All articles tagged with #virtualization based security
Microsoft is rolling out memory integrity on Windows 11 devices next month—a kernel-level security feature that helps prevent malicious code but can reduce gaming performance on older CPUs; users can check Core Isolation in Windows Security to enable/disable memory integrity, and Microsoft recommends re-enabling it after gaming.
Microsoft is testing a new feature in Windows 11 that could significantly reduce the number of mandatory reboots required for security updates. By utilizing a Windows Server feature called hotpatching, PCs with Virtualization Based Security (VBS) enabled may be able to apply updates without rebooting, making it easier to stay up to date without disrupting users' activities. While reboots will still be necessary every few months, this change could minimize the inconvenience of frequent updates and provide a smoother user experience.
Windows 11's default security feature, Virtualization-based Security (VBS), can lower some games' framerates by almost 10%, though often less than 1% depending on the title. Updates have reenabled VBS for seemingly all Windows 11 and Windows 10 systems, impacting even the latest hardware. VBS is an optional extra security layer that uses virtualization to isolate a corner of a PC's memory, protecting it from malicious code and drivers. The usefulness of VBS and Hypervisor-Enforced Code Integrity (HVCI) has been under debate and may depend on each user's situation. Users should decide individually whether the extra protection is worth the performance hit.