There’s no doubting it’s a scary time in the digital realm. With ransomware like WannaCry bringing down the NHS, with democratic elections falling victim to hackers and the seemingly endless reports of companies being careless with our precious personal data, it’s hard to feel safe.
So news Microsoft is “raising its game” as pertains to security within the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is most welcome.
In a blog post on Tuesday, the company said the “next generation security” tools will “make life harder for the bad guys.”
Related: Windows 10 Fall Creators Update – What’s New
As part of this move, the firm is rolling out Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection “across the whole Windows threat protection stack to protect, detect and respond with rich, centralized management.”
The company added: “In addition, we’re extending the reach of Windows Defender ATP to include Windows Server OS to protect customers across platforms. New features and capabilities in the suite include Windows Defender Exploit Guard, Windows Defender Application Guard and substantial updates to Windows Defender Device Guard and Windows Defender Antivirus.”
One of the key tenets of this drive will be Exploit Guard, which The Register points out is Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) reworked for the new OS.
“We love EMET so much we built it fully into Windows 10,” Rob Lefferts, director of the Windows and Devices Group, told The Reg’. “Everything you could do with EMET you can do with Exploit Guard.”
Microsoft says it’ll protect against zero day exploits, while also including “prevention capabilities” that make vulnerabilities in the software “dramatically more difficult to exploit.”
Elsewhere, the Application Guard software works to ensure users aren’t downloading and installing harmful code and will prevent it from spreading if they do. The updated Device Guard tool will whitelist software in an effort to keep harmful tools off end-users’ machines.
Is the fight for total security the next big OS battleground, as opposed to the ongoing tit-for-tat feature war? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.