Some may assume that it is essential to purchase and install antivirus software to protect the underlying layers of an IT infrastructure. However, nowadays the Windows 10 operating system is shipped with a built-in antivirus feature by default. With Microsoft being a large contender in the antivirus market it raises the question if it is necessary to use third-party antivirus software in a Windows 10 environment.
The aim of this research is to determine the necessity of third-party antivirus software by examining the detection capabilities and measuring the performance impact caused by third-party antivirus software, in comparison with the antivirus service that is integrated with the Windows 10 operating system. This was done by measuring the response time of certain user activities to determine how the user-experience is affected differently by using third-party antivirus software. In addition to the effect on performance, the documentation of the tested products was studied to determine if there is value in using non-integrated antivirus software.
The results of the performance benchmarks showed that overall there was a significant performance increase when using third-party antivirus. Additionally, the study showed that some third-party antivirus software offers more ways to detect malicious activities than Windows Defender Antivirus. These two facts put together suggests that using third-party antivirus software in a Windows 10 environment is necessary if there is a desire to increase the efficiency of performing certain user activities and if there is a desire to have more detection capabilities available.