14 DAY TRIAL // New research conducted by cyber security firm OPSWAT reveals that the antivirus products developed by Symantec Corporation, ESET, and McAfee are the preferred choices for the majority of Windows users these days.
Specifically, the OPSWAT data shows that Symantec tops the Windows anti-malware market with a share of 13.56%, out of which Symantec Endpoint Protection accounts for 10.75%.
ESET is the runner-up in the stats with 12.84%, with ESET Endpoint Antivirus and ESET Endpoint Security spearheading the company’s push in the Windows world with 4.53% and 3.7% market shares, respectively.
Third-placed McAfee has a share of 12.21% thanks to McAfee Endpoint Security, which currently runs on 9.61% of the devices where McAfee software is installed.
Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and Avast are next with 10.77%, 7.66%, and 6.98%, respectively.
Windows Defender, which comes pre-installed on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, isn’t included in the charts.
“Although Microsoft is heavily saturated in the anti-malware product market, we have excluded this vendor because we feel that its products do not accurately represent the user's product of choice as they come pre-installed on many Windows systems and cannot be removed,” OPSWAT notes as per ZDNet.
Windows Defender
On the other hand, while Windows Defender isn’t part of this research, recent antivirus tests have showed that Microsoft’s security product is at least as effective as third-party alternatives.
Windows Defender has become a fully-featured antivirus product that packs advanced capabilities, like real-time scanning, cloud analysis, and ransomware protection, coming pre-loaded on Windows 10 and thus protecting all devices by default.
In the latest Windows 10 versions, Windows Defender has evolved to become Windows Security, a central security hub that provides access to more advanced controls, including parental tools and other features that help protect a Windows 10 device against the majority of threats.