In general, Microsoft Defender is already set correctly after installation. More on this can be found in the article “Controlling security on Windows servers with on-board resources”. In companies, it also makes sense to make settings centrally via group policies or to use Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Incidentally, Microsoft Defender is also active as virus protection in Windows Server 2019/2022 and protects servers comprehensively. READ: Phishing Has Become Professionalized and Is Part of Everyday Corporate Life

In the article “An overview of free Microsoft Defender alternatives”, we have nevertheless discussed some virus scanners that are also available free of charge. While Microsoft Defender gets its updates and definition files through Microsoft Update and is tightly linked to the system, external solutions have to perform their own update routines. Therefore, users also have to update these tools regularly, which unfortunately is not possible in most cases with the on-board tools in Windows.

Examples are vulnerabilities CVE-2022-26522 and CVE-2022-26523 in Avast and AVG solutions. On the contrary: Since external tools require comprehensive authorizations and often contain security gaps, they may pose a greater threat than they provide protection in comparison. This means that when it comes to virus protection in Windows 10 and Windows 11, there is simply no need for an external tool. The result was again quite clear this time: many free scanners received top marks, including the on-board tool Microsoft Defender. In this article we show some important tips for the correct settings of the malware scanner in Windows. Microsoft Defender scored 18 out of a possible 18 points. In 2022, AV-Test again examined most and especially the most important virus scanners. In this article we show some tips on the correct settings for the free Microsoft solution. For many private users and companies, this can mean that an external virus scanner is no longer necessary in Windows 10 and Windows 11. In the current test by the independent institute AV-Test, Microsoft Defender is also one of the best scanners in the test.

Microsoft safety scanner vs defender