Windows Defender?

PudWud · 13 Oct 2018 at 08:50

I know this will have been spoken about over and over again, but I thought the situation may have changed with the new updates.

I can get Sophos through work, but my friend is adamant that as long as I keep it updated appropriately, Windows defender offers all the protection I need?

What are your opinions, do you think I need to use Sophos, or is Windows Defender going to keep my PC safe?

Rroff · 13 Oct 2018 at 08:55

If you exercise some common sense then Windows Defender alone does a good job these days - the strongest case for AV is for mainstream users who might easily be fooled by stuff like malware that pops up saying your "Windows needs to be fixed" or you need to download this "codec" to play this video, etc.

If you are regularly dealing with files from 3rd parties i.e. email attachments from random friends and colleagues, etc. or other sources of files where you can't easily be sure where they came from then an active AV can be another level of safety net.

Hagar · 13 Oct 2018 at 09:43

Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium (£17.50 pa for 3 computers) here. I used to have a 'free' addon AV but have not seen any instances of concern running this combination and I do not get bombarded with false positives, which can be an issue with several AV program suites.

Rroff · 13 Oct 2018 at 09:59

nkata said:
which can be an issue with several AV program suites.

I noticed that with some it is like they feel the end user won't thing they are getting their money worth if they aren't finding something or some kind of mentality like that and you get tons of hits on things like cookies - but not in the context of maybe privacy or concerns like that but flagged as if they are directly a threat to your PC :s

opethdisciple · 13 Oct 2018 at 13:05

Yes. It's all I've used for years and years. Recently I saw an article saying WD is now as good as some paid antivirus.

Just use it. It's honestly all you need.