1.116 Ensure 'Spell checking provided by Microsoft Editor' is set to 'Disabled'

Information

This policy setting controls whether the Microsoft Editor service provides enhanced spell and grammar checking for eligible text fields.

The recommended state for this setting is Disabled.

Rationale:

Microsoft Editor is an AI-powered service that that sends data to a third-party cloud service. Sending this data to the cloud could lead to sensitive data being exposed.

Impact:

Spell check can only be provided by local engines that use platform or Hunspell services. The results from these engines might be less informative than the results Microsoft Editor can provide.

Note: If the spellcheckEnabled (Enable spellcheck) policy is set to Disabled, or the user disables spell checking in the settings page, this policy will have no effect.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Disabled:

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Edge\Spell checking provided by Microsoft Editor

Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy template MSEdge.admx/adml that can be downloaded from Microsoft from Download Edge for Business.

Default Value:

Enabled. (Microsoft Editor spell check can be used for eligible text fields.)

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/11865

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-7b.

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: badf0e64bc335e02ff6d831fa6e74068ba3cabf41a60bb728931b1bd552a1eb6