Without a doubt, one of Microsoft‘s greatest successes has been the launch of Windows Defender, later renamed Microsoft Defender. This is one of the best free antivirus that we can activate to protect our computer from all kinds of threats. Microsoft Defender is installed in all versions of the operating system, from Windows 8 onwards, and not only allows us to protect ourselves from malware, but also has other security shields, thanks to which we can remain safe on the Internet.
Microsoft Defender: the best antivirus for Windows
Within the Windows security center we will be able to find all the protection modules that this program offers us. The first of them, of course, is the antivirus itself, thanks to which we can be protected against all kinds of malware. It also has an account protection module that allows us to know if we have correctly protected the PC session.
Beyond these two security modules, Microsoft Defender also has a complete (although complicated) firewall , an application control system to monitor what the programs do in RAM, and a general device security monitor that allows us to control security measures at the hardware level.
As we can see, to be a free antivirus it is very complete, and it has nothing to envy other solutions such as Avast, Avira or the free versions of Bitdefender and Kaspersky, to name some of its main rivals.
But this antivirus hides the most interesting tricks, like the one we are going to see next.
Control and block the Internet with one click
The Microsoft Defender firewall is in charge of monitoring everything related to our Internet connection. On the one hand, this shield is responsible for protecting our computer depending on whether we are connected to a public network (a bar, a station, etc.) or to a private network (at home, for example). In this way, we will prevent other network devices from connecting to our PC or accessing our resources without permission.
The firewall normally works based on rules. That is, we can specify the programs that can, or cannot, go to the Internet , or those that can receive connections from outside. Windows has its own custom rules, and then we can specify them ourselves. But what if we want to block all incoming connection to the PC?
Within the Windows firewall configuration we can find a box that, if we check it, allows us to block all incoming connections from the PC at once . And not only those of unknown programs, but also all those that we have allowed by hand with a rule in the firewall.
Simply click the box to enable the feature at any time, or click it again to disable it and re-allow connections. The only thing we must pay attention to is choosing the type of network (public or private) to which we are connected. Also, for example, we can block only connections on public networks and let private networks work normally.
