If Windows Defender isn't exactly your best bet and you're looking for a third-party antivirus solution, German company AV-TEST, which specializes in security software testing, is giving you a helping hand to make the right decision.
The latest antivirus tests running on Windows 10 come with some pretty big surprises, as Kaspersky and Bitdefender are not in first place.
Instead, AhnLab V3 Internet Security and Avira Antivirus Pro 15.0 are the best security solutions, according to April 2018 tests, both managing to score 6/6 points for each of the following three categories, namely protection, performance, and usability.
On the other hand, Kaspersky and Bitdefender are not far behind, earning a combined score of 17.5 points, which places them in second place. Trend Micro's antivirus also scored 17.5 points in this round of testing.
Avast 's software , which is also the most popular antivirus provider at the moment, did quite well, scoring 17 points.
The lowest score this time was obtained by PC Pitstop's PC Matic, which received only 4 points for protection, 6 points for performance and 3 points for usability. With a final score of 13 points, this application was rated worse than Microsoft, whose results improve in almost every new survey.
This time, Windows Defender earned 5.5 points for each of the three tests, and although it is not the top antivirus, its performance has received a significant improvement over past years' results.
For your information, Windows Defender is the default antivirus in Windows 10 and remains active as long as no third-party antivirus is installed on the system. Windows Defender is disabled once users install another antivirus, but is automatically enabled again when the system stops detecting another antivirus.
