Les, here's the broader scoop.
Proxy settings are one source of not updating, but they turn out to be
relatively infrequent, judging by traffic here.
Windows Defender updates by two mechanisms: Automatic updates within the
program to via the AutoUpdate mechanism, or, you can manually go to
WindowsUpdate or Microsoft Update.
On a managed, corporate network, where AutoUpdate is restricted to a
corporate server, Microsoft is providing the definition updates via
WSUS--the administrator must enable the new class of updates. If the
network is running SUS or a third-party solution, automatic update within
the program won't work.
So--check out whether you can get to Windows Update on your machine--if you
can, signature updates should be offered by that route.
There are a few posts from folks with no obvious barrier to updating via
autoupdate who find that updating first via Windows Update allowed for
subsequent autoupdates to work.