- [Narrator] One of the most important feature
sets on an operating system today,
would have to be the security options.
Windows Server 2019 has improved on the features of Windows
Defender at the local machine level and added a whole new
dimension to threat protection, detection, and response.
The local installation of Windows Defender has more options
and more protection than previous versions.
This is a Windows 2019 Server.
In fact, it's the one that we configured at the very
beginning of the course, but you can see these
on any Windows Server 2019 installation.
If I click on the start menu, and select Windows Security,
we can see categories that match things
that you would expect from many third party
malware and personal firewall products.
This is already a better start than
what we had in Server 2016.
If I click on Virus and Threat Protection,
I can scroll down and see that there's even a piece
specifically designed to combat ransomware.
Those nasty pieces of malware that steal or block
access to your proprietary data,
and demand payment to release that information
or access to your system generally.
Here, you can go and manage this protection
by specifying folders and applications
that are allowed to access folders,
in an effort to stop ransomware from
gaining access to your data to begin with.
You didn't have this level of control on previous versions
of Windows Defender; this is an example of Microsoft
responding to evolving threats,
and bundling these security features right into
the Windows Server Operating System.
These local security enhancements are not the real upgrade
to the local security, however.
In late 2016, Microsoft introduced a cloud based service
that they called "Advanced Threat Protection", or ATP.
One of the biggest challenges that people were facing
with their security software was keeping it current.
The more machines you want to protect,
the harder this becomes.
Multiple servers, multiple work stations, multiple sites;
it's a lot to keep track of.
Advanced Threat Protection addresses this by centralizing
the task of interpreting the heuristic data,
and defining the response to threats.
This centralized malware intelligence is managed, monitored,
and controlled through the use of a web based portal.
The scanners are on each individual machine
so that realtime data can be harvested,
but the real intelligence is in a secure cloud tenant.
This tenant is able to interpret the information
from the scans to determine not only the type of threat,
but the scope of the problem as well.
ATP accesses Microsoft's malware researchers
and can use artificial intelligence
to quickly design appropriate responses.
When this introduced for Windows 10 Workstations
and Windows 2016 Servers, a download was required
for each end point, and they were individually licensed.
Windows Server 2019 has the end point
build right into the operating system.
Now, depending on the type of Azure subscription you have,
there will be some type of cost to set up and use
the ATP tenant, but the ability to scan, report,
and respond to advanced threats is now included.
In addition to consistent and more quickly
updated protection, think of the processing power
that you'll save on each server.
In today's server farms with dozens,
or even hundreds of virtual servers,
even a small savings per machine can add up quickly.
This Advanced Threat Protection, as an evolutionary step
for Windows Defender, is one of the most note worthy
security enhancements in Windows Server 2019.