Microsoft Sunsets Defender Application Guard for Office: Here’s What You Need to Know

Office 365

Key Takeaways:

  • Microsoft has officially announced the deprecation of Defender Application Guard for Office.
  • Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office utilized hardware-based containerization to isolate and run potentially harmful Office files in a secure environment.
  • Microsoft advises users to migrate to Defender for Endpoint attack surface reduction rules and other security solutions.

Microsoft has announced that it’s deprecating Defender Application Guard for Office this month. The company has quietly updated its support article to indicate that the security feature will no longer receive updates.

“Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office is being deprecated and is no longer being updated. This deprecation also includes the Windows.Security.Isolation APIs that are used for Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office,” Microsoft explained.

What is Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office?

Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office is a security feature that helps to protect users against malicious documents. It leverages hardware-based containerization to run potentially harmful Office files in an isolated environment. The feature provides an additional layer of security against phishing attacks targeting Office apps such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office is available for enterprise customers running Windows 10 and Windows 11. The feature integrates with Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) to help IT admins enhance the overall security posture.

Microsoft is Killing Off Defender Application Guard for Office
Source: Microsoft

Microsoft encourages migration to robust security solutions

Going forward, Microsoft recommends customers to switch to Defender for Endpoint and other security solutions. “We recommend transitioning to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint attack surface reduction rules along with Protected View and Windows Defender Application Control,” Microsoft added.

In response to emerging security challenges, Microsoft has undertaken significant measures to protect users. Last month, the company unveiled plans to remove VBScript from future versions of Windows. In September, Microsoft reminded customers that it will soon phase out support for the legacy Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 and 1.1 protocols in Windows 11.