Great free antivirus options can be added to Defender And don’t forget, Windows Sandbox (added to Windows 10 Pro machines as part of the May 2019 Update) allows you that extra protection in case you do want to explore a risky site or app. Of course, you should always practice safe Internet practices, such as not clicking on unknown links and attachments, and not wandering through the dark corners of the web. Multiple test results make the case that Windows Defender is good enough to protect your PC from viruses and malware. Of the top antivirus testing agencies, Defender scored three out of three. The report (available only via a downloadable PDF) gave Defender a perfect 100-percent accuracy rating.

The UK’s SELabs is yet a third source of antimalware testing, and it, too, ranked Defender at the top of its list of antimalware solutions. AV-test ranked Defender 6 out of 6 for the group test, scores that Defender has been at or near for AV-test’s April roundup, the February roundup, and December 2018 and October 2018 tests, too.ĪV-test also ranked Defender above the industry average in terms of performance, such as installing apps and copying files, a significant improvement over AV-comparatives’ own test from April, where Defender performed poorly in those same comparisons.

Defender caught every piece of malware the agency threw at it, including every “zero-day” sample that reproduced real-world testing, with zero false positives. Think back: Has Windows 10’s Windows Defender blocked an app you knew to be legitimate?)įor its part, AV-test ranked Windows Defender as a Top Product in its June 2019 antivirus group test. (This is an instance where your own experience can serve as a sounding board. Windows Defender was also unusually heavy-handed with false positives, blocking a massive 74 legitimate apps and services.

That’s not ideal-users would probably be inclined to allow the malware onto the system. The tests revealed three “user-dependent” test cases, where Defender didn’t immediately identify the malware, and asked the user for permission to install the file. To be fair, the AV-comparatives test showed a few weaknesses with Windows Defender.

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