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Technology Lab / Information Technology
Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection uses cloud power to figure out you’ve been pwned
Attacks that depend on social engineering rather than software flaws, as well as those taking advantage of unpatched zero-day vulnerabilities, can evade traditional anti-malware software. Microsoft says that there were thousands of such attacks in 2015 and that on average they took 200 days to detect and a further 80 days to contain, giving attackers ample time to steal data and incurring average costs of $12 million per incident. The catchily named Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection is designed to detect this kind of attack, not by looking for specific pieces of malware, but rather by detecting system activity that looks out of the ordinary.
Keen to avoid Windows 7 becoming "the new Windows XP," the company is being rather more aggressive in applying pressure on users to upgrade to Windows 10 sooner rather than later.
