Built-in Windows 8 Security features
Windows Defender
Over the years, hackers have come up with new and inventive ways to attack PCs. Recently, spyware, one of the most pervasive and difficult forms of malware yet invented, has become a serious issue. For this reason, Windows 8 includes an integrated antispyware and anti-malware package cal led Windows Defender. Unl ike some security products, you won’t typically see Windows Defender, as it’s designed to work in the background, keep-ing your system safe; but if you’d like to manually scan your system for malware or update your spyware definitions, you can do so by loading the Windows Defender application, available through the Start menu.Windows Defender does occasionally show up as an icon in the taskbar notification area. This generally happens when the tool has been unable to download new defini-tions, the files it uses to ensure that its antispyware database is up-to-date. In such a case, you can click the Windows Defender icon and trigger a manual download of the latest updates.
Windows Firewall
When Microsoft first shipped Windows XP in 2001, it included a feature called Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) that could have potentially thwarted many of the electronic attacks that ultimately crippled that system over the ensuing several years. There was just one problem: ICF was disabled by default and enabling and configuring it correctly required a master’s degree in rocket science (or at least in computer security). Microsoft wised up and shipped an improved ICF version, renamed as Windows Firewall, with Windows XP SP2. Best of all, it was enabled by default. Sure, it broke many applications at first, but now, years later, virtually all Windows applications know how to live in a firewall-based world.In Windows Vista, we were given an even better version of Windows Firewall. Unlike the XP SP2 version, the version in Windows Vista enabled monitoring both outbound and inbound network traffic. While Windows 8 doesn’t bring many Windows Firewall additions, it does feature a much more informative interface, Windows Firewall is initially cond to block any unknown or untrusted connections to the PC that originate over the network. You can enable exceptions to this behavior via the Allowed Programs list, which you can access by clicking the link Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall. Typically you just leave the settings as is, of course. Depending on the network type (Home, Work, or Publ ic) chosen when Windows 8 connects to a network, some programs and features are automatically cond to communicate through the firewall,
Windows Update
With Windows 98 over a decade ago, Microsoft introduced a Web-based service called Windows Update that provided software updates to Windows users. That service has since been superseded by Microsoft Update, which also provides updates to many other Microsoft software products. In Windows Vista, Windows Update was moved into the oper-ating system and made a client application, eliminating the number of Web browser hoops you had to jump through to keep your operating system up-to-date. Windows 8 continues to carry the Windows Update torch, making a few subtle changes for the good., Windows Update remains a client application that you can access from the Start menu. From here, you can check for and install new updates, hide updates you don’t want to be alerted about anymore, and view the history of updates you’ve already installed. You can also click a link to enable Microsoft Update functionality, enabling Windows Update to download and install updates for other Microsoft applications, such as Microsoft Office and various Windows Live products.
