I have been using Windows Defender (recently re-branded to Microsoft Defender) since Windows 7 and (with the help of Firefox as my default browser) have had no malware issues at all. I highly recommend it to anyone who asks. This is another in a series of positive reports about its efficacy.

Microsoft and Kaspersky Top List in Security Test
by John Lister, Infopackets.com
August 18, 2020

An independent test found tools from most leading security software companies failed to detect all threats – though it was one of the best set of overall results ever. The SE Labs test used simulated attacks based on real threats that are particular problems right now. The tests ran between April and June this year and involves anti-malware products aimed at the general public from 14 companies. Though SE Labs runs such tests regularly, it changes the simulated threats each time to reflect what’s actually happening in the cyber security world.

The tests scored security software in two ways: The first was how well it did spotting the simulated threats. The other was how accurately it assessed legitimate software components, the logic being that mistakenly labeling something a threat can cause user frustration and make them less likely to run the software at all.

Kaspersky Internet Security and the consumer version of Microsoft Defender (which is built into Windows 10) were the only tools to score perfectly on both measures. McAfee Internet Security caught every threat but did have one false positive.

Other software that got at least 95 percent accuracy on both measures included Symantec Norton Security, F-Secure Safe, Trend Micro Internet Security, Sophos Home Premium and Avast Free Antivirus. All 14 products tested were able to spot every targeted threat: those which aimed to exploit a specific known vulnerability.

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Full report at SE Labs