Microsoft Defender
Microsoft Defender portal outage disrupts threat hunting alerts
Microsoft is working to mitigate an ongoing incident that has been blocking access to some Defender XDR portal capabilities, including threat hunting alerts. According to an admin center service alert (DZ1191468) seen by GeekFeed, this outage may affect customers attempting to access or use features in the Defender portal. The issues are caused by what […]
Microsoft removing Defender Application Guard from Office
Microsoft plans to remove Defender Application Guard from Office by December 2027, starting with the February 2026 release of Office version 2602. The Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office (MDAG) is designed for Windows 10 and Windows 11 Enterprise editions, protecting users’ devices by isolating untrusted Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files in a separate, Hyper-V-enabled container. […]
Microsoft Defender mistakenly flags SQL Server as end-of-life
Microsoft is working to resolve a known issue that causes its Defender for Endpoint enterprise endpoint security platform to incorrectly tag SQL Server software as end-of-life. According to a service alert seen by GeekFeed, this bug has been impacting Microsoft Defender XDR customers with SQL Server 2017 and 2019 since at least Wednesday morning. While Defender flagged […]
Microsoft Defender bug triggers erroneous BIOS update alerts
Microsoft is working to resolve a bug that causes Defender for Endpoint to incorrectly tag some devices’ BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) firmware as outdated, prompting users to update it. In a service alert seen by GeekFeed, Redmond said that this known issue affects Dell devices and is caused by a Defender for Endpoint logic bug. “Microsoft have identified […]
Microsoft adds malicious link warnings to Teams private chats
Microsoft Teams will automatically alert users when they send or receive a private message containing links that are tagged as malicious. Microsoft will introduce these new warnings for messages containing URLs that have been flagged as spam, phishing, or malware, for all Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (MDO) and Microsoft Teams enterprise customers. The new link […]
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 now blocks email bombing attacks
Microsoft says its Defender for Office 365 cloud-based email security suite will now automatically detect and block email bombing attacks. Defender for Office 365 (formerly known as Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection or Office 365 ATP) protects organizations operating in high-risk industries and dealing with sophisticated threat actors from malicious threats from email messages, links, […]
New ‘Defendnot’ tool tricks Windows into disabling Microsoft Defender
A new tool called ‘Defendnot’ can disable Microsoft Defender on Windows devices by registering a fake antivirus product, even when no real AV is installed. The trick utilizes an undocumented Windows Security Center (WSC) API that antivirus software uses to tell Windows it is installed and is now managing the real-time protection for the device. When […]
Microsoft Defender will isolate undiscovered endpoints to block attacks
Microsoft is testing a new Defender for Endpoint capability that will block traffic to and from undiscovered endpoints to thwart attackers’ lateral network movement attempts. As the company revealed earlier this week, this is achieved by containing the IP addresses of devices that have yet to be discovered or onboarded to Defender for Endpoint. Redmond says […]
Microsoft Edge update adds AI-powered Scareware Blocker
Microsoft Edge 133 is now rolling out globally, and it ships with several improvements, including a new scareware blocker feature. In addition, Microsoft is updating the backend of the Downloads UI with performance improvements. For those unaware, “scareware scams” are also known as tech support scams and they trick victims with alarming web pages claiming their […]
Microsoft kills off Defender ‘Privacy Protection’ VPN feature
Microsoft announced it is killing off its Privacy Protection VPN feature in the Microsoft Defender app at the end of the month to focus on other features. The tech giant’s announcement does not give a detailed explanation as to why the feature is being deprecated. However, the wording indicates the feature is not being heavily used, and the […]