Which Apps Should I Allow through Defender Firewall

Question

I believe my PC was attacked and I've been going through the security settings and noticed almost all the apps have permission to Communicate through the firewall. Some of the apps I don't use or ever heard of, like 3D Builder. The settings page is also split between Private and Public. Since I'm using a desktop, can I uncheck all the Public boxes? Is it safe to uncheck everything and see what doesn't work? Are there apps that Must be allowed for the OS to work properly with the internet? TIA.

Eric

Answer 1

You will see all Windows apps will have permission through the firewall and any app that you do not use it is safe to block them. That would be up to you which apps to block because I am not sure which ones you use.

Basically if you don't open things like 3Dbuilder, xbox, etc then yes block them.

The apps you want are your browsers like Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and ports 80 and 443 to be open. That's what you want to allow.

As for private and public the way that works is based on your connection.

When you are at home with your machine you want to be set to private network.

To tell if you are right click your start button and select network connections.

Under network status make sure it says private network.

Then that is the firewall profile you are currently using.

Defender has 3 profiles... Domain (work), Private and Public.

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-configure-...

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.