This success puts it on a par with renowned competitors such as ESET, F-Secure and Kaspersky.
A German institute specializing in computer security and, more specifically, antivirus software, AV-Test regularly publishes the results of its research into protection software. The institute is in fact responsible for screening the vast majority of antivirus products on the market through its numerous tests. The idea is to check the protection offered against the countless threats that exist, but also to evaluate the performance recorded in the analysis of a system for example. Finally, the institute's tests focus on the user interface, comfort and accessibility of the software.
The tool integrated into Windows by Microsoft - the famous Windows Defender - has often been criticized since. However, according to the study conducted by AV-Test, the program does not fare badly at all. To be honest, it is even among the very best: it achieves the highest score in all three areas observed by AV-Test and thus offers an evocative total of 18 points out of 18. According to these results, there is no need to look for a software solution to replace Windows Defender, which does the job very well.
The best Windows antivirus software for home users. https://t.co/e7yI71mNlP#windows #antivirus #security #software #test #infosec pic.twitter.com/NwIDWRxiX1
- AV-TEST GmbH (@avtestorg) November 24, 2021
However, the most curious will have observed the scores of the other candidates. It turns out that the highest score is not only given to Windows Defender, but also to industry heavyweights such as ESET, F-Secure or Kaspersky. In fact, this is not really a surprise: these programs are references. On the other hand, the 18 out of 18 points are also awarded to Avast Free, AVG and Avira: these solutions obviously have more than their faults, but their main asset has always been free of charge rather than efficiency.
Finally, the AV-Test study gives this maximum score to 17 of the 21 tested software. We don't want to criticize the institute's work and it is particularly difficult to evaluate the efficiency of an anti-virus, but this "School of Fans" aspect is a bit embarrassing. One thing is clear: Windows Defender is clearly not the sieve that some people would have us believe, and that is already very good news.
