[Updated Feb 2024] Ultimate Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by OS
Posted inMicrosoft Defender Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Microsoft Defender XDR

[Updated Feb 2024] Ultimate Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by OS

Finally, it's time for a refresh.  It's been a while!  Due to personal circumstances, I haven't been able to keep the Ultimate Comparison of MDE by OS updated.  I've had time to dive into the changes since v5 and it's really been amazing to see MDE grow in scope.  What is MDE and why do we need an 'ultimate comparison'? Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) is a massive stack of endpoint protection and endpoint…
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management – Common Microsoft 365 Security Mistakes Series
Posted inMicrosoft Defender for Cloud Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Microsoft Defender XDR

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management – Common Microsoft 365 Security Mistakes Series

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management (MDVM) is an often overlooked service that can be licensed standalone or is included in other Microsoft Defender licenses. In my experience, I've never seen it licensed standalone, but customers with Defender for Endpoint (MDE) P2, Defender for Servers  (MDS) P1, and Defender for Business (MDB) benefit from it's core capabilities.  In addition to the core capabilities, add-on capabilities are available in the standalone license, Defender for Servers P2, or as…
Exchange Online Protection & Defender for Office 365 – Common Microsoft 365 Security Mistakes Series
Posted inExchange Online Exchange Online Protection Microsoft 365 Microsoft Defender Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Microsoft Defender XDR

Exchange Online Protection & Defender for Office 365 – Common Microsoft 365 Security Mistakes Series

Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (MDO) are the email and collaboration security services native to Microsoft 365. EOP is included at all levels of licensing for Exchange Online, with MDO bringing additional security capabilities to license levels such as Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3, and Microsoft 365 E5. In this blog, I'll review five of the most common security mistakes I see in tenants regarding EOP and MDO. Realistically,…
Microsoft Improves and Simplifies Defender for Endpoint Management Capabilities
Posted inMicrosoft 365 Microsoft Defender Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Microsoft Defender XDR

Microsoft Improves and Simplifies Defender for Endpoint Management Capabilities

In one of the biggest changes to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) in its product history, you no longer need a separate management engine to configure endpoint settings. In this blog, we'll look at what that change is, why it was necessary, initial impressions, and what you might want to do next. Historic management architecture needed simplifying MDE (and it's Windows client, Microsoft Defender Antivirus (MDAV)) always stood out from the crowd of endpoint…
[Feb 2023] Ultimate Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by OS
Posted inMicrosoft Defender Microsoft Defender XDR

[Feb 2023] Ultimate Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by OS

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) is a massive stack of endpoint protection and endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities.  It integrates with Microsoft 365 Defender (the broader XDR platform) and is available for almost any OS you'll find in an enterprise.  This cross-platform nature of MDE makes it difficult to understand and track what features and capabilities are available on each OS.  It's not always intuitive, and you may be in for some surprises. …
Ultimate Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by OS [Updated August 2022]
Posted inMicrosoft Defender Microsoft Defender XDR

Ultimate Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by OS [Updated August 2022]

This is the updated "matrix" of OS supported for the almost 80 features, services, and important components that make up Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. This follows up on my March 2022 release of the comparison. What's new? Now available in Excel format, which was the biggest request :) Added the new Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management capabilities (add-on license required) Added macOS tamper protection support Added macOS network and web protection Added iOS and Android's…
Updated March 2022: Ultimate Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by Operating System
Posted inMicrosoft 365 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Microsoft Defender XDR Windows

Updated March 2022: Ultimate Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by Operating System

It's been about 5 months since I last updated my comparison of Defender for Endpoint features by OS.  This is a "matrix" of the tons of features, services, and important components that make up Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Three months later, it's overdue an update.  So here it is :)  I've also decided to rename it to The Ultimate Comparison of MDE Features by OS... because renaming's what we do, right? Changes include but…
Exploring Microsoft 365’s NOBELIUM Defence Capabilities
Posted inEntra ID (Azure Active Directory) Microsoft 365 Microsoft Defender Windows Server

Exploring Microsoft 365’s NOBELIUM Defence Capabilities

I recently read through an excellent article by Mandiant, which recently split with FireEye, on their findings and analysis of the continued actions of suspected nation-state actor NOBELIUM.  This group appeared on most IT pro's radar because of their SolarWinds' software supply chain.  You are probably familiar with it by now, but if not, the tl;dr is that SolarWinds' Orion IT software was "trojanised" via an attack on their software supply chain.  Orion is…
Updated October 2021: Availability of Defender for Endpoint Features by Operating System
Posted inMicrosoft 365 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Microsoft Defender XDR Windows

Updated October 2021: Availability of Defender for Endpoint Features by Operating System

In July, I released v1 of The Big Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by Operating System (or, what I think is much catchier, TBCMDEFOS).  This was a "matrix" of the tons of features, services, and important components that make up Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Three months later, it's overdue an update.  So here it is :) The headline news is that, in preview anyway, there's a bunch of additions to Windows Server 2012…
The Big Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by Operating System
Posted inMicrosoft 365 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Microsoft Defender XDR Windows

The Big Comparison of Defender for Endpoint Features by Operating System

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) is a massive platform.  It's not a single product, and it's more than just a service.  It's a platform of tons of security features, portals, services, and controls.  The more you dig in, the more elements of general Microsoft security have been included in the MDE "branding".  It's not only endpoint detection and response (EDR), but also Windows 10 security settings.  It's not just the security software on the…