



What are the best features of Microsoft Security Essentials? These signature updates are stored within the program to bolster it against increasingly sophisticated system attacks. It receives signature updates to protect your PC against the latest types of malware. "In addition, 94 percent of the malware samples not detected during the test didn't impact our customers.Microsoft Security Essentials is a mid-range antivirus program that you may have for free in your Windows OS. "Our review showed that 0.0033 percent of our Microsoft Security Essentials and Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection customers were impacted by malware samples not detected during the test," wrote Blackbird. In a blog from 2013, Microsoft's Joe Blackbird said that the majority of malware tested against its products would rarely be encountered in the wild. Microsoft in the past has spoken out against AV-Test's findings in the past, saying that while the testing firm rates the products based off of missed malware detections, Microsoft prioritizes protection based off of real-world malware use and potential risk to end users.

However, if your antivirus is not successful in blocking threats, ease of use will never make up for that glaring weakness. It fared a better when it came to performance (4 out of 6) and scored a perfect 6 points when it came to usability. The tests, which were conducted in December, not only had Microsoft's free antivirus tool (version 4.6) coming in dead last among 28 competitors, but it scored 0 out of 6 points in the category of malware protection. The German-based testing firm pitted 28 antivirus programs (a mix of free and paid offerings) against 153 pieces of zero-day malware and 12,327 pieces of known maware on Windows 7 machines in a three-part test that scores on protection, performance and usability. Once again, Microsoft's Security Essentials has finished at the bottom of the list during AV-Test's latest evaluation of antivirus products.
