Microsoft not recommending their own Anti Virus

[MxPhenom 216]

The Microsoft Security Essentials website promises “comprehensive malware protection” and “award-winning protection,” so users would be forgiven for believing that Microsoft was committed to making MSE a capable antivirus solution. But Microsoft is now saying that MSE is only basic protection that users shouldn’t rely on.

In an interview with Dennis Protection Labs, Holly Stewart, the senior program manager of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center, said that Microsoft Security Essentials was just a “baseline” that’s designed to “always be on the bottom” of antivirus tests. She said Microsoft sees MSE as a first layer of protection and advises Windows users to use a third-party antivirus instead.

http://www.howtogeek.com/173291/goo...w-recommends-you-use-a-third-party-antivirus/

So basically Microsoft has given up on their Windows Defender (Win 8) and MSE (Win 7). Declaring it as only basic protection. What a shame.........

 

[newtekie1]

I seem to remember AVG saying the same thing about their free version of their Anti-Virus.

It isn't that it is a bad anti-virus, it is that it doesn't have all the extra bells and whistles like a firewall, identity protection, search protection, link scanning, etc.

I don't think there is anyone that thinks MSE, or any anti-virus only solution, is anything more than basic protection.

Also, they piecemealed the quotes from what she said. What she really was saying, if you read the original article, is that Microsoft is not working to pass the artificial tests anymore and they are instead "doing everything [they] can to protect against real threats" and that they are passing the data they collect on real threats onto other AV makers because Microsoft knows that you can't have one weapon that catches everything.

In fact no where in the original article does it say Holly Stewart actually recommended using a 3rd party AV and not to use MSE. She says that they've switch strategies to no longer pass AV test and instead provide a baseline protection and they are focusing on real threats and passing data they find along to other AV companies, those are all actual things she says, but she never actually recommends not using MSE or using 3rd party AV over MSE.

She actually says:

[sigquote]"Baseline does not equal bad. We provide a high-quality, high-performing service to our customers and if they choose not to buy [antivirus] on Windows 8... we want to get those people protected."[/sigquote]

 

[MikeMurphy]

They say this only to appease developers of other antivirus products.

MSE is excellent.

 

[Red_Machine]

Yep, never gotten a virus with it. Gotten viruses using Norton, AVG Free and Pro, McAfee, Symantec, Panda Cloud, you name it.

 

[erocker]

I generally don't use any anti-virus, but I like to download one and scan with it before I do an O/S reinstall to see if I've had anything....

Honestly I can't remember the last time I had a virus on my home PC.

 

[Jstn7477]

I've had some nasties get past MSE on more than one client computer, including one case where the malware disabled MSE by doing something with the folders. I upgraded them to Avast and it found the malware, then used SurfRight Hitman Pro to check for any remnants and automatically fix MSE so I could actually uninstall it. I personally haven't had any issues with it though I don't get malware.

 

[Easo]

Havent had issues with MSE, actually.

 

[Mussels]

MSE works well for me on all the PC's at my work - its a basic antivirus, but thats not the same as terrible.


with the old machines i'm dealing with adding in crap like firewalls, IM scanners, rootkit scanners and all that bullshit would just lag them the hell out.



edit: i should add that the only reason they've said this, is because they keep getting sued for 'forcing' people to do things the MS way: IE, WMP, etc.

 

[bencrutz]

use it too at work & home PC's, works well too.

the best free AV, imho.

 

[Kursah]

I love MSE, I usually mix MSE + Malwarebytes Free on my builds with an x64 OS and unless the user gets too click happy I NEVER have seen any issues arise that either couldn't handle. That's where using the boot iso's like AVG's, DrWeb's, Hiren's or UBCD's or just going with a total blend of all of those and then some by using a multi-ISO boot from Sardu comes in handy. I have yet to see an AV or AM be it free or enterprise that was an end-all. Honestly, mix up a couple that you like, and have a DVD or 8GB USB stick loaded and ready for those times when you need more scan and destroy power.

SARDU rocks! I have a USB stick with Hiren's, UBCD, AVG, Avira, DrWeb, UbutnuMSR, and several other bootable ISO's. I generally use Hiren's and then Malwarebytes and Superantispyware and whatever else I can use and update in the ramdisk XP or BartPE OS...that way you can scan the drive without needing to be in your natively installed OS...which could hide an issue or virus or malware that the freebies may miss but will catch when using an outside OS to scan from. Works a treat.

But 99.9% of the time on my personal rigs, friends and families rigs, etc...MSE + Malwarebytes Free does the trick and is tough to beat. Low system resource impact, and effective at real-world results. Maybe it's how everyone uses their PC's and me constantly telling them to watch what they click on but it all starts with being smarter about how you browse the web and what you view.

 

[LagunaX]

It's not bad, MSE + Malwarebytes Pro (Active) works great, but I suppose Malwarebytes Pro (Active) would work great with most anything else too...

 

[Delta6326]

Yeah I use MSE + Malewarebytes free works good. Only had a few things go by one day when I wasn't thinking where I was clicking ...

 

[Sir B. Fannybottom]

das sum kewl shit bro

 

[Ja.KooLit]

Win Defender aka MSE works great on mine. Never had problems....

MSE uses small resources so it doesnt slow down my pc. And they have updates like every 12hrs atleast...

 

[EarthDog]

MSE + safe browsing habits = win.

 

[Deleted member 110753]

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

 

[Naito]

MSE + Malwarebytes Pro work well for me.

If you get viruses and what not, that often, you seriously need to improve your browsing habits or take more precaution when dealing with other peoples external media.

 

[Rowsol]

das sum kewl shit bro

haha. Your avatar really goes with this quote.

 

[hellrazor]

I'm surprised Rhino hasn't chimed in.

 

[Deleted member 6693]

My guess would be that 90% or more infections are related to browsing habits...

Personally I use KIS - never had trouble .... but i think it is a bit like religion....

 

[Frick]

My guess would be that 90% or more infections are related to browsing habits...

You don't have to guess, that's the way it is.

 

[BazookaJoe]

Ive never been a fan of Microsoft in general, but Microsoft Security Essentials has by FAR and a long way been the best , safest, most reliable, easiest to use, least intrusive, fastest antivirus I have ever used.

As others have already said MSE is ONLY and antivirus - the fact is the very very large majority of system compromises these days actually have NOTHING TO DO WITH VIRUSES - viruses stopped being a regular "everyday" threat a very long time ago - almost all attacks today are system / user ignorance exploits.

The simple fact is that as GUI's have gotten more accessible - the average computer user competence has declined significantly, I'm not being a snooty ass, it is just a factual observation. As this decline progressed the average ability to distinguish between a virus, a worm, a trojan, a backdoor, malware, spyware, bloatware, an exploit and the many other forms of attack including your own dumb ass just downloading any garbage anyone ever tells you to , and getting your system destroyed and then wanting to sit there going oh waa waa a virus killed me, its not my fault! instead of just accepting that you may simply be a total dumb-ass who got what you desperately deserved, was completely lost and all we where left with was everything being called a "virus" and now expecting an "antivirus" software to deal with hundreds of other threats that have nothing to do with it.

MSE is just antivirus - if you need protection from your own poorly configured systems, or as is by a vast majority more often the case, your own IT ignorance, MSE cannot offer that - that's all they are saying.

Edit : Yeah! My first rant after my move to Europe / UK "Helooooo.... Heloooooo.... Good to be back! Good to be back! "

 

[Mussels]

You don't have to guess, that's the way it is.

just wait til a worm hits your network through a port forward, those are uncommon but holy shit do they suck ass. had one hit work and spread to every machine there in about 15 minutes, just because the router had a DMZ enabled to a freshly formatted XP machine.

 

[Frick]

just wait til a worm hits your network through a port forward, those are uncommon but holy shit do they suck ass. had one hit work and spread to every machine there in about 15 minutes, just because the router had a DMZ enabled to a freshly formatted XP machine.

Well yes, but I still say they account for less than 10% of the grand total.

 

[de.das.dude]

i just installed mse yesterday. this is maaadness