Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 builds on Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 and adds advanced features such as advanced protection against modern security threats and comprehensive device management, application management, and control capabilities.

The Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 version includes cumulative enhancements provided in Windows 10 versions 1903, 1909, 2004, 21H1, and 21H2. The following provides detailed information about these enhanced features.

life cycle

The Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 lifecycle is 5 years (IoT continues to have a 10-year lifecycle). Therefore, the LTSC 2021 version cannot directly replace the LTSC 2019 with a life cycle of 10 years.

System security

Improvements to Windows security applications now include protecting history (which includes more understandable details about threats and available actions), preventing access to controlled folders in protected history, Windows Defender offline scanning tool actions, and any shelving suggestions.

Encryption and Data Protection

BitLocker, Mobile Device Management (MDM), and Azure Active Directory can work together to protect devices from accidental password leakage. Now, the new key scrolling feature can securely rotate the recovery password of MDM managed devices. As long as the Microsoft Intune/MDM tool or recovery password is used to unlock BitLocker protected drives, this feature will be activated. Therefore, when users manually unlock BitLocker drives, the recovery password will be better protected.

network security

The Windows Defender firewall now offers the following benefits:

Reduce risk:The Windows Defender firewall reduces the attack surface of devices by restricting or allowing traffic through many attributes such as IP address, port, or program path. Reducing the attack surface of devices can increase manageability and reduce the likelihood of successful attacks.

Protecting data:With the help of Integrated Internet Protocol (IPsec), Windows Defender Firewall provides a simple way to enforce authenticated end-to-end network communication. It provides scalable hierarchical access to trusted network resources, helps enforce data integrity, and selectively helps protect data confidentiality.

Extended value:The Windows Defender firewall is a host based firewall included in the operating system, so no additional hardware or software is required. The Windows Defender firewall also supplements existing non Microsoft network security through documented application programming interfaces and APIs.

Now the Windows Defender firewall is easier to analyze and debug. IPsec behavior has been integrated with Packet Monitor (pktmon), a built-in cross component network for Windows.

In addition, the Windows Defender firewall event log has been enhanced to ensure that audits can identify specific filters responsible for any given event. In this way, it is possible to analyze firewall behavior and rich packet capture without relying on other tools.

The Windows Defender firewall now also supports the Windows Subsystem (WSL) for Linux; You can add rules to the WSL process, just like you would for the WSL process Windows. For more information, see Firewall Windows Defender Support for Windows Subsystem (WSL) for Linux.

Virus and Threat Protection

Reduced attack surface area - IT administrators can configure advanced web protection for devices, defining allow and deny lists for specific URLs and IP addresses. Next generation protection - Expanded protection controls for ransomware, credential abuse, and attacks transmitted through removable storage.

Integrity Implementation Function - Implement remote runtime proof for Windows 10 platform.

Tamper proof feature - Use virtualization based security to isolate critical Microsoft Defender endpoint security features from the operating system and attackers. Platform Support - In addition to Windows 10, the functionality of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has also been extended to support Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 clients, as well as macOS, Linux, and Windows Server through Endpoint Detection (EDR) and Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) features.

Advanced machine learning: Improved advanced machine learning and AI models to resist attacks by Apex attackers using innovative vulnerability attack techniques, tools, and malware.

Emergency Protection for Outbreaks: Provides emergency protection for outbreaks, using new intelligent automatic update devices when new virus outbreaks are detected.

Certified ISO 27001 compliance: Ensure that cloud services have been analyzed for threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts, and that risk management and security controls are in place.

Geographic location support: Sample data and configurable retention policies support geographic location and sovereignty.

Improved support for non ASCII file paths for Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) with Automatic Event Response (IR).