You won’t be able to escape Microsoft Defender on Windows soon

Microsoft has rolled out automatic installs of the new version of malware removal tool and security dashboard Microsoft Defender on Windows devices with active personal Microsoft 365 (M365) subscriptions.

Documentation (opens in new tab) for the new Microsoft Defender (via Windows Latest (opens in new tab)) confirms that M365 subscribers are being used as guinea pigs, stating that other users can expect to be hit by the change in March 2023, despite needing a M365 subscription to use the service.