Page 690 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

formerly Defender Security Center). It’s a master dashboard for Windows’

complete arsenal of protection against PC disaster—not just virus infections
(see Figure 11-1, top).

To see these realms of protection, open the Windows Security app.

On this one unified dashboard—the Home page—you’ll find icons for

“Virus & threat protection,” “Account protection,” “Firewall & network
protection,” “App & browser control,” “Device security,” “Device
performance & health,” and “Family options.” The following pages cover

these areas one by one.

Virus & Threat Protection

You can get all kinds of viruses, spyware, ransomware, and so on from the

internet. This part of Windows Security, called Windows Defender
Antivirus, is designed to protect you from all of it (Figure 11-1, bottom).

You usually get this nasty stuff in one of three ways. First, a website may

try to trick you into downloading it. You see what looks like an innocent
button in what’s actually a phony Windows dialog box. Second, you may be
sent an attachment by email that you foolishly double-click.

Third, you may get spyware or viruses by downloading a program you do
want, without realizing it’s a secret program in disguise. (That phenomenon
is one advantage of the Microsoft Store; all these apps have been checked

and found to be clean.)

Once installed, the malware may make changes to important system files,
install ads on your desktop, or (in the case of ransomware) actually encrypt

all your files, holding them hostage until you pay the anonymous creator
hundreds of dollars.

Spyware can also do things like hijack your home page or search page so

that every time you open your browser, you wind up at a web page that
incapacitates your PC with a blizzard of pop-ups. Keylogger spyware can
record your keystrokes, passwords and all, and send them to a snooper.