New security feature immune to WannaCry, Petya

Windows has been the victim of wide-spread cyber attacks twice in the last couple of months. There have been thousands of computers which have been compromised after owners failed to protect their data.

While Microsoft had promptly released patches for the Windows systems to safeguard users’ data, majority of the systems which were infected were not running on the latest patches. This made it clear that the company needed a solution which would keep users secure even when zero-day updates are not available.

A new feature which Microsoft has been testing right now with help from insiders is called Enter Controlled folder access. The feature will keep eye on critical folders and alert users whenever a specific app attempt is used to make unauthorised notifications.

“You can add additional folders to the list of protected folders, but you cannot alter the default list, which includes folders such as Documents, Pictures, Movies, and Desktop. Adding other folders to Controlled folder access can be handy, for example, if you don’t store files in the default Windows libraries or you’ve changed the location of the libraries away from the defaults,” Microsoft explains.

The new Controlled folder access tool has been integrated into Windows Defender Security Center in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update preview builds, and is projected to have become available for all users once the new OS version goes live in September.