Windows 11 is one of the operating systems that have been released more recently, many love it and others choose not to install it, the truth is that it includes at least at the security level, an interesting feature, since, as it is created by Microsoft, security is not something that can be missing, so, Unlike its predecessor, Windows 10, as I said, this system incorporates some improvements in cybersecurity that other Windows systems still do not have, one of them is the protection against phishing attacks, so in this article we will see what it is and how to enable it.
How to set up anti-phishing protection in Windows 11
First, you have to understand that it is a feature that by default is not activated and is only available in Windows 11, so you must use this version of Windows or, at least today, you can not enjoy this feature, and, as mentioned, is not activated by default, so, you have to activate it manually (as I say, at least for now) so to do so you have to go to Windows settings, then privacy and security, then Windows security, then go to application and browser control and finally get to reputation-based protection settings.
In this section we will have several options, those that interest us are those referring to phishing, concretely the following ones.
These options must be enabled if we want the protection to be applied and protect our data, as it is based on Microsoft Defender’s SmartScreen protection.
Important aspects to take into account
You have to keep in mind something, this security measure, although it is a good way for the operating system itself to add an additional layer of security to the user when browsing and above all, protect against common attacks such as phishing, you have to know that it will only be effective in very specific situations, you see, according to the same Microsoft portal, this configuration is useful for when you enter a password to log on to Windows 11 (since other versions of Windows, it is currently not available).
Therefore, it is not a configuration that will alert you if a website is suspected of being phishing, but rather, if you enter the password you use to access your Windows 11, either in a text document or on a website that Windows considers to be suspected of being phishing, the same Windows 11 system will tell you “hey buddy, you wrote your password, that is not safe, if I were you I would delete it or I would make sure it is safe to write it” maybe it does not tell you that but, you get the idea.
At the end of the day, you have to understand that, trying to “patch” human vulnerability is very difficult, there may be initiatives by operating systems like this one by Windows 11 to protect the user a little more but, always the best way to mitigate phishing attacks is with a high awareness in cybersecurity and, with knowledge on how to identify them, for example, there are portals like Google’s JigSaw phishing test that allows you to do a quick test to test your knowledge on phishing detection.
Remember that cybersecurity will always depend on you and, in these times, protecting your information is something necessary, not something optional, you have the duty to always secure your data and help others to improve their security on the Internet, to make the Internet a safer place for all users, which is something we are gradually achieving.
