This days, with so many black hat hacking communities - a 9th grader testing out his new found hacking passion - could give you a run for the money (mocking old school "professionals" who are not particularly gifted/talented cyber-security wise - keeps getting easier and easier). Best security this days is... not becoming a target. Seriously, kids who've grown with a phone in their hands since the age of 3 - and developed a passion for the way tech works (both hardware and software wise) - are in a league of their own - even as teenagers. The more we age (and i'm talking less than 30+ that's when most people are already to old - to keep up with younger generations) - the less we can keep up with the virtual revolution. Quite ironic, considering the many real world lines of work - where older age can be defining for a mastery (reaching that place of wisdom - when we can past down the torch to younger generations) - while the virtual world works in reverse... where learning and up-to date knowledge is always easier to obtain... online. That is... if we're talking about the advanced stuff (again, up-to date - even A.I. assisted black hat hacking).
But hey, even average cyber-security knowledge is still good enough vs average (or below average) cyber-criminals. And thus, we can still pass down
the basics for Windows security. Let's face it, 95% of Windows users will get bored reading "technical stuff (even tho - that's just scratching the home user content surface)". And that percentage represents the beginners. For average users - who yearn for something above the basics - a Hardware Firewall could be a nice touch. If big spender - Firewalla would be a top tier hassle free choice. If interested in learning a thing or two at a reduced cost - Pfsense/Opensense would be the way to go (imo). Then there's the Linux distributions - a good way to recycle older systems (debian based if looking for a user friendly touch - or Arch is struggling with low self esteem - and don't get me wrong - it's actually a nice touch for a tailored experience - but in the Linux community - it's quite infamous as a Ego booster). Tho, again... even with Linux - best way to secure it is.... not becoming a target. After all - it's the lack of commercial popularity why it was rarely tageted. And if paranoid (that is - not really a person of interest - but still thinking someone is out to get you) -
Qubes OS can help with that.
As for Windows Defender... that's like an umbrella from Walmart: good enough for the usual rainy days - just don't expect it to hold during a tornado. Same can be said about BitDefender - which sure, it's sturdier - but mess with the wrong
kids - and they'll brake it just the same. Despite the incident from last year - CrowdStrike's Kernel Level module - is why it stands out as a superior product (could help even with the large number of Intel systems which never got a IME firmware update covering latest vulnerabilities). For people who afford it - might be worth it, but for a large majority - it's probably not. Nor is it wise to have average security expectations from the majority of tech gadgets users (be it Computer, Smartphone, etc).
