Some engineers from Google are actually saying some nice things about Microsoft for a change. The comments are contained in and around a thread started by “Anti-virus, malware and infosec expert” @VessOnSecurity, regarding an ex-Mozilla employee’s rant a few days ago imploring people to “Disable Your Antivirus Software (Except Microsoft’s).”

Apparently the disdain for 3rd party AV solutions runs deep amongst browser developers, as in response to the threads a Google engineer, Justin Schuh, had this to say:

Browser makers don't complain about Microsoft Defender because we have tons of empirical data showing that it's the only well behaved AV. https://t.co/ClGwEWCoWu — ? Justin Schuh ? (@justinschuh) January 31, 2017

Schuh, who has called AV his “single biggest impediment to shipping a secure browser,” also noted that he wasn’t talking about Defender:

@Allan_Wirth @tqbf That's fair. Defender is the only one I know of that hasn't broken Chrome's security mechanisms. /CC @taviso — ? Justin Schuh ? (@justinschuh) January 31, 2017

While the blog post, threads and the comments aren’t likely to make many friends in the AV community, we agree that Microsoft has come a long way in its AV efforts, adheres to a “first do no harm” mantra, and if you’re somewhat careful about where and what you browse, Windows Defender should be all you need.

What AV solutions do you use?

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