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Microsoft Defender Antivirus exclusions design

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Microsoft Defender Antivirus exclusions design

How to design Defender Antivirus exclusions safely — minimising scope while accommodating legitimate application needs.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/defender-antivirus-exclusions

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Why exclusions are sometimes required

Common scenarios where exclusions are genuinely needed:

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/defender-antivirus-exclusions

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The three exclusion types

Defender supports three types:

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/defender-antivirus-exclusions

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03

Designing exclusions safely

Best practices:

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/defender-antivirus-exclusions

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04

What still scans

Even with exclusions in place, Defender for Endpoint's other protections continue:

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/defender-antivirus-exclusions

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Auditing exclusions

Periodically audit:

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When in doubt, don't exclude

If you're not sure an exclusion is necessary, don't add it. Performance impact from Defender on modern hardware is usually negligible. The exclusion you add today is the back door an attacker uses next year.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/defender-antivirus-exclusions

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