I don't know if there ever was.. The old advice of 'Be sensible and don't open stupid files or visit stupid websites or follow phishing links' should solve most potential problems.
Especially with windows defender, which really has few cons (it'll take up resources sometimes), it seems like a "better to have a condom and not need it" sort of situation.
I lived through the virus era and that most certainly wouldn’t solve most problems back then.
To avoid getting infected by low end attackers? They still exist.
The idea you can avoid getting infected by not opening suspect files is naive and generally comes from someone who hasn't tried to hack a system (even their own or a sandbox).