Not clicking the big green download button is the strongest antivirus you can have

As someone who's worked in jobs going to peoples homes, and cleaning malware and viruses that blew right by paid software, but was stopped dead in its tracks by Windows Security, I have no issues with Defender / Security. Yes, not everything is perfect, but I had to laugh when McAfee and Norton let stuff in that basically kept computers from working period.

Idea for LTT Labs, get these recovery services and then willfully inject the unfortunate test machine and see if they can actually recover it.

+1 for Defender here. I spend a lot of my time prepping computers for users by removing the Antivirus junk from PCs. Chances are if computer is being slow, it's because the AV program is using up all the resources. Better to move as much AV/AM stuff to the router/firewall where possible and use something more lightweight on the PC itself. Always good to have a 2nd opinion though so I have a couple of basic scanners handy if someone thinks they may have slipped up. I send out a questionnaire to all our users every quarter reminding them of safe internet practices and so far, this has been by far and away, the cheapest, most effective way of keeping our systems clean.

Windows Defender and common sense is all that most of us need. :) I stopped being ripped off by Norton products back in 2008. Never again.

What I think is most important, is safe browsing and not falling for spam mails or running unknown programs... Windows Defender is a nice to have tho

Defender actually works extremely well on it's own. Especially that it updates regularly for free, so long as your computer & OS are in support. As a security professional, if it were up to me I'd use it across an entire enterprise for all supported OS types. Not just windows.

"Is Windows Defender Good Enough?" - sponsored by an anti malware software company. I see no conflict of interest here. (the video is still good, but it is definitely a conflict of interest)

Windows Security doesn't need to inject into the OS, like other AV's do. This is the reason it's the most reasonable protection.

Windows Defender + Malwarebytes has served me well over the past few years.

Been using default Windows 10 security for a couple years now with no problems. I also practice what I would consider to be "common sense" and stay away from shady websites and sketchy downloads. Overall my Windows experience has been MUCH faster without a 3rd party antivirus software constantly taking up all my system resources.

Windows Defender is in the sweet spot between detection and not being a pain in the ass.

I remember being fine with MSE (Microsoft security essentials) during those Windows 7 days, after upgrading to 10, I've been using defender without any issues or major infections

Always turn on the browser setting to ask where to download file You’ll see exactly what is being downloaded, and it gives you an opportunity to cancel malicious downloads before they even start (and of course, never follow through with a download that looks sketchy or one you didn’t initiate if a download starts on its own without you clicking a download button, it’s probably malware)

I absolutely do think that most antivirus software now can be classified as virus. They are extremely invasive, hard to remove, come with tons of bloatware and unwanted "features", resource intensive etc.. that to me is called a virus

HP Wolf Security - "We did not even make it onto any of the top anti-virus comparison lists shown in this video, but please still use our product!" XD

0:50 McAfee listed with perfect score? Opinion discarded.

Windows Security + Automatic Updates Enabled + uBlock Origin is all that most people need. If you're getting infected despite that, chances are it's a PEBCAK situation.

Defender/Security is one of the best parts of Windows. Anything more is unnecessary and often gets in the way.

Sponsorship is a bit of a conflict of interest. But onto my own experience: I've been switching between Webroot and Defender, both seem pretty good at low resource usage. Had some issues with Webroot locking files used for some of my games so they wouldn't play, so I'm currently on Defender and probably won't renew Webroot. One thing that I have found is that a lot of people aren't aware that Windows 10 and 11 comes with antivirus built in, they assume that they need to get it separately. Probably doesn't help that Chromebook advertisements boast that they have antivirus built in and imply their competition doesn't.

What shocks me after 30 years in IT for several different companies is how every large firm I have worked at insists on installing macafee or Norton which clearly causes the pc to run like trash. Had a laptop that occasionally took 5 minutes to boot up specifically because Norton suddenly decides to kick in and it happens every few weeks. Almost seem like the decision to use Norton was from legal who don't care how well or poor the software impact was as long as the firm is protected from lawsuits which is a bigger deal than protecting from malware.

hi from crowdstrike day

I would NEVER recommend HP Wolf Security. I had to uninstall it from all my office PCs. It would randomly break access to my other software and on multiple instances prevented me from printing (ironically HP printers). Took me a while to figure out the cause and removing it immediately solved my problems.

Windows Security + Malwarebytes is as good as it gets. The most vulnerable link in the chain is the human itself.

LMG is usually really good about not creating conflicts of interest with its sponsorships. But having a paid endpoint security service sponsor a video about whether you should pay for antivirus software? Not ideal.

I am thinking it's safe to say Crowdstrike may be removed from that list..maybe. Provided it doesn't get sued out of existence

The biggest virus threat is the USER.

1:26 😂 that's a really cute animation there

Defender is actually pretty decent, considering you can enable controlled folders, reduced attack surface, etc. These are a lot more powerful than simply looking for hashes or signatures, etc. or heuristics and usually overlooked by non-security people.

I've had my PC for over two years, and Windows Defender/Security never got in my way, and I've never had a virus, so 10/10 for me.

Windows Defender does do a good job offline. In fact it has a special "offline" mode to find Bootstrap loaders and BIOS hooks that can only be detected before the OS Boots.

Used to have Norton Security on my brand new laptop, the thing was basically a virus by itself. Clicking one thing took like 20 seconds to respond, so I tried uninstalling it. Took 20 minutes, but my laptop started zooming along once I switched to Windows Defender. Norton was taking pretty much like 90% of my hard drive. Yes, I had it configured right. Even turning everything off that possibly could impact my PC, even turning the entire thing off, it slowed down my laptop. Thing was so horrifically bad.

Common sense will always be the greatest antivirus.

Don’t you think having a video like this sponsored by an antivirus product is a bit of a conflict of interest?

For any devs out there: if you're having Windows security enabled, with real-time protection, and you build / compile some code, it will be 25% slower. People are failing to mention the biggest downside of having any anti virus / malware enabled: the impact on performance.

I think having an antivirus sponsor introduces a conflict of interest

The best antivirus that every computer can have is common sense I haven't even watched the video yet and can already tell you this

Isn't having a sponsor that's directly related to the topic kinda like an ad? Surely this topic wouldn't have been discussed if the sponsor didn't want you to.

Windows defender is terrible, I remember having an issue with Windows update failing constantly and was unable to update my system for months! Every time I restart to update it would say "Unable to update, reverting changes..." I kept searching for a solution until one day I stumbled across Windows defender and saw that it was blocking Windows update from modifying system files! I immediately turned Windows defender off and was FINALLY able to update my system. After this event I'll never use Windows defender again.

I noticed that McAfee was in the top AV programs on that list but because it was so bad for so long people still think it's terrible. lol Overcoming a bad reputation has to be one of the most difficult things in the corporate world.

HP wont let you partition your fucking hard drive without breaking the entire computer and voiding its warranty, HP is the last company I would trust with my security.

Windows security + free version of Malwarebytes

This is probably the best advertisement for HP Wolf Security as people actually know what the terms in the sponsor segment mean at the end of the video. Well Played, good information with relevant sponsors.

It is not uncommon to hear from tech support, when you have issues running certain software like games, to actually uninstall many of the paid antivirus programs, as they tend to get in the way more than they help.

I remember my dad got a cheap PC for everyone to use at home and it came pre-installed with McAfee. It's a PC that only has like 4Gb of ram and a very cheap processor (we can't afford much better), so you could imagine that with McAfee installed; it was running *extremely* slowly. Could barely use it, so I took McAfee off and ran perfectly fine then. McAfee and Norton are basically viruses themselves, in my opinion.

There were many times ive found norton and other "anti-malware" programs that intentionally and secretly downloaded malware in order for me to upgrade a package. Has happened to me everytime Ive used one so in 2014 i stopped using them and ive yet to have a single virus. Thanks antiviruses for doing the complete opposite of your job.

When the video is sponsored by a "security company", you know you will get objective and accurate information about Windows' free built-in security measures.

I wish this video wasn't sponsored by a third party security solution so that we could have got an honest read.

But all the lonely single moms from the neighborhood asked me to hit the big flashing green download button

Linux users:- *Look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power*

I disabled windows defender firewall updates and now my pc running much faster than before without any lag

You mentioned the lower protection level when not online.. but for the most part, when not online there is no path for a virus to get in. Assuming the user isn't dumb enough to plug in an unknown or unscanned USB or similar, there is no avenue of attack until back online.

I, too, work in mobile tech support for home and small business users. Windows Defender + Windows updates enabled + UBlock Origin in ALL brosers + turning OFF website notifications in ALL browsers keeps most issues in check. The biggest risk is social engineering, no software can stop a user clicking on a well disguised phishing email unfortunately. Educating people to avoid this style of attack is just as important. The windows defender offline scanning tool is pretty handy too. Was amused at the sponsor for the video, however. In the end, the best security is a well educated user. Whenever i'm setting up new units, removal of the OEM bundled software and the 30 day trial of Norton [ACER] and Mcafee [HP, Dell, Lenovo] is top of the list.

As a former Cybersecurity IT, I'd say it's good enough for the average PC user and most PC users. Most users just browse reputable websites and play games on reputable launchers. Sprinkle in a bit of common sense to catch those big colorful "Download Now!" buttons and the "I am a nigerian prnce and my fathr died yestrdy" emails, and it'll be alright. Paid AntiVirus software is more for the business users (there are some actual quality phishing/vhishing/social engineering attacks, also CEOs and etc are high value targets) and adventurous users (ie. pirates, engineers, etc). Just be sure to ignore reviews that say Norton or Avast are good, because those reviews are paid (I'd throw in AVG and Avast too, but I just personally hate them).

I find it ironic how Microsoft gets a lot of bad press for IE/Edge but everyone's like "Yes! Give me more!" with Windows Defender.

A zero day: an undiscovered threat that is actively being used maliciously in the wild.

Any person that pays for security software has to thank Microsoft for pushing everyone starting with Windows 8 and then get stronger on Windows 10. If Microsoft didn't make that move, I'm pretty sure that what Microsoft offers for free, would be the most expensive package of any antivirus software. IMO

As someone that works in cyber security, yes for most cases.

Pro tip You can kill windows defender Alt+control+delete➡️task manager ➡️right click on windows defender process➡️ open file location ➡️make shortcut➡️ reboot into safe mode ➡️right click shortcut ➡️open file location➡️ rename file➡️ add .old to the end of file name➡️ reboot back to normal operation. This can be turned on and off as needed Instead of allowing it to run 24/7 For systems with limited ram...you're welcome

I'm grateful for protections built-in on modern browsers and operating systems. Unless you're very dumb or extremely unlucky, the chance of getting a virus or any other kind of malware are extremely low. Viruses used to be a daily concern back in the XP days, but now I rarely ever think about it. Plus, if critical data is backed up outside the system, it's not the end of the world if you have to nuke your OS and start fresh.

I only have one problem with Defender, whenever it does detect something its supposed to give you an action but mine just deletes everything without asking.

The thing you forgot to mention is that most paid Antivirus software needs to run on your system. Meaning that it takes away process cycles from other tasks. Usually, you can get away with an extra 2% usage. But if you have a Hard Disk that needs every bit of write time, the 2% will cause slow downs.

windows defender has seen some great improvement over the years,i know because i don't have to clean my father's pc as much anymore, that man just click on everything and his excuse for it is just "well you will just come over and fix it" gotta love that man

It still lets things through before catching an infection. Kaspersky always kills things immediately.

Windows defender is good enough. I used to love Avast for example but over time ALL anti-virus software gets bloated. Avast is still my go to for when I need to remove something that gets past windows.

Another plus to Windows Defender is it isn't a resource hog. There may be a competitor that also isn't, but my experience with offline virus/malware protection has been almost universally bad (sometimes horrible) from a performance perspective. Avast was good for about 2 years, and then they adopted the same trends as Norton and McAfee. They've not crossed the "horrible" threshold yet, but they're heading that way.

Those super-professional data-center employees @ 3:13 do not look at the world map on the screen often enough to securely crimp those cables..........

I've been telling people what you just said for ages. You don't need to pay for Anti-virus unless you are a company, or have vital info on your PC you don't want to lose.

A video sponsored by a security company than ends with "windows defender is probably sufficient", nicely done ✅

I think it works fine, it is another excuse for them to take even more of your data. They collect a lot of the network / process activities, basically everything that runs including scripts, making an inventory of the software you run and this is just the data you can see. This is for the enterprise version (defender for endpoint, part of e5/security licences) but I'm fairly sure they run the same software everywhere you just don't have access to this information if you're a home user or not paying for the expensive licences.

Windows Defender, Malwarebytes and adblock is basically all the average person needs.

Since windows defender is the default AV for most home users, they can get targeted so easly by obfuscating a malware just from windows defender, then spread it to the wild.

It's really simple, unless people are targeting you specifically for something that you have or they think you may have it , window defender is gonna protect you 100%.

Defender has Endpoint Security from Microsoft through Endpoint Manager (aka Intune) and Microsoft Defender for Endpoont (aka WDATP/MDATP) These of course are meant for busines and are paid solutions. That said, there are a number of other Security features built into Windows that either partner or support Defender. Defender also has sandboxing capability. 3rd party solutions are best for covering the gaps left by Defender for other operating systems... such as Linux or macOS. I personally do not run any av type solutions on my home network... as many others have eluded to... practice smart internet use. I have supported and engineered crowdstrike, carbon black, cylance, Defender, McAfee, Cisco amp, eset, and many more in enterprise environments... tbh, your environment is as smart/safe as your end users. User education and enforcement is key. With the latest breaches on HPe infrastructure with wold... no wonder wolf is needing better publicity and a slight at its competitors.

I find it funny that at 2:16 you used a Mac even though you're talking about Windows

Remember when Symantec and Norton tried to sue Microsoft for bundling antivirus software? It's like trying to sue apartments for not forcing tenants to buy their own smoke detectors when they move in.

I use Windows Security alongside the Malware Bytes free version. Haven't had a single issue in years, luckily. For the longest time I used Avast, but randomly it started drastically slowing down my PC's performance, so I ditched it and never looked back.

Was looking to get Kaspersky, so decided to test the free version for a few months. The damn thing was more intrusive than any actual malware! Kept deleting random stuff off my PC as suspected "generic threats". The last straw was it deleting parts of a coding project I've been working on for years. Suffice to say I uninstalled it right after that.

Defender has come a long way, but let's talk AMSI Bypass techniques.. after taking the "Attacking and Defending Active Directory" course by Pentester Academy, I learned that you can bypass defender using a quick and dirty one-liner in powershell. Defender may be sufficient to the security aware individual on their own personal PC, but to the sysadmins out there please use a real edr or xdr product on company equipment

Windows truly missed the chance to sell a more robust anti-everything pack with their new windows systems.

Defender works well. Too well. Defender often deletes files or cracked programs without permission. The fact that you can´t turn it off completely, sucks. You really have to go with a modded Windows to be "free". Free until an update introduces the defender again. Please Microsoft, help the people who need safety. Don´t destroy the user experience for the others.

sponsored by HP wolf, wants to talk about Antivirus. no thanks

Thanks again to HP Wolf Pro Security for sponsoring today's video

The problem with McAfee is not just that it is paid in dollars, but that it also hugely taxes my computer power. It has waaay to many background processes, which are a direct consequence of all those juicy extra features. The best antivirus is knowledge and discernment

Good job Microsoft, you did good for once.

Yes it's good enough. I've been using nothing but this for the last 10 years.

IMO if you have data that you can't afford to lose, just burn it into a hard drive/USB and put it somewhere safe, make it can't physically be hacked.

0:33 Incorrect. It used to be that the protection built into Windows was nonexistent. DOS/Windows 3.1/ original Windows XP NOTHING. Windows XP SP2 had the better firewall, but only later did Windows Defender come out for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows XP.

The only time I ever had virus detections and virus problems was when I had Norton installed. Norton slowed computers down so much almost by half back in the early 2000's. I uninstalled it in 2005 and have NEVER had an issue ever again. None. No virus or anything. So made me wonder what the point of Norton really was. Built in Windows 10 and 11 are good. Differences is great as well. I'd never ever use Norton again. Never.

You gotta be kidding me, you let a direct competitor of the subject of the video sponsor the video?

I remember back in the day you always downloaded third party firewall and antivirus, but this all changed some six years ago for me when I just decided to not bother with it and go along with my own relatively decent knowledge of PCs and windows security. Worked flawlessly without any viruses thus far and the only thing that is actually lacking is network monitoring solution, but you can get Glasswire or similar for that purpose. Defender is pretty dope when you supplement it with a healthy sprinkling of common sense.

For people who understand internet safety and have good practices such as password managers, Windows Defender is fantastic. Does everything you need and a bit more. If you are somebody who clicks on every link they see and downloads sketchy files, then a paid antivirus may help. Not that it will be "better", but those typically have tools to help block bad websites and downloads and can come with additional tools for non-technical people.

I used to have Bitdefender as a better alternative until they killed off their free version. Now it's just back to Windows Defender.

This video is sponsored by paid anti-malware software. Let me give you an unbiased and unsponsored fact: You don't need separate Anti-Malware software like HP Wolf Security. :)

Adguard system-wide adblocking + Windows Defender are all I need.

Windows defender is perfectly fine with adblock and common sense. If u just absolutely what to pay for something, Malwarebytes.

"Each and Everything Security" based in the trusted Kolkata 😎

I used to invest heavily in paid-AV back in the days because viruses were outrageous, but now I think windows defender is more than enough for regular users.

Windows Defender for my home machine, ClamAV for my sketchy lil server communications. Don't need anything else, thank you very much.

After a nightmare experience with Kaspersky back in the days, I've been using ESET for 13 years now with no issues