{"id":1844,"date":"2014-04-03T09:46:25","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T14:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/?p=1844"},"modified":"2015-10-21T13:13:49","modified_gmt":"2015-10-21T18:13:49","slug":"does-windows-defender-offer-enough-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/does-windows-defender-offer-enough-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Windows Defender offer enough protection?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><a title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/windows-defender.jpg\" target=\"\" rel=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1865 alignleft\" title=\"Windows Defender Protection\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/windows-defender.jpg\" alt=\"Windows Defender Protection\" width=\"123\" height=\"123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/windows-defender.jpg 204w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/windows-defender-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 123px) 100vw, 123px\"><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">All Windows 8 computers now ship with Windows Defender installed. Based on Microsoft Security Essentials, it offers your devices basic protection across the board from <a title=\"Do You Need to Tighten Up Your Business Security?\" href=\"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/do-you-need-to-tighten-up-your-business-security\/\">malware, spyware and viruses<\/a>. But it\u2019s important to consider whether Defender alone will be enough to <a title=\"CIFS Monitoring to Help Computer Security\" href=\"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/help\/sm_5_6\/monitor_file_directory_change.aspx\">protect your computers from attack<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">It\u2019s easy to be complacent about web security, but some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.getsafeonline.org\/protecting-your-computer\/viruses-and-spyware\/#.UzVdXK1_tB8\" target=\"_blank\">preparation<\/a> and thought right from the start can make a serious difference down the line if your computers come under attack. Windows Defender is a good place to start your security preparations, but it\u2019s important to keep in mind both the advantages and disadvantages of the software, so that you can make the correct decisions as time goes on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff; font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><a style=\"color: #ffffff;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/wn_gold_200x117.jpg\">\u00a0 <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>A Quick Note<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Before we consider the pros and cons of Defender, it\u2019s worth mentioning that while antivirus software is a great and necessary addition to your computers, sometimes the best antivirus solution is common sense. If you and your employees browse responsibly and only visit reputable websites; as well as never downloading and opening suspicious files on your computer, that will go a long way towards making your business safer. Antivirus is one part of the solution, educating employees about web security is equally, if not more, important.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>The Advantages of Defender\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><br>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 It\u2019s free \u2013 If your business is just getting started and you\u2019re hesitant to spend a lot of money on computer security, then Defender is a good place to start. However, we would recommend that you don\u2019t neglect your security for too long, a little preparation in the present can prevent a lot of future problems.<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 Tackles malware as well as spyware \u2013 If you\u2019re looking for simplicity in your protection, and don\u2019t want too many programs cluttering your desktop, then Defender can play the role of multiple pieces of software.<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 Uses fewer resources than some other <a title=\"Choosing the Right Antivirus Software\" href=\"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/choosing-the-right-antivirus-software\/\">antivirus software<\/a> \u2013 one of the benefits of being designed by the same company who designed your operating system is that Defender puts much less of a strain on your computer\u2019s resources, resulting in a much smaller performance impact.<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 Defender has a simple to set up, user-friendly interface. Windows has touted Defender\u2019s ability to \u2018one click purge\u2019 all suspicious software once it\u2019s been detected. It\u2019s very much a \u2018set and forget\u2019 piece of software which requires very little user input to function (I\u2019ll return to this in the disadvantages section).<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 Tying in with my previous point, unlike other <a title=\"How to Choose the Best Antivirus Software for Your Situation\" href=\"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/how-to-choose-the-best-antivirus-software-for-your-situation\/\">free antivirus software like Avast<\/a> that requires some initial set up, Defender is ready to go as soon as you activate it.<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 Other free antivirus software may bother you with repeat adverts trying to up-sell you their paid product. These ads can often manifest as annoying pop-ups when a computer is booted up, and whilst they are only a brief annoyance, the absence of these ads in Defender is definitely appreciated.<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 Studies of <a title=\"Top 12 Tips: How to Optimize and Speed Up Windows 7 Performance\" href=\"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/how-to-optimize-and-speed-up-windows-7-performance\/\">Microsoft Security Essentials<\/a>, which Defender is based on, showed that it was the best at eliminating threats once they had been discovered. (There is a caveat to this, also discussed in the disadvantages section).<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 Finally, Defender is definitely the most secure out-of-the-box software Microsoft has ever produced, and a significant advancement on their previous offering.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>The Disadvantages of Defender <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 As I mentioned in the advantages section, Defender is easy to set up and use. However, that simplicity comes at the expense of variety. If you\u2019re looking for a more customizable set-up, you may want to look into <a title=\"CIFS Monitoring - Additional Security\" href=\"http:\/\/www.servermonitor.com\/?ref=blog\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">other pieces of software<img class=\"extlink-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/external-links-nofollow-open-in-new-tab-favicon\/images\/extlink.png\"><\/a> to install alongside Defender to ensure that your business covers all its bases.<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 Scan Speed \u2013 Defender can also lag behind in terms of scan speed. On a decent computer it\u2019s still relatively fast, but is regularly outperformed by other antivirus software.<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022 It\u2019s not going to do everything you need. If you want absolute protection, by all means use Defender as your starting point, but you want to have a whole system of different protective software running to ensure you get the best security for your data. Specialized Malware, Spyware and Virus software will almost certainly give you better results than Defender on its own.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022<\/span> While Defender is very good at eliminating threats, its ability to detect those threats in the first place is not as impressive. Tests have shown that while most of the free antivirus software on offer will miss some threats, Defender often comes in near the bottom in terms of number detected. This is obviously not ideal for a company looking to protect both their own and their client\u2019s information.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u2022<\/span> This last one if the most obvious, but Defender does not compete with paid-for antivirus solutions. If you\u2019re serious about improving your business\u2019 security then I would recommend you look into what\u2019s available beyond the scope of free-to-use antivirus.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Part of a Broader Solution<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">If you\u2019re a business owner, then the protection offered by Defender on its own is not going to be enough to guarantee security. Windows refers to it as a \u2018first defense\u2019 against viruses, and it is just that; a starting point. However, as one part of a layered security solution, it can definitely find a home.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">If you utilize its excellent malware removal capability in tandem with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/259876\/antivirus_on_windows_8_looking_at_your_options.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">other free software<img class=\"extlink-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/external-links-nofollow-open-in-new-tab-favicon\/images\/extlink.png\"><\/a> that\u2019s better at detecting threats on your computer such as AVG or Avast, then you should find yourself well on the way to developing a more secure computer environment that protects both you and your customer\u2019s business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Add to this your router firewall, as well as any further solutions such as monitoring software that checks for changes on the network as they occur and you should find your business to be malware and attack free for years to come, so long as you keep everything up-to-date.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><a title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/home?status=RT:%20@poweradmn%20Does%20Windows%20Defender%20Offer%20Enought%20Protection%20http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/does-windows-defender-offer-enough-protection\/?ref=blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1028\" title=\"Tweet this\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tweet-this-article-button-large-300x75.png\" alt=\"Tweet this\" width=\"300\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tweet-this-article-button-large-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tweet-this-article-button-large.png 310w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><img class=\"extlink-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/external-links-nofollow-open-in-new-tab-favicon\/images\/extlink.png\"><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif;\"><a title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/share?url={http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/does-windows-defender-offer-enough-protection\/?ref=blog}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1053\" title=\"Share on Google+\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/google-plus-this-article-button-large2-300x75.png\" alt=\"Share on Google+\" width=\"300\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/google-plus-this-article-button-large2-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/google-plus-this-article-button-large2.png 310w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><img class=\"extlink-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/external-links-nofollow-open-in-new-tab-favicon\/images\/extlink.png\"><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All Windows 8 computers now ship with Windows Defender installed. Based on Microsoft Security Essentials, it offers your devices basic protection across the board from malware, spyware and viruses. But it\u2019s important to consider whether Defender alone will be enough to protect your computers from attack. It\u2019s easy to be complacent about web security, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13,9,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-it","category-pc-security","category-technical","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1844"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3798,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844\/revisions\/3798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}