Windows 8 users double down on antivirus protection

October 26, 2013

Microsoft's integration of Windows Defender into Windows 8 seems to have little effect on the desire of users to install standalone security software, new figures from security management firm OPSWAT have shown. After crunching data gathered from 4000 systems running its Security Score and GEARS Cloud monitoring software, OPSWAT found that 65 percent of the Windows 8 element of this sample (21 percent) were running a second antivirus product offering real-time protection in addition to Defender. By comparison, the figures for XP were 9 percent, and Vista and Windows 7 around 20 percent, which is to say that OPSWAT at least detected some element of a second product on these systems even if it was not running. Direct comparisons between these operating systems are not possible because Windows 8 uses a different architecture than previous versions, allowing users to supplement Defender's protection with a dedicated product, a simultaneity in real-time protection that was difficult or impossible in older versions. The new Windows Defender is also a completely revised product to the old Windows Defender, released in 2006 before itself being re-launched as Microsoft Security Essentials. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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