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Early Launch Anti-Malware (ELAM) is a Windows 8 security technology that evaluates non-Microsoft Windows boot time device/application drivers for malicious code. It is the first system kernel driver that starts in Windows 8 operating mode, before any third party software or driver.
Techopedia Explains Early Launch Anti-Malware
As a component of Secure Boot – also introduced in Windows 8 – ELAM is a detection driver used to identify malware, root kits or other malicious code/drivers initiated at system startup.
When a system starts, ELAM scans all third-party apps/drivers and sends the system kernel a report that includes all of the device/software drivers, which are classified as one of the following four groups: good, bad, bad but boot critical and unknown. All drivers are loaded in Windows 8 by default, with the exception of bad drivers.
ELAM technology also may be used with third-party anti-malware and antivirus software.
