Microsoft's upcoming Chromium-based Edge browser (Chromium Edge) has Microsoft Defender SmartScreen built-in, and already protects users when they visit malicious sites or download malicious files.
However, Microsoft seems to have extended the protection of the SmartScreen Defender to PUAs (Potentially Unwanted Applications or potentially unwanted applications in Greek). The new feature has been added to Edge Canary (79 version).
Setting to exclude PUAs
Chrome uses Google Safe Browsing to protect you from dangerous sites and files. The Chromium-based Edge browser (Chromium Edge) uses Microsoft Defender SmartScreen for the same reason, as you can see in the image below that shows the default protection setting in the "Privacy and Services" section.
Note: By deliberately or accidentally disabling this security setting, Edge and Chrome will flag all downloads as malicious, so you should not touch anything unless you know what you are doing.
As mentioned above, Chrome with Safe browsing detects and blocks unwanted software already. Microsoft Edge can do the same. Let's see how you can enable Microsoft Defender SmartScreen support for PUAs:
Let's look at the settings that need to be made in the browser:
1. Make sure you are using the latest version of Browser Edge (Canary 79.0.280.0 or later)
2. Open the internal address: edge: // flags
3. Search for "unwanted", and in the highlighted results find the "Microsoft Defender SmartScreen PUA Support" flag. Select "Enabled" and restart your browser.
Note: When flag edge-SmartScreen-pua is enabled, it will "protect against downloading potentially unwanted applications (PUAs)" on Windows and Mac.
Block spam downloads on Chromium Edge
1. Click the thumbnail icon to open the settings
2. Select Settings> Privacy and services, and you will notice a new option - "Block Potentially unwanted Apps". The setting will prevent "downloads of applications that may cause unexpected behavior." Activate the setting.
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Source: techdows.com
