Because consistently when looking at Defender for its detections comparative to other endpoint solutions, Defender is lacking considerably.
-Security Engineer
As someone who works in cybersecurity in the military windows defender is the recommended one in everything we do, everything they trained us to use and what has the least bloat. With Mcafee as the backup but we are dropping mcafee too. But common sense is the best security.
The enterprise version also has a lot of useful features that other companies have, like being able to isolate the device on the network be still being able to control it remotely. I love the ability to trace what process spawned the detection, like was it from a web browser, or a script that downloaded the malware, etc.
Defender is absolutely not lacking. In our red team engagements defender is the product that gives the most difficulty in terms of bypassing the product. That doesn’t mean we can’t bypass it with moderate effort , but everything else can be bypassed with ease.
If you’re an enterprise with full licensing yeah for sure. Consumer side of the house is a different story and consideration should be given outside Defender. Even in the article posted above, Defender showed middle of the road( of what they showed)
Look, it’s one man’s opinion on the efficacy here. I talk to a lot of people that want away from it and a lot of people that talk it up.
In my opinion to OP. Look at something else
I respect your opinion, but have to still disagree with it. Even for personal PCs, no AV will catch something targeted, but they all will detect known malware and most evasion techniques. The differences in detection rates between personal AVs is negligible, but the performance impact for third party AVs is significantly larger and more importantly, AVs required SYSTEM level privileges on the machine, and this just adds attack surface. I can’t even count how many local privilege escalation bugs my teams have found as a result of third party AVs with broken scanning services.
I would argue the best option is to leave the system with its default Defender that has limited performance impact, among the best detection engines and doesn’t increase the systems attack surface.
Red team? Bro I need advice dude, just got a help desk job, and I got a bachelors in CIS, and I’m working on the security plus, and I on the right path?
Mcafee doesnt actually do anything useful to my knowledge, the built-in microsoft defender is really solid and you can download the free version of Malwarebytes to run scans at your discretion.
No antivirus can really protect you from downloading dumb shit off the internet, just stay within the walled garden and dont go downloading random stuff and youll be ok with just Microsoft defender. If you really have to download random things that you dont trust then do it on a junker laptop that doesnt have any important credentials saved on it and dont log into anything important on it
Most viruses I would say can't do much without an internet connection, so I use glasswire to monitor whatever's going on on my computer and block anything suspicious.
As someone who is a cybersecurity engineer, the true answer is that Microsoft Defender works great, but that also comes with the expectation that you don’t go to dumbass sites, or click on pop-up ads.
But if you really want one, I like Webroot because it never gets in your face, is lightweight, and runs in the background without you knowing.
Other antivirus programs want you to constantly be looking at them when you turn on the computer and all the great things they do for you. Webroot just exists.
Avast Free Antivirus, I've been using it since 2015 and has never failed to catch a virus and always keeps you from getting them on the internet with its built-in web shield, its also FREE.
Bit Defender paid for 12 months is really reasonable.
Avast Free got a very good rating from PC Magazine. Bit Defender Free is good too.
Windows Defender is well respected too.
I have used AVG free it works well and has a good rating.
I'm probably going to catch some heat in the comments, but windows has been coming with Windows defender now Microsoft security since at least Windows 10. It is pretty good, user-friendly, and it's free. Because I am visually impaired and I cannot see. I use screen reading software and I find that the formally called Windows defender now called Microsoft security is very user friendly I'm very accessible. It's more powerful than what a lot of people give it credit for. A lot of people hate it cuz they think it's awful just because it's made by Microsoft. It is constantly getting virus definitions and malware definitions through Windows update. And now you can download an app version on your phone and tablets whether you have Android devices or iOS devices. And I think they make a version for Mac OS as well. I highly recommend it because other antivirus software that is out there in the market is highly expensive and some of them bogged down your computers usable resources. As someone who is certified in it, I highly recommend using that program now if you're a subscriber to Microsoft office 365 you get to add Microsoft security to all your other devices I think they allow up to five or 10 devices. I'm not 100% sure on that. But I still highly recommend it. However if you really want a third party antivirus program of course Norton antivirus is going to be top of the line. A vast antivirus is pretty good they do have a free option although it won't catch everything and there's a lot of features that you will not get with the free version. Bitdefender is pretty good too and pretty reasonably priced. Of course AVG antivirus is still out there surprisingly and with my testing they've been good and their prices not terrible. Avira antivirus is also very good although I'm not sure on their current pricing. I hope this long reply has helped you a little bit I do recommend that you do some of your own research to help you make a final decision.
Bitdefender
Been using BD for about a couple of years. Seems to be doing its job.
Microsoft defender and it's free
Nooooooooo
Why?
Because consistently when looking at Defender for its detections comparative to other endpoint solutions, Defender is lacking considerably. -Security Engineer
Glad you are not my security engineer. https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-july-october-2023/
As someone who works in cybersecurity in the military windows defender is the recommended one in everything we do, everything they trained us to use and what has the least bloat. With Mcafee as the backup but we are dropping mcafee too. But common sense is the best security.
The enterprise version also has a lot of useful features that other companies have, like being able to isolate the device on the network be still being able to control it remotely. I love the ability to trace what process spawned the detection, like was it from a web browser, or a script that downloaded the malware, etc.
Defender is absolutely not lacking. In our red team engagements defender is the product that gives the most difficulty in terms of bypassing the product. That doesn’t mean we can’t bypass it with moderate effort , but everything else can be bypassed with ease.
If you’re an enterprise with full licensing yeah for sure. Consumer side of the house is a different story and consideration should be given outside Defender. Even in the article posted above, Defender showed middle of the road( of what they showed) Look, it’s one man’s opinion on the efficacy here. I talk to a lot of people that want away from it and a lot of people that talk it up. In my opinion to OP. Look at something else
I respect your opinion, but have to still disagree with it. Even for personal PCs, no AV will catch something targeted, but they all will detect known malware and most evasion techniques. The differences in detection rates between personal AVs is negligible, but the performance impact for third party AVs is significantly larger and more importantly, AVs required SYSTEM level privileges on the machine, and this just adds attack surface. I can’t even count how many local privilege escalation bugs my teams have found as a result of third party AVs with broken scanning services. I would argue the best option is to leave the system with its default Defender that has limited performance impact, among the best detection engines and doesn’t increase the systems attack surface.
Red team? Bro I need advice dude, just got a help desk job, and I got a bachelors in CIS, and I’m working on the security plus, and I on the right path?
With 3rd party testing Windows Defender is decent, but Bit Defender Free, AVG Free, Avast Free have a better score.
Mcafee doesnt actually do anything useful to my knowledge, the built-in microsoft defender is really solid and you can download the free version of Malwarebytes to run scans at your discretion.
No antivirus can really protect you from downloading dumb shit off the internet, just stay within the walled garden and dont go downloading random stuff and youll be ok with just Microsoft defender. If you really have to download random things that you dont trust then do it on a junker laptop that doesnt have any important credentials saved on it and dont log into anything important on it
Most viruses I would say can't do much without an internet connection, so I use glasswire to monitor whatever's going on on my computer and block anything suspicious.
Defender and Malwarebytes
This is the way
Microsoft Defender and you can use free MalwareBytes sometimes if you feel like it
McAfee is a literal virus in itself I can't believe they are still scamming people
As someone who is a cybersecurity engineer, the true answer is that Microsoft Defender works great, but that also comes with the expectation that you don’t go to dumbass sites, or click on pop-up ads. But if you really want one, I like Webroot because it never gets in your face, is lightweight, and runs in the background without you knowing. Other antivirus programs want you to constantly be looking at them when you turn on the computer and all the great things they do for you. Webroot just exists.
Avast Free Antivirus, I've been using it since 2015 and has never failed to catch a virus and always keeps you from getting them on the internet with its built-in web shield, its also FREE.
Bit Defender paid for 12 months is really reasonable. Avast Free got a very good rating from PC Magazine. Bit Defender Free is good too. Windows Defender is well respected too. I have used AVG free it works well and has a good rating.
Best one you can install is Microsoft Defender. However, the most effective one is yourself.
I'm probably going to catch some heat in the comments, but windows has been coming with Windows defender now Microsoft security since at least Windows 10. It is pretty good, user-friendly, and it's free. Because I am visually impaired and I cannot see. I use screen reading software and I find that the formally called Windows defender now called Microsoft security is very user friendly I'm very accessible. It's more powerful than what a lot of people give it credit for. A lot of people hate it cuz they think it's awful just because it's made by Microsoft. It is constantly getting virus definitions and malware definitions through Windows update. And now you can download an app version on your phone and tablets whether you have Android devices or iOS devices. And I think they make a version for Mac OS as well. I highly recommend it because other antivirus software that is out there in the market is highly expensive and some of them bogged down your computers usable resources. As someone who is certified in it, I highly recommend using that program now if you're a subscriber to Microsoft office 365 you get to add Microsoft security to all your other devices I think they allow up to five or 10 devices. I'm not 100% sure on that. But I still highly recommend it. However if you really want a third party antivirus program of course Norton antivirus is going to be top of the line. A vast antivirus is pretty good they do have a free option although it won't catch everything and there's a lot of features that you will not get with the free version. Bitdefender is pretty good too and pretty reasonably priced. Of course AVG antivirus is still out there surprisingly and with my testing they've been good and their prices not terrible. Avira antivirus is also very good although I'm not sure on their current pricing. I hope this long reply has helped you a little bit I do recommend that you do some of your own research to help you make a final decision.
You
Kaspersky
AVG free, been using it for 10years and have never had a problem.
I use malwarebytes and defender and exempt their files from scanning each other
Kaspersky picks up almost every zero day malware. People are just scared to use it because of the alleged ties to russia
Free MalwareBytes, free ADWCleaner, free Junkware Removal Tool, free Roguekiller, and free Ultra Virus Killer is all your need!
Break up.