Security News

Microsoft has recently addressed a weakness in the Microsoft Defender Antivirus on Windows that allowed attackers to plant and execute malicious payloads without triggering Defender's malware detection engine. After finding out what folders were added to the antivirus exclusion list, attackers could deliver and execute malware from an excluded folder on a compromised Windows system without having to fear that its malicious payload will be detected and neutralized.

Microsoft says threat and vulnerability management support for Android and iOS has reached general availability in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, the company's enterprise endpoint security platform."Threat and vulnerability management in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint continuously monitors and identifies impacted devices, assesses associated risks in the environment, and provides intelligent prioritization and integrated workflows to seamlessly remediate vulnerabilities."

Microsoft Defender for Business, a new endpoint security solution specially built for small and medium-sized businesses, is now rolling out in preview worldwide.Microsoft first announced Defender for Business last month and released it in response to the 300% increase in ransomware attacks in the previous year, with over 50% of them directly impacting SMBs, according to US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

Microsoft is rolling out Built-In Protection to Defender for Office 365, a new feature that would automatically enable recommended settings and policies to make sure all new and existing users get at least a basic level of protection.Microsoft Defender for Office 365 provides Office 365 enterprise email accounts with automated attack remediation and defends them from various threats, including business email compromise and credential phishing.

Microsoft Defender for Windows is getting a massive overhaul allowing home network admins to deploy Android, iOS, and Mac clients to monitor antivirus, phishing, compromised passwords, and identity theft alerts from a single security dashboard.For the past few years, Microsoft has been focusing on the enterprise's security while leaving Windows 10 consumers with the passable but fairly generic built-in Microsoft Defender antivirus software.