Blog Post
Solving Network Connectivity for MDE and MDI
Is it not the case that the MDE defender specific proxy is used for MDE telemetry only and not signature updates?
Therefore you must also consider an offline method for sig updates too, as if you are reliant on Microsoft Update/MMPC for access to sig updates, the update engine still utilises the system proxy/default gateway.
- jospaidOct 10, 2025
Microsoft
You are correct, but you can configure the squid proxy as your system proxy or use advanced options outlined below.
Microsoft Defender Antivirus doesn't use the static proxy to connect to Windows Update or Microsoft Update for downloading updates. Instead, it uses a system-wide proxy if configured to use Windows Update, or the configured internal update source according to the configured fallback order. If necessary, you can use Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Defender Antivirus > Define proxy auto-config (.pac) for connecting to the network. If you need to set up advanced configurations with multiple proxies, use Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Defender Antivirus > Define addresses to bypass proxy server and prevent Microsoft Defender Antivirus from using a proxy server for those destinations.
You can use PowerShell with the Set-MpPreference cmdlet to configure these options:
- ProxyBypass
- ProxyPacUrl
- ProxyServer
For more, see this documentation: Configure your devices to connect to the Defender for Endpoint service using a proxy - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft Learn
- PJR_CDFOct 13, 2025Iron Contributor
Thanks for confirming.
In that case I suggest the title of this article is amended (as the solution outlined is not a complete solution for what I would class as a functioning install of MDE), or additional notes are added to point out that:
1) MDAV also requires a static proxy configured in order for custom indicators to work
2) If using Windows or Microsoft Updates for security intelligence updates, then you must also consider either enabling either the Squid proxy outlined in the article as the system proxy, or another proxy solution.I appreciate the intention behind this article as network connectivity for MDE is a minefield and clarity is definitely required. I see many clients struggling with it, but Microsoft articles such as this one in its current form, can lead to clients following the instructions and assuming everything is working and configured as required, when in reality additional configuration is required (but not mentioned).