Forum Discussion

Yolando Pereira's avatar
May 03, 2017

Windows Defender Application Guard Standalone mode

 

Many businesses worldwide have come under increasing threat of targeted attacks, where attackers are crafting specialized attacks against a particular business, attempting to take control of corporate networks and data. For the most security-conscience businesses, we are introducing a new layer of defense-in-depth protection: Windows Defender Application Guard for Windows 10 Enterprise. Application Guard provides unprecedented protection against targeted threats using Microsoft's industry leading Hyper-V virtualization technology. In the upcoming release of Windows, we have built experiences around the Microsoft Edge browser that allow users or organizations to launch Microsoft Edge in a Hyper-V virtualized isolated environment. Windows Insiders will be the first to try out these new experience as we roll them out. Here is a recent RSA talk on Window Defender Application Guard if you'd like to understand this feature in some more detail. Below are some steps you can take to enable these cutting edge experiences on the latest Windows Insider Preview build.

 

How to setup and configure your system for Windows Defender Application Guard

Requirements:

  • Windows 10 Enterprise SKU only, Build 16188+
  • en-us only for the current builds; Full locale support will arrive soon
  • PC must support Hyper-V (some older PCs may not support Hyper-V or have this feature disabled in BIOS)
  • Windows Defender Application Guard is Off by default, it must be enabled manually or by policy

 

You can turn on Windows Defender Application Guard using the Turn Windows features on or off dialog. Select the checkbox as shown below for Windows Defender Application Guard.

 

 

 

Click OK and then restart your computer. 

 

How to Use Windows Defender Application Guard

  1. Open Edge and click on the menu in the top right corner
  2. Click on "New Application Guard window" as shown below

    Windows Defender Application Guard

     

  3. You will see the following splash screen after which a new instance of Edge will open with Windows Defender Application Guard enabled.

     

  4.  The new instance of Edge will open with Windows Defender Application Guard enabled

     

  5. We encourage Windows Insiders to use Windows Defender Application Guard with Microsoft Edge to browse the Web. Your feedback, suggestions, and telemetry will help us to improve this feature.

 

Feedback Hub link: Launch Windows Feedback for Microsoft Edge\Application Guard

 

FAQ

  1. Why don't I see my Favorites in the Application Guard Edge session?
    To keep your Application Guard Edge session secure and isolated from the host PC, favorites from the Application Guard Edge session are not copied back to your host PC.  Creating and persisting new Favorites within Application Guard Edge Session is coming in a future build.

  2. Why do Cookies and Credentials seem to behave differently in the Application Guard Edge session? 
    Persisting of cookies and site credentials across Application Guard Edge sessions (i.e. host PC reboot or log-on) is coming in a future build.  These artifacts will always be isolated from the host PC.

  3. Can I copy and paste between the host PC and Application Guard Edge session?
    Yes, the user can copy/paste Bitmap images/text to and from the Application Guard Edge session.
  4. Why don't I see my Extensions in the Application Guard Edge session?
    The current version of Edge in Application Guard will not support Extensions, we are closely monitoring user feedback on this topic.
  5. Can I download documents from the Application Guard Edge session onto my host PC?While it is not possible currently to download files from the isolated Application Guard container to the host PC, you do have the option of using "Print as PDF" or "Print as XPS" and save those files to the host PC.

Known Issues

  1. In Build 16193 Windows Defender Application Guard will fail to work on touch PC's, showing a solid black window on launch. Non-touch enabled devices should not experience the issue. A temporary workaround if you would like to use WDAG is to go to Device Manager, expand Human Interface Devices and disable the "HID-compliant touch screen" and "Intel Precise Touch Device" if they are present. After a reboot try WDAG again. Re-enable these devices to restore touch.
 

Resources