Windows Security

Though Windows provides numerous features that help protect you, your data, and the PC itself, most work automatically in the background and few of them are interactive. One exception is Windows Security, a dashboard-based app that helps you quickly assess whether your PC is protected from threats.
Get to know Windows Security
Windows Security is accessible in the Start menu, of course, but you will also find an icon for this application in the overflow area of the Taskbar.

However you launch it, Windows Security provides an at-a-glance view of the security and health of your PC, with 8 major areas of concern.

Green check marks next to each area on the main page indicate that the system is healthy, secure, and up-to-date. But you may also see yellow bangs next to those areas that need attention.

Available items here include:

Virus & threat protection. This page provides a front-end to Windows Defender, the anti-virus and anti-malware solution that comes with Windows 11.

Account protection. This page provides links to various parts of the Accounts area of the Settings app related to your user account: Account info, Windows backup, Sign-in options, and Dynamic lock.

Most of these features are discussed in the Microsoft Accounts chapter.
Firewall & network protection. Here, you will see a friendly interface to the network firewall that Microsoft provides with Windows 11. For the most part, you will never need to change any of the settings you see here.

While you will not usually need to access the legacy interface to the firewall, called Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security, you can do so by selecting the "Advanced settings" link here.
App & browser control. This page lets you determine how Windows behaves when you download potentially unsafe applications from the web, encounter potentially malicious websites, or use Store apps that work as a front-end for a website or other web-based content. And the exploit protection functionality lets you customize advanced technologies in Windows that are designed to protect the system from being compromised.

Device security. Here, you can view but not edit the condition of whichever hardware-based security features---Core isolation (for preventing memory-based attacks), Security processor (the trusted platform module, or TPM), Secure Boot (which prevents offline attacks during reboots), and Data encryption---your PC supports. This will vary from PC to PC.

Device performance & health. This page provides a mini-dashboard related to the health of your PC,

The Fresh start commentary is a bit odd, as this feature is not part of Windows 11. Please refer to the Reset this PC chapter to learn more about the Windows 11 equivalent of Fresh start.
Family options. This page provides links to Microsoft's parental control functionality on the web. Family options is not a Windows 11 feature.

Protection history. If everything go...