ASD - Australian Signals Directorate

ASD's Blueprint for Secure Cloud

Microsoft Edge Hardening

This section describes the design decisions associated with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 and 11 endpoints configured according to guidance in ASD's Blueprint for Secure Cloud.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

The Microsoft Edge security settings support Edge version 90 and later. The Microsoft Edge security settings detailed in this section are based on Microsoft best practice and ASD’s Hardening Microsoft Windows 10 version 21H1 Workstations guidance.

Web Advertisement Blocking

Web advertisements may be used by threat actors to deliver malicious code or to attempt to phish legitimate users.

The ASD recommends blocking browsers from processing web advertisements as part of the Essential Eight. Microsoft Edge’s native web advertisement capability is limited and does not provide an effective mitigation against the risk of malicious web advertisement. Edge supports third-party add-ons to provide greater web advertisement blocking with examples including uBlock Origin and Ad Block Plus. However, please note that the ASD does not explicitly recommend either product or other third-party add-ons. Instead, organisations should perform their own risk-based assessment prior to using them as part of a deployment.

If supported by their existing web content filtering implementations, organisations may also implement web advertisement blocking at the proxy level for additional protection against web advertisement-based threats.

Security & Governance

Design

  • None identified

Configuration

References

  • None identified

Do you have a suggestion on how the above page could be improved? Get in touch! ASD's Blueprint for Secure Cloud is an open source project, and we would love to get your input. Submit an issue on our GitHub, or send us an email at blueprint@asd.gov.au

Acknowledgement of Country icon

Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connections to land, sea and communities. We pay our respects to them, their cultures and their Elders; past, present and emerging. We also recognise Australia's First Peoples' enduring contribution to Australia's national security.

Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra