Microsoft Defender AV must set cloud protection level to High.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-278863 | SRG-APP-000210 | WNDF-AV-000073 | SV-278863r1190777_rule | 2026-02-17 | 2 |
Description
Cloud protection in Microsoft Defender Antivirus delivers accurate, real-time, and intelligent protection. Cloud protection should be enabled by default.
ℹ️ Check
Verify the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> MpEngine >> Select cloud protection level is set to "Enabled". Verify the policy value for "Select cloud blocking level" is set to "High blocking level"; otherwise, this is a finding.
Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key:
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine
Criteria: If the value "MpCloudBlockLevel" is REG_DWORD = 2, this is not a finding.
If the value is other than 2, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Set the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> MpEngine >> Select cloud protection level to "Enabled".
Set policy value "Select cloud blocking level" to "High blocking level".