remember when norton mcafee and webroot ruled the world and we were all buying separate anti-virus security suites for our computers these days many of us have forgotten about these products and instead just opt for the built-in protection offered by windows defender now called windows security yet paid anti-malware software still exists so is there any reason to actually shell out money for it these days to answer let's explore what windows security does and does not do and we'd like to give a big thank you to our friends at hp wolf security for sponsoring this video so it used to be that the protection built into windows was relatively bare bones but these days window security is a fairly comprehensive solution most tech reviewers have noticed that windows security does a pretty good job of detecting stopping and quarantining the usual viruses and malware with multiple sites ranking it higher than quite a few paid options both in terms of how many pieces of malicious code it stops as well as having a low number of false positives windows security uses two common strategies to accomplish this high success rate the first is by examining signatures against a database microsoft publishes definition updates for windows pcs multiple times a day with signatures for newly found malware and then windows security downloads these and compares them to possible threats the second strategy is the use of heuristics analysis of program behavior without using specific definitions or signatures this way if a zero-day or undiscovered threat makes its way onto your system and behaves suspiciously windows security can block it even if it's never been seen before this is a pretty powerful one-two punch for most home users but it does still have its limitations one is that windows security tends to rely somewhat heavily on being able to connect to microsoft servers and access malware data stored in the cloud a recent av comparables test noted that windows security only detected around two-thirds of threats when its internet connection was lost which lagged behind most paid competitors which tend to store more of the resources they need locally of course most of us are online consistently these days but it's something to think about if say a piece of malware you've unwittingly downloaded decides to act up when you're not connected to the internet like when you're on a plane for example more advanced paid software might also be less dependent on a signature database and more dependent on cloud ai to more robustly prevent against new and evolving threats indeed this has helped some of windows defenders competitors who slightly outperform it in terms of detection rates and some paid services do throw in extra features such as including a vpn service monitoring your home network for vulnerabilities or providing alerts when one of your accounts or passwords is involved in a data breach but while these might not sound like compelling reasons to pay for security software at home moving away from relying on just windows security might be a good idea for businesses and organizations who have to secure lots of computers at once and might not be able to ensure their employees are always following best practices this approach is commonly called endpoint security since it involves robustly protecting user facing endpoints which have historically gotten weaker protection than servers endpoint security is being provided by a growing number of companies these days such as crowdstrike hp wolf security sentinel one fireeye and even microsoft it typically not only includes the usual antivirus and anti-malware functions but advanced features like automatically restoring a system's bios if it gets attacked more deeply examining files to detect malicious code sandboxing processes in memory so malware can't spread other parts of the system keeping the security software running with a hardware controller even if the operating system is compromised and allowing for easy remote management so if you have a bunch of computers you're trying to keep on lockdown or if you need extra security for data that you just can't afford to lose it might be worth investing in a security solution you actually pay for otherwise rolling with windows defender is probably fine just be careful what you click on as nobody legitimate is going to offer you tech support through a shady looking web page riddled with spelling errors thanks again to hp wolf pro security for sponsoring today's video it's an easy to use endpoint security solution that includes next-gen antivirus with powerful sandboxing identity protection and a self-healing bios in case your system's firmware is hit by an attack hp wolfe security is pre-installed at the factory you don't need extra i.t resources you don't need aftermarket antivirus and you don't even need to update your definitions thanks to the powerful built in ai you don't even have to be connected to the internet to detect and deal with threats even ransomware hp wolf pro security also features a hardware endpoint controller on the motherboard itself which enforces protection the controller ensures your system is secure by keeping antivirus firewall and other critical functions running properly even if your operating system is attacked and it even provides hardware and force secure web browsing and if the worst does happen and your data gets corrupted never fear because hp wolfe pro security also provides fast secure automated image recovery from anywhere it's great for businesses that need endpoint security or individuals who just need enhanced protection and it comes in your choice of one or three year licenses so check it out today at the link in the video description so thanks for watching guys if you liked this video hit like hit subscribe and hit us up in the comments section with your suggestions for topics that we should cover in the future
