Security Center

The Security Center is BRUTAL's antivirus surface — but it's honest about what it is: a clean, fast front-end that drives the Microsoft Defender already built into Windows. It is not a replacement antivirus and never claims to be "always-on real-time protection" — Defender already does that. What BRUTAL adds is a one-click second-opinion scan, a readable view of your protection, and reversible ways to make Defender stronger.

Why we wrap Defender instead of replacing it

Most "optimizer" antiviruses either bundle a weak engine or — worse — disable Windows Defender to install their own. BRUTAL does neither. Installing a competing real-time engine would turn Defender off, leaving you less protected, not more. Instead, BRUTAL runs Defender's own scanner on demand. You keep Microsoft's constantly-updated engine and definitions, and you get a friendlier way to use them. There is deliberately no "disable Defender" button anywhere in the app.

The protection posture panel

At the top of the Security Center you get a plain-English verdict — for example "Defender real-time protection is on" — backed by a grid of real facts pulled straight from Windows:

• Real-time protection — on or off
• Mode — active or passive (passive means another antivirus is in charge)
• Definitions — how recently they updated, and the version
• Last quick scan and Last full scan
• Tamper protection and Behaviour monitoring
• Other antivirus — if a third-party product is installed, it's named here

If something needs your attention, an Open Windows Security button appears so you can fix it in the Windows app itself. There are no fake "health 87%" scores and no invented threat counts — just what Windows actually reports.

Running a scan

1. Open the Security section, then Security Center.
2. Choose your scan:
   • Quick scan — checks the places malware usually hides; fast.
   • Full scan — checks everything; thorough but slow.
   • Scan a folder — pick any folder (great for a download or a USB drive).
3. A live log shows progress. You can hit Cancel at any time.
4. When it finishes, the posture, threat history, and quarantine lists refresh automatically.

Threats and quarantine

Anything Defender has caught shows up under threat history, tagged Active or Cleaned with the detection time. Files Defender has isolated appear under In quarantine, so you can see what it caught. To restore a file, use Windows Security, which shows the full detection details alongside it — and only bring a file back if you're certain it's safe, because Defender quarantined it for a reason.

Strengthen Defender (reversible hardening)

Below the scans is a list of hardening toggles that switch on Defender protections Microsoft ships but doesn't always enable by default. Each one is reversible. Stronger options are marked AUDIT MODE — they ask for confirmation and start in a watch-and-log mode so they can't suddenly block something you rely on. If Windows Tamper Protection is on (it usually is), it may quietly refuse a change; BRUTAL detects that, reflects the real result on the toggle, and tells you Tamper Protection likely blocked it.

System Integrity Audit — the anti-tampering scan

Alongside the antivirus is a separate, native System Integrity Audit. Instead of looking for virus files, it inspects the places malware uses to persist and hide: WMI event subscriptions, startup/autorun entries, hidden scheduled tasks, image-hijack (IFEO) entries, your hosts file, proxy settings, suspicious browser policies, untrusted root certificates, tampered services, and masquerading processes.

• Known-good Windows, vendor, and anti-cheat artifacts are filtered out first, so you mostly see things worth a look.
• Each finding shows its severity, the evidence (path, name, signature), and a plain explanation of why it was flagged — never a scary "VIRUS FOUND" banner.
• Where it's safe, a finding gets a Fix button (fully reversible with Undo); riskier ones are marked Manual review so you stay in control.

Best practice

• Keep Windows Update running: Defender's definitions update through it several times a day.
• Use a quick scan for routine checks and a full scan when you suspect something specific.
• Run the System Integrity Audit if your PC starts behaving strangely (redirected searches, odd startup items) — it catches persistence that a file scan can miss.
• Pair this with the Privacy Center for a full privacy-plus-protection pass.

Common issues / troubleshooting

• Status shows "Unavailable on this PC" — Defender info couldn't be read (a third-party suite may have taken over). Open Windows Security to check.
• Mode says "passive" — another antivirus is the active engine; Defender steps back. That's expected and not an error.
• A hardening toggle snaps back — Windows Tamper Protection blocked it. That's Windows protecting itself; the message will say so.
• Full scan won't start while gaming — BRUTAL holds heavy scans while a game or emulator is running so it can't cause stutter. Close the game and try again.