Windows 10 Security Warning As Microsoft Confirms Update Breaks Windows Defender

Windows Defender was recently boosted by an industry-respected AV Test report that gave it a perfect rating alongside F-Secure Safe 17 and Norton Security 22 for home antivirus protection by Microsoft support phone number. The differentiator is that Windows Defender is a free solution that comes installed as part of Windows 10. This was excellent news for both Microsoft helpline number, which has been working hard to make Defender a top-notch security offering, and users who can get the best protection out there without splashing the cash. Until that is, the Microsoft customer service phone number went and broke it with an update.

How did Microsoft breaks Windows Defender?

To resolve a coding flaw in the Windows System File Checker (SFC) that caused an error when checking for system files that needed repair, Microsoft support phone number released an update to Windows Defender on September 16. That fix, Windows Defender version 4.18.1908.7, unfortunately, introduced another, just as serious, scanning problem: both quick and full scans stopped working after inspecting only a handful of files.

I confirmed this myself by running a full Windows Defender scan which, instead of taking up to an hour to complete took a few seconds and reported it had only scanned ten files.

A Microsoft customer service phone number spokesperson confirmed the issue and said: "Only manual or scheduled scans conducted by administrators were temporarily impacted and we are working to resolve it."

This issue is very concerning from a security perspective; users need to have trust in the security solution they are using and updates that break things also break this trust, or at least erode it. However, it should be pointed out that the real-time scanning of endpoints wasn't impacted by the update, and users could still, use the custom scanning feature which continued to work as intended.

What should you do now?

The good news is that Microsoft helpline number has already confirmed it has fixed the problem, almost as quickly as it created it, with another update. The fix can be found in a security intelligence update for Windows Defender antivirus. This should automatically update your Windows Defender definitions and resolve the scanning issue. To be sure, however, it is recommended that you check for updates in the Windows Security Virus & Threat Protection screen to trigger a download of the latest version from Microsoft support phone number.