Various embodiments are directed enabling anti-malware software to co-exist with protective features of an operating system. An apparatus may include a processor component including an IDT register storing an indication of size of an IDT; a monitoring component to retrieve the indication and compare the indication to a size of a guard IDT in response to modification of the IDT register to determine whether the guard routine is to inspect the IDT and a set of ISRs; and a cache component to overwrite the IDT and set of ISRs with a cached IDT and cached set of ISRs, respectively, based on the determination and prior to the inspection to prevent the guard routine from detecting a modification by an anti-malware routine, the cached IDT and cached set of ISRs generated from the IDT and set of ISRs, respectively, prior to the modification. Other embodiments are described and claimed.