Windows Defender is blocking website I need for work

Good day Scott! I am Independent Advisor Paul R. and also a Microsoft/Windows user like you and I am glad to be able to provide assistance to you today. My apologies and I understand that you are having an issue with regards to accessing specific websites on your work PC.
Just to double check, whenever you are not connected to the VPN are you also able to access those sites using your work PC?
When you are connected to the VPN, have you tried turning off Windows Defender/Security (Launch Windows Defender/Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage Settings > Real-time protection (toggle slider set to off) and see how it goes?
Have you also reported this to your work/office IT support to cross check if there are other that is also experiencing the same issue?

Regards,
Paul R.

The websites are public, they do not require a VPN. However, even when I've logged on to the VPN, I still can't access the sites. A page always comes up saying it timed out and to check my firewall. My office didn't provide my laptop, I bought it from Best Buy. My office has an IT person, but he doesn't know what the issue is either. Because I can access the sites on my roommate's computer, with no special settings, I know the sites are working.

The websites are public ...

It's difficult to give advice about specific websites when you don't say which they are!

This sort of difficulty is typically caused by extensions, e.g. ad blockers or 'Internet security' software. To test this, try accessing the sites in an InPrivate window, where extensions are all disabled. Press Ctrl-Shift-N to open an InPrivate window.

Some sites will not work properly if Edge's tracking prevention blocks domains they need access to, so try lowering the tracking prevention level or turn it off completely to test. You'll find the options at ⋯ (Settings and more) > Settings > Privacy, search and services.

You can always check the permissions for a particular site by clicking on the icon (usually a padlock) at the left-hand end of the address bar. The site information pop-out may contain some clues even though the page hasn't fully loaded.

The specific website I'm trying to access is https://fd.hilton.com. When you open the site, the page will ask for your User ID.

I tried the InPrivate window, didn't work. When looking at the firewall, what does it mean when it refers to inbound and outbound rules?

Hi Scott, referring to the second question that I have is that can you try turning off the Real-time protection in Windows Defender/Security? Also, try turning off Windows Defender Firewall as well to isolate the issue and see how it goes if you will be able to access the websites that you were unable to access.

Turn off Real-time protection:
- Launch Windows Defender/Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage Settings > Real-time protection (toggle slider set to off)

Turn off Windows Defender firewall:
- Type firewall on the search bar from the taskbar and click on the Windows Defender Firewall from the search results
- Click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall On or off from the left side
- Select Turn off Windows Defender Firewall for both Public and Private network settings and click OK

I see the following when navigating to this website :

Error

Oops

Looks like something is not right. Please contact your administrator.

403 - Forbidden

Do you see this as well, from your laptop?

Have you tried accessing from another browser on your laptop? What browser did you use on your roommates laptop?