If you use Microsoft Defender as your antivirus solution, you may have encountered a problem recently: some legitimate URLs are being flagged as harmful by the program, causing confusion and frustration among users. This issue was reported on a Reddit post by an affected user.
Microsoft Defender was erroneously labelling some safe links as malicious, including Zoom and Google links. On Twitter, Microsoft recognised the issue and stated that a patch was being developed by its engineers. The company also said that users were still able to access legitimate URLs despite the false positive alerts.
The SafeLinks feature, which shields users from phishing and malware links in emails and other messages, was identified as the issue's primary root cause. Microsoft said that recent additions to the SafeLinks feature resulted in false alerts and that they reverted these additions to fix the issue.
This incident shows that even a reputable antivirus program like Microsoft Defender can make mistakes and cause inconvenience to users. So how can you deal with false positives from Microsoft Defender and avoid unnecessary disruptions?
Here are some tips:
-Before clicking on a URL, double-check it. Do not click on a link in an email or message that appears strange or unusual immediately away. Instead, move your mouse over the link to reveal the URL, then check your email programme or browser there. If the URL does not match the expected domain or has a strange extension, it may be a phishing or malware link. You can also use online tools like VirusTotal or URLVoid to scan the URL for malicious content.
- Report false positives to Microsoft. If you encounter a legitimate URL that is flagged as harmful by Microsoft Defender, you can report it as a false positive to Microsoft using this form: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/filesubmission. This will help Microsoft improve its detection accuracy and prevent similar issues in the future.
- Adjust your settings. If you want to reduce the chances of getting false positive alerts from Microsoft Defender, you can adjust some of its settings according to your preferences and needs. For example, you can disable or enable SafeLinks for specific domains or users, or change the level of protection from standard to strict or vice versa. You can also exclude certain files, folders, or processes from being scanned by Microsoft Defender if you trust them and know they are safe. However, be careful when changing these settings, as they may affect your security and performance.
- Try a different antivirus application. You can always switch to a different antivirus product that better meets your needs if you are not happy with Microsoft Defender or find it to be too unreliable. There are numerous solutions, both free and paid, with a variety of features and capacities, on the market. With internet evaluations, rankings, benchmarks, and tests, you may evaluate various antivirus products and select the one that provides the best security, performance, and usability for you.
Microsoft Defender is one of the most popular and widely used antivirus programs in the world, but it is not perfect. Sometimes it may flag legitimate URLs as harmful by mistake, causing inconvenience and confusion to users. However, there are ways to deal with these false positives and minimize their impact on your online activities. By following these tips, you can enjoy a safer and smoother browsing experience with Microsoft Defender.