In a recent test of 18 antivirus programs for Windows 10, eight candidates got full marks. Among them is also a free solution. The ad-free, integrated Windows Defender doesn’t fare much worse.
If you use a Windows computer, you should never go online without antivirus protection. The independent institute AV-Test tested 18 popular programs to see how well they perform this task. To do this, the virus monitors had to show how well they fended off threats, produced as few false alarms as possible and did not slow down computers too much. After all, eight test candidates scored 18 out of a possible 18 points; 15 can adorn themselves with the “Top Product” award.
The test winners include the paid programs Avira Internet Security, F-Secure Safe 18, Gdata Total Security, McAfee Total Protection, Norton 360 and Trend Micro Internet Security. In addition, Avast Free Antivirus, an ad-supported free software, also won the full score.
Kaspersky Internet Security also got the top rating, although it should be noted here that the Federal Office for Information Security (BS) has warned against using the software because it is a Russian product and antivirus software is easy due to its extensive authorizations could be misused. However, Kaspersky stressed in a statement that it would never abuse the trust of its customers and had no contacts with the Russian or any other government.
However, users can also completely dispense with the use of third-party software. With 17.5 points, the integrated Microsoft Windows Defender is only marginally weaker than the test winners. It produced almost no false alarms and hardly slows down computers, for which it was given a six point mark. Only when it detected malware did it catch only 98.5 percent of the attackers; in the three other tests he managed 100 percent.
