In an official security note, Microsoft recently disclosed a vulnerability in the Defender antivirus. The weakness is identified as “Improper Authorization of Index Containing Sensitive Information.” Microsoft shared an extended description of this weakness, but it’s a bit too technical. Here’s what it really means.
What Went Wrong with Windows Defender?
Windows indexes your files for easier searching. Because of this vulnerability, your private documents could be visible to people who aren’t supposed to see them. This can happen if the search system isn’t correctly set up to hide sensitive files. Even if someone isn’t allowed to open or download a file, they might still see parts of its content through the search results. This makes it possible for attackers to piece together private information without direct access to the files.
Now, this vulnerability has been patched, and there are no reports of such exploits being used. However, the fact that it existed means that Windows Defender allowed hackers to access your sensitive data over a network.
This weakness means a great deal to me, as I have been recommending Defender as a free alternative for years. It comes with Windows, gets updated automatically, and works in the background like it isn’t even there. Don’t get me wrong, this is not the end of an era or anything. Defender is still a solid option if you want something that just works. But vulnerabilities like this are supposed to worry you, especially when it comes built-in with your OS. So what can you do about it?
Two Alternatives You Should Consider Right Now
There are two solid alternatives. Bitdefender and TotalAV. I won’t get into the details because you can read our full reviews. However, I will explain why I picked these two as the Windows Defender alternative.
Defender comes with windows like it is a part of it. It’s minimal yet powerful. So, a good alternative would have to be lightweight. It defeats the whole purpose if it takes too much system resources or comes bloated with features you’ll never use. Bitdefender is the perfect solution for that. It’s lightweight and not bloated at all. The free version offers many of the same features as Microsoft’s offering. However, it is ad-supported, so if you want to go with this one, consider subscribing.
TotalAV, on the other hand, is the opposite of Bitdefender. It offers a comprehensive solution. So, if you’ve found Windows Defender somewhat limiting, this is the right one for you. There’s not much to say about TotalAV’s award-winning virus protection. It is one of the best out there. But when you purchase a subscription, you also get system tune-up tools, disk and browser clean-up tools, a password manager, and Total Adblock. This bundle makes sure you are well protected on all fronts.
Don’t get me wrong, Defender is better than nothing. Since Microsoft added it to Windows Vista, the OS has been much safer for most users. I remember getting a lot of viruses from USB drives that would hide all my files and replace them with shortcuts. But nothing like that has happened since we upgraded the PC to Windows 7. (Yes, we did skip Vista.) Since then, viruses and exploits have evolved a lot. And vulnerabilities like this one affect confidence. So it’s always a good idea to explore options.