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Despite the performance boost and optimizations, you can still be hit by VBS / HVCI even on the latest Windows 11 versions.
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The source code for BlackLotus vulnerability leaked a few days ago, almost around the same time as Microsoft rolled out the second phase hardening of its secure boot flaw via Dynamic Windows updates.
Microsoft has released a useful tool for users so that they can check for compatibility issues with memory integrity or HVCI (hypervisor-protected code integrity), a key security feature in Windows.
Microsoft has published some helpful guidance against the BlackLotus UEFI bootkit vulnerability that can bypass Secure Boot, VBS, BitLocker, Windows Defender, and more to infect updated Windows PCs.
Microsoft is seemingly enabling VBS on Windows 10 as well, something which was limited to Windows 11 only previously. This could lead to potential performance loss as latest testing indicates.
BlackLotus, which is a bootkit, has been doing the rounds on the internet since last year. This bootkit is capable of bypassing Secure Boot, disabling BitLocker, Microsoft Defender, and more.
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With the rollout of the Windows 11 2022 Update now underway, Microsoft has confirmed that a lot of previously announced security features are now generally available. More are coming soon too.
The Windows 11 22H2 (Sun Valley 2) RTM build 22621 has resurrected an old bug whereupon a system gets a "hardware security not supported" message even on PCs that meet the necessary requirements.
Microsoft has unveiled a bunch of security capabilities that are coming to a "future release" of Windows 11. This includes more Pluton PCs, Smart App Control, HVCI, LSA, and lots more.
Microsoft Defender now has a new feature that will protect Windows 11, Windows 10, and Windows Server devices from malicious drivers. The feature is termed "Microsoft Vulnerable Driver Blocklist".
Windows 11 requirements can be checked using the PC Health Check app that Microsoft released. However, it seems the app is misidentifying a hyper-threaded Pentium 4 as a CPU officially supported.
Microsoft's David Weston has explained why some of the security-related features in Windows 11, like Virtualization-based Security, TPM 2.0, and more, are so crucial for the OS for now and beyond.
According to a report from 3DMark creator UL Benchmarks, Microsoft's VBS feature can incur a noticeable performance hit on Windows 11 PCs. Testing shows varying results between Beta and Dev builds.
