Microsoft deprecates Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office

Microsoft has announced that they are deprecating Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office. The security feature will no longer be updated. The deprecation includes Windows.Security.Isolation APIs that are used for Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office.

Microsoft deprecates Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office

With every update to the Windows ecosystem, Microsoft adds new features and functionality thereby improving the user experience and productivity. At the same time, they also deprecate some features that no longer seem fit for the new stack. Microsoft adds newer options in place of deprecated features and gives a better experience than the previous feature. The latest feature to get added to the list of deprecated features is Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office.

Microsoft Defender Application Guard for Office is a security feature that isolates interested documents and prevents them from accessing corporate resources. To open files from potentially unsafe locations, it uses virtualization-based sandboxing. Application Guard is available is available to organizations with Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft 365 E5 Security licenses which allow users to read, edit, print, and save files without having to re-open them outside the secured container.

Microsoft announced that Application Guard for Office is now being deprecated and no longer updated. They recommend transitioning to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint attack surface reduction rules along with Protected View and Windows Defender Application Control. They recommendations work as securely as Application Guard for Office with better features and regular security updates and enhancements.