{"id":187199,"date":"2022-03-29T12:23:04","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T10:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=187199"},"modified":"2025-07-01T20:51:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T03:51:18","slug":"driver-security-addressed-windows-defender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/driver-security-addressed-windows-defender\/","title":{"rendered":"Driver security addressed in new Windows Defender feature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Microsoft Defender<\/a> (Windows Defender) is a free-with-purchase security utility that ships with Windows 11 and 10. It runs in the background<\/strong> most of the time, and the only time most users come in contact with this protective shield is when their activity, either online or off, unearths a vulnerability. Microsoft Defender receives new features every now and then, often without a massive reveal or so much as a changelog<\/strong>, but each new feature further increases the protection users have on their Windows 11 or 10 devices. One such feature now blocks drivers that have been flagged as having security vulnerabilities from running on your devices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This new feature is an option in the Defender settings interface<\/strong> that lets you either activate or deactivate increased driver scrutiny. Security vulnerabilities in your Windows ecosystem are something you’ll likely want to avoid at all times. This new feature gives you the option to do just that by employing a ‘better safe than sorry’<\/strong> default approach when dealing with third-party drivers. Not all third-party drivers carry security vulnerabilities, and not all security vulnerabilities<\/strong> are cause for significant alarm, but when the security of your online or offline digital real estate is concerned, it’s always better to carry more protection than less. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft released a support document<\/strong> containing further, more comprehensive details as to the nature of the new addition. Within the document, Microsoft specifically mentioned two types of system configurations within which the new addition would be enabled by default<\/strong>. The two systems are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n