As part of my paranoia when using windows (Fear of ransomware or spyware or otherwise), I allow my web browser to connect via proxy, and the rest of the machine’s apps have no internet access (Which is a KVM virtual machine, with USB and graphics passthrough)
Now, recently, Applications are no longer running on windows 10 ! Instead, I am getting a message that reads :
SmartScreen can't be reached right now. Check your internet connection. Microsoft defender SmartScreen is unreachable and can't help you decide if this app is okay to run. Publisher: xxxx App: xxxx
This seems to be something relevant to Microsoft security, where windows consults with Microsoft before running an app for the first time !
My solution is to disable it, why, because I have to pick one method or the other to protect my computer, and antivirus software, although works if you download torrents etc… doesn’t really detect the latest threats, when they say detects and removes 99% of viruses, this includes all viruses from 1981 onward, and very few of the most recent viruses and threats, so the question remains, if i am not downloading torrents and the like, what are the odds i would meet Michelangelo
So, the steps to disable this are as follows