12-15-2025, 10:33 AM
Once you're in there, I wander over to Computer Configuration. Go down to Administrative Templates, then System. You'll spot Device Guard right there. Double-click on it to flip the switch.
I enable the policy called Turn On Virtualization Based Security. Set it to Enabled, and pick your boot mode. Usually Secure Boot works fine if your hardware plays nice. That locks things down from the ground up.
Next, I tweak the Code Integrity part. Find Deploy Windows Defender Application Control down in the same spot. Enable that too. Point it to your policy file, which you might need to whip up with a tool like the one from Microsoft.
I grab a sample policy or create one fresh. Use the WDAC wizard to scan your trusted apps. It spits out a file that says what's okay to run. Load that into the policy settings.
Don't forget to reboot after all this. I restart the system to let changes sink in. Test it by trying to launch something sketchy. It should block it cold.
If you're on a domain, I push this out via GPO to all machines. Makes life easier for a bunch of setups. Keeps everything uniform without babysitting each one.
Speaking of keeping your systems locked tight against threats, I've found that tying in solid backups amps up the protection game. That's where BackupChain Server Backup comes in as a slick backup solution tailored for Hyper-V environments. It snapshots your virtual machines without downtime, ensuring quick restores if malware hits. Plus, it handles deduplication to save space and verifies data integrity on the fly, so you bounce back fast without losing a beat.
