the Windows XP days. There's a lot of great security and privacy extensions to help like UBlock Origins, HTTPS Everywhere etc. We have great password managers available today as well. </p><p><br></p><p>Now if you're downloading files off Piratebay and torrenting, purposely going to shady parts of the web then yeah I'd purchase something greater than Windows Defender. </p><p><br></p><p>Windows Defender is a lot better than is used to be. It was laughable when it first came out. But it's a legit contender with the AVs now a days. I think it makes sense to spend $50 a year for AV when the average threat isn't from computer virus any more. If you look at them today they come bundled with VPNs, browser extensions, parental controls, and password managers. And chances are you get all that from other companies. Plus it's not smart to put all your security options into one basket.</p><p><br></p><p>I've never been hit with ransomware, doesn't mean I won't be. But I keep back ups of everything that's important to me via OneDrive (Office subscription), local external HD, and some thumb drives for misc small files. </p><p><br></p><p>So why spend that money annually for AV when you could allocate to another area of your security and privacy protocols that would give you immediate results like a backup solution or a VPN. Just me 2 cents.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      10 February, 2020 - 8:10 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#519337">In reply to j5:</a></em></blockquote><p>I gave you an up vote, but I think you meant "I think it <strong>doesn't</strong> make sense to spend $50 a year", based on the rest of your post.</p>

      • j5

        Premium Member
        17 February, 2020 - 10:59 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#519475">In reply to wright_is:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yes you're right lol. Great catch, thanks!</p>

  • wunderbar

    Premium Member
    09 February, 2020 - 6:12 pm

    <p>if you practice safe interneting, Windows defender is more than good enough.</p><p><br></p><p>If you're grabbing files/things from "questionable" websites where you do not know the source of the thing you're getting, then yes you should take additional precautions. And by that I mean things like torrents, non official sources for products, etc.</p><p><br></p><p>I haven't run an AV other than Windows defender since like 2011, and while I'll on occasion install something just to test/make sure I'm still clean, I've never had an issue.</p>

  • james_b

    10 February, 2020 - 12:53 pm

    <p>Leo works for Emsisoft so it's in his best interests to try and persuade users that they need more than WD (which we don't). So he loads up a pile of malware and bombards his box which is really an unrealistic test (when is the last time you threw several hundred types of malware at your computer?). I've been running with WD for years with no issues. Leo's a nice guy but I wouldn't put my trust in his tests.</p>

  • dftf

    28 February, 2020 - 3:21 pm

    <p>If you look at independent tests (e.g. AV Comparatives or AV Test) in most recent years the detection rate for Microsoft Security Essentials (which is essentially what Windows Defender now is from Windows 8 onwards; on Windows 7 though, Windows Defender, like in Vista, is only anti-malware, not anti-virus) is usually around 98% or higher, and ranks as one of the top ones.</p><p><br></p><p>Personally, given its simplicity (well, not-so-much in Windows 10 now: the UI has become a bit bloated) and fairly-light resources, along with those test results, I'd say just use that and Malwarebytes. If you download a file you're particularly not sure of, upload it to VirusTotal.</p><p><br></p><p>Most other AVs offer a confusing array of options (e.g. AVG, Avira, Avast) or do things like mess with your system certificates so they can break encryption on HTTPS sites to check them (BitDefender Free).</p><p><br></p><p>Also worth noting: if you have Windows 7 with Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft have said you will continue to receive definition updates until Jan 2023</p>

  • Lauren Glenn

    02 March, 2020 - 9:25 am

    <p>Once when cleaning viruses off people's machine, I'd always use Malwarebytes because it would always fix it. No 4 different executables to remove random viruses… it just did its thing. Not that it was always perfect but it works pretty well for me and isn't as intrusive as Defender can be. </p><p><br></p><p>Defender should be the thing that keeps people who are unaware of their machines safe and it's probably decent enough….. but Malwarebytes is the thing I use and love having running in the background. I don't have to worry about ransomware and other things because it catches it. For me, Defender is my understudy of virus detectors should something go wrong with Malwarebytes. Defender is fine… but Malwarebytes just does the job for me and doesn't get in my way while doing it.</p>

    • james_b

      02 March, 2020 - 11:15 am

      <blockquote><br></blockquote><p>Microsoft Security is beefed up now to provide the security most of us need provided we use our brains in how we go about our business on the internet. Malwarebytes is fine but I no longer bother with it. In fact, I haven't used it for the past two years and don't intend to put it back on any of my devices. </p>

      • Lauren Glenn

        28 March, 2020 - 8:28 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#525112">In reply to James_B:</a></em></blockquote><p>Fair enough. I used to not pay for Malwarebytes but I trust it because it detected things that Defender didn't but more importantly that it didn't give me issues when they first rolled out that restriction where programs couldn't write to certain file locations (which many of them needed to). </p><p><br></p><p>Defender is fine…. don't get me wrong. Something about Malwarebytes where at least I worry less about it while it's on… so that's why I pay for it. But for people who don't want to pay for virus software, it is good that at least something is made to be installed. It saves me from getting calls from people to clean their machines from viruses.</p>

        • james_b

          29 March, 2020 - 3:37 pm

          <blockquote><em><a href="#534583">In reply to alissa914:</a></em></blockquote><p>I would say that if having MB on your computer sets your mind at ease, then by all means – go for it. 🙂 I'm fine without it but being retired now my needs have changed significantly. I was also encouraged to see the fine scores MS security earned from AV-Comparatives and AV-Test although I trusted it before seeing those reports.</p>

    • epguy40

      11 March, 2020 - 4:15 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#525089">In reply to alissa914:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>I use the Malwarebytes Free version while using Windows Defender (soon to be renamed to Microsoft Defender once 20H1/2004 comes out).</p>

    • 1024freeman

      30 March, 2020 - 10:36 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#525089">In reply to alissa914:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Interestingly I paid $25.76cdn/$19usd Oct 2012 and have a lifetime subscription for Malwarebytes Premium. So far my cost is approx $3usd a year. Using MB in conjunction with WD. Works so far, I also hopefully use common sense going about my daily internet usage.</p>

  • nandan46@

    12 March, 2020 - 1:16 pm

    <p>I also agree with JHAMBI that windows Defender is not good enough for our Pc or laptop. We must need a good antivirus. I use kasperskay internet security 2020. Its a great antivirus…</p>

  • biswajitlive

    12 March, 2020 - 5:36 pm

    <p>thanks for the valuable </p>

  • Belralph

    31 March, 2020 - 8:18 am

    <p>I deal with a domain having 100 people of every level of computer skill as well as supporting all my extended family. What I have experienced, simply keeping the computer updated and setup to run on with user account instead of the default admin account with keep you out of 99% of the trouble on the internet. I'm not saying it's impossible for something to get by but I sleep pretty well at night. The only time I have recently needed to clean off something nasty was a co-workers home Windows 7 machine that was running on an admin account. </p><p><br></p><p>For some special instances I have Malwarebytes and I highly recommend the free version if you need to give a computer a second scan just to make sure it's clean. I have the paid version from way back when they sold lifetime licenses so it's not an ongoing expense for me but it has always been a solid product. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

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