Windows Defender Application Guard Extension to Firebox & Chrome

Microsoft Brings Windows Defender to Firefox and Chrome

Users always face the threats of several phishing and malware attacks while browsing websites. In this case, they need a comprehensive solution to isolate potential browser-based attacks and cope with the rising menace.

Luckily, Microsoft has offered Windows Defender Application Guard extension for Chrome and Firebox to come forward with protection. Now, let’s go to see the new extension in the following part.

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Windows Defender Application Guard technology is a relatively new security feature that has only been available to Edge users until now. And the extension only works for Chrome and Firefox running on Windows Insider builds but it will be available for everyone soon.

How Does Windows Defender Application Guard Extension Work?

The new extension of Windows Defender Application Guard for Firefox and Chrome works in the same way it does in Edge. According to a Microsoft help page, Windows Defender Application Guard allows system administrators to set up a list of trusted websites and local resources that users can access using Edge.

The extension can automatically check whether the website that the user enters is trusted or not. If it is trusted, then it will open in standard settings.

But if users access a site that is not on the list or navigate a harmful website, the browser warns them to quit it. If they still want to open it, the extension will come into effect and open the site in a sandboxed session of Edge running in a Hyper-V-enabled container where the new website will be loaded in a safe environment isolated from the rest of the underlying operating system and Edge.

By this way, any potential attack won’t access and get users’ data or plant malware on the local OS.

Additionally, according to Microsoft, users can freely navigate to any site that hasn’t been explicitly defined as trusted by their organization without any risk to the rest of the system in the isolated Microsoft Edge session. With the upcoming dynamic switching capability, users can be taken back to the default browser when trying to go to a trusted site in isolated Edge session.

How Can Users Use Windows Defender Application Guard for Firebox and Chrome?

This is slightly more complicated to install and use this program since users need to make sure the Application Guard is turned on as a feature on the device and users have also installed two Microsoft Store companion apps. In other words, users need to install 3 applications before using the extension.

Just follow the steps to configure the Windows Defender Application Guard extension:

Step 1: Enable Windows Defender Application Guard on the machine if it is not turned on. Please verify that the system meets the necessary requirements (including hardware and software).

Step 2: Install Windows Defender Application Guard companion applications from Microsoft Store.

Step 3: Install the Mozilla Firefox add-on or the Google Chrome extension.

Step 4: Restart the machine.

Then, launch the browser, users will see a Windows Defender Application Guard landing page. And they will see the Windows Defender icon in the browser, just click on it and enter a URL to start an Application Guard session.