I deleted my antivirus, and somehow my PC is now safer

I never considered doing away with my antivirus, but one day, it froze my system just as it had on earlier occasions. That was it for me. I uninstalled it. This is probably the equivalent of ripping off the airbags from a speeding car on the highway. It was bold, maybe stupid, and probably guaranteed to end badly.

Well, nothing happened. In fact, things actually seemed smoother. I stopped experiencing annoying freezing, and my browser no longer stuttered. It struck me that Windows was already doing so much behind the scenes to protect my PC. Yes, this was an impulsive uninstall, and several modern antivirus programs wouldn’t freeze your computer. But still, it was an eye-opener—the built-in Windows Security is feature-rich, and I don’t have to pay for antivirus.

The myth of the third-party safety net

Modern operating systems already do the heavy lifting

The first thing I do on a new PC is install an antivirus. But this has changed after my experience uninstalling my antivirus. The biggest surprise was noticing the level of security Microsoft builds into Windows by default. I assumed that Windows Defender was still as basic as it was during the Windows 7 era, but it has been significantly improved. It now uses cloud-based machine learning, automatic sample submission, SmartScreen reputation checks, and kernel-level integration.

Between 2013 and 2016, Windows Defender ranked between 0.5 and 3.5 for protection AV-TEST’s independent security testing. However, it has steadily improved since then and is now rated a near-perfect 6 for protection. This puts it near the top for protection, at par with several reputable paid options—and frequently beating them.

Of course, premium security suites bundle extras like identity monitoring, VPNs, or stronger parental controls, so it really comes down to what you need. You may find value in grabbing a third-party tool with all of those features bundled because it offers value. However, Windows Defender doesn’t require any configuration. It quietly updates, stays out of my way for the most part, and I don’t get constant upgrade notifications.

Extra antivirus software actually expands your attack surface

More privileged code means more points of failure

I never considered how many antivirus apps themselves have become major targets until very recently. They have to install drivers deep in your system, enabling thorough scans and allowing them to work effectively.

According to security researchers at Google’s Project Zero, several popular anti-malware tools have had several high-severity vulnerabilities. These range from insecure network filters to flawed file parsers. Because your antivirus runs with full system privileges, any vulnerability within it is a golden ticket for an attacker. For example, in 2024, Tech Monitor reported on malware that exploited a vulnerability in an Avast/AVG kernel driver, allowing attackers to disable the security software and target other parts of the system.

The point isn’t that all antiviruses are insecure. However, when you add such a massive and highly privileged code base to your system, your computer isn’t automatically “safer.” So, when I uninstalled my antivirus, I removed a complex system component that could have been exploited.

My old antivirus slowed my PC—and ironically made me ignore warnings

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