Application Guard for Microsoft Edge
The words Ransomware began trending last year due to the targeted attacks on businesses worldwide. The Application Guard is primarily a security response to that. When using the Microsoft Edge Browser with the Application Guard on, you’ll be using a separate copy of the OS that doesn’t allow the attacker to enter the corporate network through a local computer. This is done through Virtualization technology. When a person tries to access a site that is not recognized or trusted, the Application Guard creates a new case of Windows which has the ability to support the running of Microsoft Edge browser. This new case of Windows has no access to the user’s normal operating environment, which means that it has no access to local storage, any domain credentials, installed applications, memory etc. To put it simply, the employee of a corporation will be accessing the particular website in a vacuum through which an attacker will not be able to gain access to the local system or any other system in the corporate network. In the era of cyber terrorism, a secure way to access the web has become vital. While no browser is without vulnerability, Application Guard provides an edge to Microsoft Edge in a competitive market.
How to Enable Application Guard on Microsoft Edge
Follow these steps to enable the Microsoft Edge Application Guard: After this initial setup, you’ll need to open Microsoft Edge using Windows Defender Application Guard. To do so, follow these steps:
Open a new session of Microsoft Edge.Click on the Menu Button.In the Menu, you’ll find the ‘New Application Guard window’, select it.
After you select this, your web browsing session will be isolated from your computer. This is done by opening a new virtualized environment. The first time you do this, you might have to wait for a few minutes while the new environment is created. After the first usage though, the sessions tend to open more quicker. This won’t work if your processor doesn’t support virtualization. In this case, the option will be gray when you open the Turn Windows Features on or off the window. Also read: How to install Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Microsoft Edge using Command Prompt.
