Understanding Application Guard for Office, Now Generally Available

Sat, 30 Jan 2021 22:13:50 +0000

Application Guard first appeared in Windows 10 1709 (“Fall Creators Update”) to isolate Edge browser activity within a Hyper V container. Microsoft now extends that same idea to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in Office 365 ProPlus Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise on Windows 10…

… if you have Microsoft 365 E5 or E5 Security. You knew that was coming!

With Application Guard for Office, your files can open in a sandbox without access local or network storage. This provides an additional layer of protection against threats such as ransomware, for which Office apps are infamous as an attack surface. There’s a significant catch: a standard configuration of Application Guard will allow users to bypass it if they say they trust the file, therefore executing it in the normal way; resource access included. You can change this default behaviour though, so keep reading.

Application-Guard on Ru Campbell MVP

Understanding Application Guard for Office, Now Generally Available