Applies to:
Platforms
Network protection helps to prevent employees from using any application to access dangerous domains that might host phishing scams, exploits, and other malicious content on the internet. You can audit network protection in a test environment to view which apps would be blocked before enabling network protection.
Learn more about network filtering configuration options.
Enable network protectionTo enable network protection, you can use any of the methods described in this article.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Security Settings Management Create an endpoint security policySign in to the Microsoft Defender portal using at least a Security Administrator role assigned.
Go to Endpoints > Configuration management > Endpoint security policies, and then select Create new policy.
Under Select Platform, select Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server.
Under Select Template, select Microsoft Defender Antivirus, then select Create policy.
On the Basics page, enter a name and description for the profile, then choose Next.
On the Settings page, expand each group of settings, and configure the settings you want to manage with this profile.
Network Protection on Windows clients:
Description Setting Enable Network Protection Options:Network Protection on Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016, use the additional policy listed in the following table:
Description Setting Allow Network Protection Down Level Options:Optional Network Protection settings for Windows and Windows Server:
Warning
Disable the Allow Datagram Processing On WinServer setting. This is important for any roles that generate high volumes of UDP traffic such as Domain Controllers, Windows DNS servers, Windows File Servers, Microsoft SQL servers, Microsoft Exchange servers, and others. Enabling datagram processing in these cases can reduce network performance and reliability. Disabling it helps keep the network stable and ensures better use of system resources in high-demand environments.
When you're done configuring settings, select Next.
On the Assignments page, select the groups that will receive this profile. Then select Next.
On the Review + create page, review the information, and then select Save.
The new profile is displayed in the list when you select the policy type for the profile you created.
Sign into the Microsoft Intune admin center.
Go to Endpoint security > Security baselines > Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Baseline.
Select Create a profile, then provide a name for your profile, and then select Next.
In the Configuration settings section, go to Attack Surface Reduction Rules > set Block, Enable, or Audit for Enable network protection. Select Next.
Select the appropriate Scope tags and Assignments as required by your organization.
Review all the information, and then select Create.
Sign into the Microsoft Intune admin center.
Go to Endpoint security > Antivirus.
Select Create a policy.
In the Create a policy flyout, choose Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server from the Platform list.
Choose Microsoft Defender Antivirus from the Profile list then choose Create.
Provide a name for your profile, and then select Next.
In the Configuration settings section, select Disabled, Enabled (block mode) or Enabled (audit mode) for Enable Network Protection, then select Next.
Select the appropriate Assignments and Scope tags as required by your organization.
Review all the information, and then select Create.
Sign into the Microsoft Intune admin center (https://intune.microsoft.com).
Go to Devices > Configuration profiles > Create profile.
In the Create a profile flyout, select Platform and choose the Profile Type as Templates.
In the Template name, Choose Endpoint protection from the list of templates, and then select Create.
Go to Endpoint protection > Basics, provide a name for your profile, and then select Next.
In the Configuration settings section, go to Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard > Network filtering > Network protection > Enable or Audit. Select Next.
Select the appropriate Scope tags, Assignments, and Applicability rules as required by your organization. Admins can set more requirements.
Review all the information, and then select Create.
Use the EnableNetworkProtection configuration service provider (CSP) to turn network protection on or off, or to enable audit mode.
Update Microsoft Defender anti-malware platform to the latest version before you turn network protection on or off.
Use the following procedure to enable network protection on domain-joined computers or on a standalone computer.
On a standalone computer, go to Start and then type and select Edit group policy.
-Or-
On a domain-joined Group Policy management computer, open the Group Policy Management Console. Right-click the Group Policy Object you want to configure and select Edit.
In the Group Policy Management Editor, go to Computer configuration and select Administrative templates.
Expand the tree to Windows components > Microsoft Defender Antivirus > Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard > Network protection.
On older versions of Windows, the Group Policy path might have Windows Defender Antivirus instead of Microsoft Defender Antivirus.
Double-click the Prevent users and apps from accessing dangerous websites setting and set the option to Enabled. In the options section, you must specify one of the following options:
Important
To fully enable network protection, you must set the Group Policy option to Enabled and also select Block in the options drop-down menu.
(This step is optional.) Follow the steps in Check if network protection is enabled to verify that your Group Policy settings are correct.
Open the Configuration Manager console.
Go to Assets and Compliance > Endpoint Protection > Windows Defender Exploit Guard.
Select Create Exploit Guard Policy from the ribbon to create a new policy.
On the General page, specify a name for the new policy and verify the Network protection option is enabled.
On the Network protection page, select one of the following settings for the Configure network protection option:
Complete the rest of the steps, and save the policy.
From the ribbon, select Deploy to deploy the policy to a collection.
On your Windows device, click Start, type powershell, right-click Windows PowerShell, and then select Run as administrator.
Run the following cmdlet:
Set-MpPreference -EnableNetworkProtection Enabled
For Windows Server, use the additional commands listed in the following table:
Windows Server version Commands Windows Server 2019 and laterset-mpPreference -AllowNetworkProtectionOnWinServer $true set-MpPreference -AllowNetworkProtectionDownLevel $true set-MpPreference -AllowNetworkProtectionOnWinServer $true Important
Disable the "AllowDatagramProcessingOnWinServer" setting. This is important for any roles that generate high volumes of UDP traffic such as Domain Controllers, Windows DNS servers, Windows File Servers, Microsoft SQL servers, Microsoft Exchange servers, and others. Enabling datagram processing in these cases can reduce network performance and reliability. Disabling it helps keep the network stable and ensures better use of system resources in high-demand environments.
(This step is optional.) To set network protection to audit mode, use the following cmdlet:
Set-MpPreference -EnableNetworkProtection AuditMode
To turn off network protection, use the Disabled parameter instead of AuditMode or Enabled.
You can use Registry Editor to check the status of network protection.
Select the Start button in the task bar and type regedit. In the list of results, select Registry editor to open it.
Choose HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE from the side menu.
Navigate through the nested menus to SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft > Windows Defender > Policy Manager.
If the key is missing, navigate to SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows Defender > Windows Defender Exploit Guard > Network Protection.
Select EnableNetworkProtection to see the current state of network protection on the device:
When you deploy an Exploit Guard policy using Configuration Manager, the settings remain on the client even if you later remove the deployment. If the deployment is removed, the client logs Delete not supported in the ExploitGuardHandler.log file.
Use the following PowerShell script in the SYSTEM context to remove Exploit Guard settings correctly:
$defenderObject = Get-WmiObject -Namespace "root/cimv2/mdm/dmmap" -Class "MDM_Policy_Config01_Defender02" -Filter "InstanceID='Defender' and ParentID='./Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config'"
$defenderObject.AttackSurfaceReductionRules = $null
$defenderObject.AttackSurfaceReductionOnlyExclusions = $null
$defenderObject.EnableControlledFolderAccess = $null
$defenderObject.ControlledFolderAccessAllowedApplications = $null
$defenderObject.ControlledFolderAccessProtectedFolders = $null
$defenderObject.EnableNetworkProtection = $null
$defenderObject.Put()
$exploitGuardObject = Get-WmiObject -Namespace "root/cimv2/mdm/dmmap" -Class "MDM_Policy_Config01_ExploitGuard02" -Filter "InstanceID='ExploitGuard' and ParentID='./Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config'"
$exploitGuardObject.ExploitProtectionSettings = $null
$exploitGuardObject.Put()
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