Windows 8 forum: Is Defender good enough to protect my Windows 8 PC?

Some people may disagree with me but I find Windows Defender (Microsoft Security Essentials) the best around for free anti-virus programs. I've used it for years and I'm going into my 37th year working on computers. I have found that it will scan more files then the best bought programs. This is all I use along with Spybot search & Destroy.

and I'm pretty impressed. Not enough to switch from MBAM, but at least I have another recommendation for folks who might like it better! MBAM has made some very powerful sweeping changes in the last month, so I'm not sure they don't run neck and neck in capability.

then I had to switch to Avast and Lavasoft and some other different AM solutions, I've never jumped on the suite bandwagon since. However, I wasn't able to refresh my hardware, so that may be a factor.

Phishing can be mitigated by using these solutions:

1. IE9/10's phishing filter, and Dragon's(Comodo's version of Chrome) site certificate checker.
2. Web of Trust - don't stay any where there is not a green donut - bad sites will be blocked to prevent drive by.
3. LastPass will see the URL and not let you enter a password
4. Use an email client that blocks unfamiliar emails with links to phishing sites

Also you can check the email header for suspicious source addresses and check them against a google search.

Keyloggin - one word - Rapport

I am not a shill - I am just reporting what I've seen with my own eyes on my honeypot lab, and in thousands of discussions on ZDnet, CNET, Tech Republic, Brian Kreb's on Security, and etc. and etc. about how effective this solution is. Rapport is free to the individual from banks that support it, or merchants interested in protecting their customer clients.

I can attest that Trusteer's Rapport was the ONLY solution that can block session riding on an SSL connection; and was the ONLY solution that passed all my AKLT tests!! However - it only blocks keylogging during SSL sessions; however that is about all you'd need.

It is VERY powerful - so you may want to do a clean boot before installing it. I feel eBay's version has the most features on board.

Defender in Windows 8 is much more than Defender in prior versions of Windows. Earlier versions only checked for spyware, but in Windows 8 MS has included MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) with it. I'm running Windows 8 with it 24/7 on my test machine and so far so good. I have a number of web sites open there. YMMV.

I may have to look at their appliances. I mostly deal with SMBs on a budget in this area, and I used to recommend ZoneAlarm's Z100G UTM appliance. It had dirt cheap yearly streaming services as well as automatic e-mail traffic and intrusion prevention analysis every month. I've been pretty impressed by its performance. However one of my clients had to use a very poor modem/firewall that their ISP forced on them, and I'm sure it was compromised before the Check Point firewall, so they probably controlled every move the client made and they lost their networking on the system unit level. So nothing is 100% effective, in fact I was reading about a firmware vulnerability in Sonic Wall UTMs the other day; but we can make things way better to a point where the benefits out weight the risks. It really is too bad they dropped that appliance over there at ZoneAlarm. It was a killer deal. So far they are still supporting the service for the same price however.

I'm looking for an "N" wireless UTM appliance - I hope Sophos has an affordable solution over there!

For those readers on a budget, they could check eBay for used Z100Gs, I think they won't be disappointed at the economical services available with that appliance.

I have been using Microsoft products over the years since MS-DOS 3.3 so what i am going to say is crucial to understanding Security Issues.

a] Microsoft has never really provided a security system with it's operating system in the same way Apple has!

b] It was the Job of a 3rd Party program Norton Utilities, McAfee for example to provide adequate security because Microsoft concentrated on providing the operating system whatever it was.

c] Now Microsoft decided to provide a security tool with its operating system - good but why all of a sudden are they entering the Widows arena with a security program when for all these years they have ONLY provided an Operating System.

d] To say that Microsoft's latest Protection tool is "good enough" is an understatement in light of the fact that 3rd Party programs have been doing what Microsoft should have been doing all these years.

e] By all means use it TOGETHER WITH a 3rd Party company that have been using anti virus, anti spyware, anti malware tools from the beginning..

To be fair, look at the history of each stage of Windows you have. I think the real issue to be addressed as to why Microsoft suddenly enters the Security arena with its own product .... if you are going to use the Internet there are thousands of hackers out there that have broken into strong security businesses, popular email accounts, and infected many systems.

requirement, I'd sooner use a LiveCd with Puppy Linux than an Apple product. Just because OSX was built on the Unix 3 standard does not mean it isn't full of holes. All of the big OS products are either vulnerable somewhere in their code or an application introduces a worse vulnerability.

Malware cannot write to a LiveCD, and the Puppy Linux OS is so light yet usable, that vulnerabilities are very rare indeed. Any updates are immediately downloaded and applied upon boot up and connecting to the internet. I recommend it to any SMB that does online payroll or other electronic online banking.

I have been using Anti-Viruses and Anti-Spyware programs for awhile, and I've had to deal with many different malicious programs that somehow got onto my computer (I know how).

I've seen many different surveys on tests that have been done, showing the effectiveness of different programs (Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware and so on) that are used to protect the consumer from malicious programs, and I remember that most tests showed that Microsoft's own programs were usually only capable of discovering around 60-70% of threats, with other Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware programs made by vendors being higher, overall.

The truth is, Windows gets viruses more than any other operating system, because they are the most popular operating system used out of OS X and Linux as being the alternatives. So the biggest fish get's targeted more, alot more.

My theory is that when Microsoft (the biggest fish) makes an Anti-Virus, that program will be targeted more by hackers as a program to bypass, or counter it's capabilities of detecting their viruses. So it's always better to stick with an Antivirus program that is not as popular as the other most popular programs used.

The most popular programs used out there are AVG, Avast and Norton and a few more. But from my experience, the best Anti-Virus (or overall, Internet Security program) is Comodo's free Internet-Security suite which can be found here: http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/free-internet-security.php

I've been using it on all machines lately and it's done a good job. Also, it's easy to use. Last thing to mention is, there aren't really any other free Internet Security programs out there, I don't think that this program expires for your free membership. Hope that helps.