Discussion MS Defender-only Win10 system wrecked in testing

[mdd1963]

Our Youtube AV/Antimalware tester buddy Leo at TPSC (The PC Security Channel) proceeds to test a Win10 system against his standard gauntlet of 1500+ recent malware samples, a nice test in light of many touting and quoting Defender's recent 100% success/detection rate in blocking access to harmful URLs, high detection rates in tests, etc...

Hint/SUmmary: Alas, it does NOT go very well for Defender.....

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE-xdb9hTqY


In Defender's defense, it did detect/block 90% of the exploits/harmful apps....just prior to the system being 'overdosed' on the remaining 10% and ultimately succumbing to ransomware, etc...

Granted, this is a test of Defender's ability to block/recover from hostile applications from being run/executed by the user....(it's still possible the Defender browser extension, if employed, might have prevented ever downloading the junk to start with, but, this was not that kind of test)

 

[britechguy]

I know of no security suite that would score 100% success at blocking 100% of threats 100% of the time. It's just not realistic.

I take all independent testing (including this one) into account, but the labs that do this have had Windows Security (formerly Windows Defender) in the top echelon of products for a couple of years now:

AV Test

AV Comparatives

SE Labs (Reports Page)

MRG Effitas (360 Protection Testing Category)

Security is all about layers, and the first and most important layer is the user. And, unfortunately, it's been shown repeatedly that the first and most important layer is also generally the weakest. No one thing, and certainly not antivirus/antimalware/security software, which is mostly reactive, is going to keep you safe.

Quietman7, a security expert who is an active contributor on Bleeping Computer, has written extensively on what you (any you) need to do to develop safe interaction habits with cyberspace. The following four are, in my opinion, must-reads:

• Users Themselves Are The Most Substantial Weakness In The Security Chain (just that single message)
• What you must understand regarding computer security (also just this single message)
• Best Practices for Safe Computing
• Reflections on Antivirus/Antimalware Testing & Comparisons