Microsoft announced at its annual Ignite conference plans to make its Edge browser more secure for businesses by introducing Windows Defender Application Guard, which will stop Windows 10 from launching untrusted browser sessions.
When a user clicks on a link in the web browser, opening an untrusted session, the new application will use virtualisation to open it in a container bound directly to the hardware, meaning any malware that does make it onto the machine is prevented from affecting the rest of the computer or the network.
Although the code will still be able to run in that sandbox, Microsoft said the container will act as a "maximum security prison", preventing it going any further.
The company has made it easy for enterprises to download and install the software because it's implanted straight into the Edge browser inside Windows 10. Windows Defender Application Guard won't be available for everyone straight away, however. It will first be rolled out to members of the Windows Insider programme in the coming weeks, which will help iron out any usability creases or bugs, with enterprises getting the option to install is in early 2017. Other users will have to wait until an unspecified time later in the year.
Microsoft also announced a host of other security tools for enterprises including Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection, which will stop employees from clicking on malicious URLs on SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
This will communicate with Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP) to help IT staff better investigate and manage threats when they appear.
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