Type: 'setx /M MP_FORCE_USE_SANDBOX 1' and then press ENTER.Right Click on it and select 'Run as administrator.'.Open Start and Search for 'CMD' or 'Command Prompt'.How to Turn On Sandbox Feature in Windows Defender Antivirusįor now, Windows Defender running on Windows 10, version 1703 (also known as the Creators Update) or later, support the sandbox feature, which is not enabled by default, but you can turn the feature on by running following command on your system: However, the research community has taken it as a welcoming step by Microsoft that has raised the bar on security for commercial antivirus and anti-malware solutions out there. Join our webinar and learn how to stop ransomware attacks in their tracks with real-time MFA and service account protection. Learn to Stop Ransomware with Real-Time Protection

'Running Windows Defender Antivirus in a sandbox ensures that in the unlikely event of a compromise, malicious actions are limited to the isolated environment, protecting the rest of the system from harm,' Microsoft said.Īccording to Microsoft, implementing sandboxing in Windows Defender was a challenge for its engineers because the process had the potential to cause performance degradation and required a number of fundamental changes. Google Project Zero's researcher Tavis Ormandy, who found and disclosed several of these types of flaws in the past year, lauded the Microsoft's effort on Twitter, saying it was 'game-changing.' 'Security researchers both inside and outside of Microsoft have previously identified ways that an attacker can take advantage of vulnerabilities in Windows Defender Antivirus' content parsers that could enable arbitrary code execution,' Microsoft said in a blog post. So, even if an attacker or a malicious app exploiting a flaw in Defender compromises the antivirus engine, the damage can't reach out to other parts of the system.

That's why Microsoft announced to add a sandbox mode to its Windows Defender. The need for sandboxing an antivirus tool has become necessary after multiple critical vulnerabilities were discovered in such powerful applications, including Windows Defender, in past years that could have allowed attackers to gain full control of a targeted system.

Windows defender sandbox