Every industry has many sorts of players. From mid-tier entries to the premiere league, each company has its place. But who’s to say that things don’t change? Windows Defender is a great example of outstanding evolution and technological advancement that has driven Microsoft’s built- in antivirus to the top ranks among other industry leaders such as Avast and Bitdefender.
AV-TEST GmbH, an independent research institute for IT security from Germany, evaluated 18 endpoint protection products during July and August 2018. The results showed that Windows Defender scored 17.5 points out of 18. To break that down, it’s 6 points for protection and usability and 5.5 points for performance.
Specifically, protection tests 0-day malware attacks, including real-time web and e-mail threats scenarios as well as detection of widespread and prevalent malware discovered in the last 4 weeks. Performance tests are run to determine the average influence of the product on computer speed in daily usage. They include copying files, launching apps and websites and other similar tasks. Last but not least, usability tests the impact of the security software on the usability of the whole computer.
Concerning the circumstances under which the tests were conducted, the company’s report reads: “We always used the most current publicly-available version of all products for the testing. They were allowed to update themselves at any time and query their in-the-cloud services. We focused on realistic test scenarios and challenged the products against real-world threats. Products had to demonstrate their capabilities using all components and protection layers.”
At this point, it’s worth mentioning that the same results came back for Windows defender the two months before this report. With that being the case, AV-TEST gave its certification to Windows Defender, recognizing its place among the top antivirus software developer companies. That’s definitely a big win for Microsoft. The Redmond giant launched their antivirus so many years ago, as an alternative to people who opted not to purchase a complete antivirus solution. And now, they’re claiming their rightful place at the top, after countless enhancements, advances and innovative features.
The best part is that Windows users are winners too, since Windows Defender comes built in every Windows operating system. Having stuff for free is good, but how great is it when that stuff also happens to be at the top of its industry? Eventually Windows users could save good money from sticking with their installed protection solution.
It goes without saying that Windows Defender can’t just replace big players such as Symantec and Avast. Especially not over-night. It is however a good opportunity for the industry to be forced to move forward. That’s because the companies who offer their products either for a price or a subscription, are the ones who will strive to come up with even more advanced features and improved services, in order to keep up with the competition. So stick around to learn all the latest news about antivirus programs and many more hot tech topics!
