Almost all of the 19 antivirus programs tested provided good or very good protection for Windows computers. Nine candidates get full marks, including free software. The pre-installed Windows Defender is not one of the "top products", but it is still a 100% reliable bouncer.
The independent AV-Test Institute tested 19 security products in September and October. Each program had to fend off more than 21,000 real malware attacks with all protections such as URL/web filtering, behavior-based detection and heuristics turned on. To find out if a monitor is prone to false alarms, over a million legitimate websites and files that shouldn't be detected were checked. The institute also tested whether and to what extent a program slows down the computer.
16 programs received the "Top Product" award with at least 17.5 out of 18 points, 9 virus guards got the full number of points. They include the paid watchdogs AhnLab V3 Internet Security, Avast One Essential, AVG Internet Security, Avira Internet Security, G Data Total Security, Kaspersky Internet Security, McAfee Total Protection and Norton 360.
The free program Avast Free AntiVirus also got 18 points, among other things, it recognized 100 percent of the malware used. The only downside that users have to accept with this software is the occasional ad pop-up.
This is not the case with Microsoft Windows Defender, which is also free, but this time AV-Test did not vote it "Top Product" because it only scored 17 points overall. Nevertheless, the on-board tool integrated into the operating system is an absolutely reliable watchdog. Because he intercepted all attackers and did not trigger a single false alarm.
Windows Defender only "failed" in the speed rating, in which it scored five points. But the Microsoft gatekeeper only surpassed the industry average in installing common programs and copying files. Very few users will notice this in everyday use.
