Nowadays, cyber criminals are more ruthless than before, cyberattacks arebecoming more dangerous and smarter, and according to reliable statistics, acyberattack occurs every 40 seconds, very scary numbers.
According to analyzes conducted by the AV-TEST Institute, it says that itwas able to detect more than 350,000 malicious software samples every day,and it has also been reported that Google discovers about 50 malicious sitesevery week.
According to all these statistics and numbers, every user of the Internet isa potential victim of hacking or piracy, and to protect your self,your devices, and your data from hacking, you must install a strong andreliable antivirus program .
Microsoft Defender is a free antivirus program that comes by default with all Windowsoperating systems, and it is one of the most famous names in the world ofantivirus programs, and its name often appears while mentioning antivirusprograms.
However, the popularity of a program does not mean that it is good, as manydoubts have been raised about the window’s defender antivirus program,although Microsoft has improved it a lot in recent years.
But the fact that windows defender security center is a free programstill raises many doubts among users about whether the program is reliablein protecting against malware or hacking.
Well, I suspect their suspicions may be correct, because throughplenty of testing with free software I’ve confirmed that it’s rare forthings to end well, and that doesn’t exclude antivirus software like Microsoft Defender.
Although Windows antivirus does not sell your private information tothird parties as some other free programs do, there are many question marksabout its ability to protect devices from any security threat.
Before talking about the ability of thedefender antivirus program from Microsoft to protect devices againstviruses, we will take a look at some of the reasons why people choose paidantivirus programs over free ones.
What differentiates paid antivirus software from free software?
The main feature that distinguishes the premium protection programs fromfree programs is the advanced security enhancement feature, in addition tosupporting a large number of other features for more protection andsecurity.
- Private VPN support for secure and anonymous browsing
- Password manager
- File Shredding
- Encryption features
- Support for parental control
- Identity theft protection
- Protect your microphone and camera
- Support for cloud storage of files
- Advanced support against ransomware and protection from phishing and fraud
Hackers often design ransomware to lock and encrypt your device’s files, andit won’t become usable until you pay the ransom, but with the advancedprotection features of paid security software, these threats can be detectedand prevented from accessing your data.
Anti-phishing features protect you from unreliable websites that can infectyour device with viruses or steal your personal data.
Another feature that distinguishes paid antivirus programs from freeprograms is that it provides multi-layer protection against dangerousprograms or attempted hacking, and this is a necessary feature at thepresent time due to the types of viruses that appear every day.
Most advanced protection programs are designed to update themselvesautomatically, as they periodically update their database and add newantivirus solutions against new viruses that appear.
Most, if not all, of the distinctive protection programs do not consumelarge capabilities of the device while it is working, the protection programwill work smoothly and efficiently in the background and will not affect theperformance of your system while using it.
Compatibility with all devices is another feature that is available even ifyou have different operating systems, as many companies that provideprotection programs have made sure to provide different versions of theirprograms to be compatible with all systems available in the market.
By using paid products for antivirus software, you will get advancedtechnical support, as companies give priority to their users who participatein one of their software plans, and provide them with technical support mostof the time.
Is MS Defender good to protect from virus?
The first problem you will encounter withwindows security defender is its lack of advanced features, as theprogram provides only the basic features of protection, and it is notintended for advanced protection.
Microsoft has no intention of adding advanced features to the MicrosoftDefender program in the future, such as those in the protection programsprovided by companies on the Internet.
Windows service defender is also limited when it comes to protection againstmalware, as the program is primarily designed to target viruses.
Therefore, it often fails to detect or prevent other threats such asransomware or intrusions, in addition to reading errors and classifyingharmless files as unreliable or malicious programs, which the user has toinclude in the program’s whitelist.
When it comes to protecting against security threats or affecting systemperformance, windows defender used to provide very mediocre results even inthe past, as its detection rates for malware are very modest and notimpressive.
On the other hand, third-party products such as Norten, Bitdefender , McAfee, and Avast were far ahead of Microsoft Defender in all aspects.
Numerous comparison tests conducted by trusted organizations such as AV-TESTand AV-Comparatives have shown the huge difference between the performanceof third-party products and the built-in window’s security software.
Conclusion
Yes, windows antivirus software has got many updates and improvements, butit cannot be considered as a primary line of defense for your device againstsecurity threats, so you will need a reliable protection program to do thistask.
There are many powerful antivirus programs that offer comprehensiveprotection against viruses and security threats, and the best option werecommend is Norten Protection , thanks to its comprehensive protection features, in addition toreasonable price plans.
