Some Questions/Clairification Help on Anti-???...

[Ibuprophen]

Hello everyone!

This may be a dumb question so some but i feel that there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers LOL!

I have Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center and the only protection i use is the Windows Defender.

I have been happy with the Anti-Virus Protection of Windows Defender... BUT, i am hoping for a bottom line answer to the following questions because when i Google these questions, i get more filler/jargon than a bottom line answer.

1) Does Windows Defender provide Anti-Spyware protection?

2) Does Windows Defender provide Anti-Trojan protection?

3) Does Windows Defender provide other Anti-??? protection?

If one or more of the questions above is not provided by Windows Defender, What is the most effective but, simple program/software that provides one or more of what Windows Defender provides (Signally or Combined)?

I am not looking to replace the Windows Defender for Anti-Virus protection.

When i look for ratings/reviews for hardware/software, I do primarily look at Top Ten Reviews and/or Consumer Reports (though Consumer Reports is not a great resource for most/many PC software/hardware ratings/reviews) and i will also Google around as well as look at different forum sites depending what i am looking for.

Thank you very much!

 

[TairikuOkami]

1,2,3 - Yes (more or less), but Windows Defender's detection is currently about 83%, that is weak.

AV-Comparatives - Independent Tests of Anti-Virus Software - Real World Protection Test Overview

There are many good free AV replacements, that actually provide protection, like:

Bitdefender Antivirus Free

360 Internet Security

Some discussion: http://www.eightforums.com/system-security/53483-windows-defender-enough.html

 

[BarneyRubble]

Always supplement your chosen av with a on-demand anti-malware program i.e malwarebytes, HitmanPro and so on.

 

[altae]

This is more or less a question of what you believe in. Some say only a third party av does provide enough protection, some think the built in defender is enough and then there are also those who suggest to even supplement a third party av with Malwarebytes (Pro). Personally I'd not rely on Windows defender for one reason: It's the one solution that runs on most pcs so if you wrote a virus you would probably start with making sure that it's not detected by that scanner. It's actually the same reason why there are more viruses for Windows than there are for OS X or any other os out there. It's economical to write your virus/ malware/ whatever for the most widely spread os.

So my personal opinion: Get a decent av software (paid or free, it's your choice) and supplement it with a good on-demand scanner like Malwarebytes free which you periodically use to scan your system and cross check it's integrity.

 

[LMiller7]

Malware has become very sophisticated in recent years. It is no longer just the product of independent hackers. Modern malware producers are experts in computer security and how to evade it, well organized, highly motivated, and often well funded. A primary goal of malware is to evade even the best AV products with the latest definitions, and the often do. After that everything else is easy.

It is war between malware and the producers of AV software. Many experts believe that malware is winning.

Windows Defender is the default AV software on Windows 8 computers. For good or bad it is the only AV software running an a very large number of computers. It is only reasonable that malware producers would know it well and this could give them the edge in defeating it.

Of course there are other considerations that will at least partially offset this. I do not claim to be an expert. But experts are often wrong.