I am aware that there is already a similar question but that is more than 7 years old, am I am using Windows 10 now.
My intention was to block any communication of Steam and Steam Web Helper via network and I changed the firewall settings as follows:
- Steam (InBound) - removed all existing rules and defined a single rule "blocked" which was valid for "All Profiles", any local/remote addresses, all protocols and set this rule active.
- Steam (OutBound) - same settings
So far so good. My next inspection of the firewall settings gave me a surprise: I found additional rules which were also active AND gave Steam and Steam Web Helper ALL permissions to communicate. I suspect that Steam had installed the new firewall rules and it could do so since Steam requires admin privileges to run.
Is there a way to prevent Steam to communicate (except pulling the network plug)?