When I was younger, the standard windows firewall was seen as weak and worth replacing asap with premium or strong free anti viruses, like Avast. What changed to make Windows Defender competitive? It looks like a few years ago something suddenly happened and now everybody on the market has great protection.
In: Technology
What was once considered optional software that negatively impacted performance of an OS to boot, is now considered a standard part of the operating system and essential for the healthy operation of a computer.
With constant-on internet connectivity now ubiquitous, and the rise of threats like Ransomware, Phishing, and modern malware old-style anti-virus programs weren’t good enough anymore and had to evolve to detect and stop modern threats.
The current industry trend is moving towards MDR or Managed Defense where you pay not only for software to scan your PC for viruses, but for entire teams of 3rd security people that constantly monitor your network for threats and hackers.
What started off as a basic firewall and anti-spyware tool slowly expanded and was developed into the current version of MS Defender.
Microsoft had previously allowed 3rd parties to rule to antivirus space but was able to organically develop their own 1st party tool built into Windows.
This isn’t unusual though, it follows Microsoft’s typical business pattern. See what other companies are doing and successful at, and make your own version in-house that’s integrated into Windows. It doesn’t have to be *good* it just has to be *good enough* for Microsoft to start taking market share away from competitors.
After all why pay for Netscape when Internet Explorer is free and comes with Windows? It’s not as good, but it’s free so it’s *good enough*.
Similarly why buy McAfee Trellix, Sophos, or ESET when Windows with Defender for free?
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