Latest WSL Update Brings Strong Security Mechanisms
Microsoft has announced new security features for WSL in an attempt to nudge organizations to use this capability.
If you want to run GNU/Linux environments inside your Windows installation without requiring any virtual machines or dual-boot configurations, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is arguably the best way to go. However, personal and enterprise use-cases and requirements differ significantly, and today, Microsoft has made significant improvements to nudge the latter audience segment in the direction of leveraging WSL in their workflows.
In a blog post, Microsoft has outlined four new capabilities it has added to WSL in a bid to offer enterprise-grade security monitoring. The headliner is the ability to monitor all security events in WSL distros through Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) using a WSL plugin, without notable impact on resource utilization. In the same vein, WSL plugins that enable integration between Windows applications and WSL are now available; they can be used to transfer information between two applications in separate environments. These capabilities are now in public preview for security teams.