What is Defender for Business?
Microsoft Defender for Business is a cloud-based endpoint security solution designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with up to 300 employees. It offers a comprehensive suite of features to protect devices from viruses, malware, ransomware, phishing attacks and other cyber threats.
Benefits_
- Simplified security management: Defender for Business provides a centralised dashboard for managing and monitoring endpoint security across your organisation. This simplifies security administration for IT teams, especially in smaller businesses with limited IT resources.
- Real-time threat protection: The service leverages Microsoft’s advanced threat intelligence and machine learning to detect and block emerging threats in real-time. This helps safeguard your devices from the latest cyberattacks.
- Automatic patch management: Defender for Business automates the process of identifying, downloading and installing security patches for your devices. This ensures your systems are always up-to-date with the latest security fixes, reducing vulnerabilities.
- Vulnerability management: The solution scans your devices for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, allowing you to prioritise and address potential security weaknesses.
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): This feature provides advanced capabilities for investigating and responding to security incidents on your devices. While not as comprehensive as some EDR solutions in the market, it offers valuable insights for basic incident response.
Use cases_
- Protecting workstations and laptops: Defender for Business safeguards company-owned devices from malware, viruses and other threats.
- Securing remote workforces: With the rise of remote working, Defender for Business helps secure devices used by employees working outside the traditional office environment.
- Improving security posture: By implementing Defender for Business, organisations can significantly improve their overall security posture and reduce the risk of cyberattacks.
Key components_
- Next-generation antivirus: This advanced antivirus protection goes beyond traditional signature-based detection to identify and block zero-day threats and other sophisticated attacks.
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): This functionality provides basic incident response capabilities, allowing you to investigate suspicious activity and take action to contain threats. For more advanced EDR needs, Microsoft offers additional solutions.
- Cloud-based management: Defender for Business is a cloud-based service, eliminating the need for on-premises security infrastructure. This simplifies deployment and management for businesses of all sizes.
Defender for Business integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft 365 security products and services. This allows for a holistic approach to security, with centralised management and threat intelligence sharing across your security environment.
