Cyber Security is the top concern for CIOs and other IT decision-makers at any business today.
According to a report by Daily Host News, 67% of small to midsized businesses (SMBs) are more concerned about IT security in 2022-23. The top three cyber security concerns of SMBs at this time are ransomware (81%), phishing (69%), and malware (38%). 60% of SMBs experienced at least one cyberattack in 2021, and 18% experienced six or more.
Because most of these cyberattacks are perpetrated against network endpoints—the laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other internet-connected devices we use at work every day—it is crucial for businesses to provide endpoint protection. That's why so many IT leaders are considering endpoint detection and response systems to protect against ransomware and other sophisticated cyber threats.
Endpoint protection is available in the form of Microsoft Defender for Business for those businesses invested in the Microsoft ecosystem. In this blog post, we will trace the history of this cyber security solution, outline its benefits, and help you determine if Microsoft Defender for Business is right for you.
Microsoft Defender Security Center was the portal where users could access Microsoft Defender for Endpoint capabilities, such as monitoring and responding to Windows Defender Security Center warning alerts, managing device security configurations, and taking whatever Windows Defender Security Center actions recommended at the time. It was built-in to Windows and included an antivirus program called Microsoft Defender Antivirus.
In early versions of Windows 10, Windows Security was called Windows Defender Security Center.
However, as Microsoft expanded its security offerings to cover more domains and scenarios, such as email, collaboration, identity, cloud, and apps, it became clear that a unified and integrated approach was needed to provide comprehensive protection, detection, investigation, and response across the entire Microsoft 365 environment. That's why Microsoft Security Center was rebranded as Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
Microsoft Defender for Business is a cyber security solution to help small and medium-sized businesses (up to 300 employees) keep their devices and servers secure from online threats such as ransomware and malware. It offers comprehensive device and server security with endpoint detection and response, antivirus/antimalware features, automated cyber attack investigation and remediation, and the ability to track and fix common software vulnerabilities. It is a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution that provides enterprise-grade protection for your laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.
Defender for Business is available in two Microsoft licensing options:
Both options provide IT teams with accurate, streamlined, and actionable recommendations for the cyber security of your endpoints. One of the key value propositions of Microsoft Defender for Business is that lean IT teams in the SMB space do not require specialized knowledge in cyber security. That's because Defender for Business has a wizard-driven configuration scheme with proven default security policies designed to help protect a company's devices against increasingly advanced threats.
Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) face many challenges in today's digital world. They must protect their devices and data from cyberattacks, such as ransomware, malware, phishing, and other threats. They must also comply with various regulations and standards, such as GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and others. However, they often lack the resources, expertise, and budget to implement and manage complex security solutions.
That's why Microsoft Defender for Business is ideal for SMBs who want to achieve enterprise-grade security with an easy-to-use and cost-effective solution. It leverages the power of Microsoft's security cloud to provide comprehensive protection, detection, investigation, and response capabilities across your Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.
With Microsoft Defender for Business, you can:
Microsoft Defender for Business is available as a standalone subscription or as part of Microsoft 365 Business Premium, a unified solution that brings together best-in-class Microsoft Office productivity apps, powerful cloud services, and comprehensive security. You can also integrate Microsoft Defender for Business with certain third-party security solutions and services through partners and application programming interfaces (APIs).
Microsoft Defender for Business is designed to help you achieve more with less complexity and effort. It simplifies your security operations by providing a single pane of glass for all your endpoint security needs. It also empowers you to proactively defend against threats by leveraging the intelligence and automation of Microsoft's security cloud.
Consider this: everything from the rack-mounted router locked away in a room at your office to the smartphone you're holding in your hand is connected to the internet. Each of those network "endpoints" are a potential attack surface from which malicious hackers can launch their cyberattacks. Endpoint protection for an organization requires IT to deploy hardware and software to lessen those cyberattack surfaces.
Microsoft Defender for Business has endpoint security features, such as anti-malware capabilities that act as a digital firewall against outside hack attacks. In addition, Microsoft Defender for Business provides centralized management for IT administrators to view and control the data flow, updates, authentication, and policies of endpoints on a corporate network. This visibility and control extend the ability to control what applications can be installed on both corporate-owned endpoints (e.g., workstations and laptops paid for and provided to employees) and endpoints protected under a bring your own device (BYOD) policy such as an employee-owned smartphone that accesses work emails and documents stored in the cloud. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint can apply enterprise-grade encryption on data at rest and in transit to and from endpoints to prevent data loss.
While no endpoint security solution can provide an organization with 100% protection, the endpoint security in Defender for Business leverages the power of Microsoft's over $1 billion annual investment in cyber security research and development.
Delivered from Microsoft's secure cloud infrastructure and enhanced by artificial intelligence, the endpoint security features in Microsoft Defender for Business can automatically detect and respond to many cyber security threats almost instantly.
This automation reduces some of the burden on smaller IT organizations.
Some IT leaders will notice that Microsoft appears to have two distinct "Defender" products—one of them is called "Defender for Endpoint." Even more confusingly, the Defender for Endpoint offer is split into two separate "P1" and "P2" subsets, each with their own features and benefits. The difference between Microsoft Defender for Business and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is that they are designed for different types of organizations and offer different levels of capabilities and features.
While Microsoft Defender for Business is made specifically for SMBs with 300 employees or fewer, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is an enterprise endpoint security platform that helps organizations prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats across their devices and network. It leverages the power of Microsoft's security cloud to provide comprehensive protection, detection, investigation, and response capabilities across Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux devices. Like its Defender for Business sibling, Defender for Endpoint also leverages the power of Microsoft's globally-spanning cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and machine learning features to deliver automated and coordinated defenses against sophisticated cyberattacks.
Microsoft Defender for Business and Defender for Endpoint P2 share many capabilities, but they have some differences. Differences between Microsoft Defender for Business and Defender for Endpoint P2 include:
Choosing between Microsoft Defender for Business or Defender for Endpoint P2 depends on if your organization needs a highly-customized solution at scale.
If you have 300 or fewer employees, a lean IT organization, and are in the market for an endpoint security solution, then you most likely will find that Microsoft Defender for Business meets and exceeds your needs. If you have 300 or fewer employees but have a full-time IT security staff that needs deep granularity and complete control over every aspect of their endpoint deployments, then you will probably want to consider Endpoint P2 instead.
[blog-cta-2]
For IT decision-makers at most SMBs, a modern antivirus solution with malware protection is table stakes. Microsoft Defender for Business raises any organization's cyber security game by adding a couple of key features:
Speaking of deploying, to set up and configure Microsoft Defender for Business, you can follow these steps:
An automated setup wizard isn't always the best choice for an IT professional compared to the granular features available in a manual setup option. Here are the pros and cons of automated versus manual setup in Microsoft Defender for Business:
Setup option |
Pros |
Cons |
Setup wizard |
Saves time and effort |
Can only be used once |
Manual setup |
Allows more customization |
Requires more effort and steps |
As previously stated, Microsoft Defender for Business is available as either a standalone plan or as part of Microsoft 365 Business Premium. Microsoft 365 Business Premium is a bundle of productivity and security features that includes Microsoft Defender for Business and other capabilities such as identity management, information protection, device management, and cloud app security.
The following table summarizes the main differences between Microsoft Defender for Business standalone and Microsoft Defender provided in a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription:
Feature or Capability |
Microsoft Defender for Business standalone |
Microsoft Defender provided in a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription |
Next-generation protection (combining antimalware protection on devices with cloud app protection) |
Yes |
Yes |
Endpoint detection and response (enabling both automated behavior-based detection and manual response actions) |
Yes |
Yes |
Threat & vulnerability management (identify and fix vulnerabilities on devices) |
Yes |
Yes |
Attack surface reduction (rule-based network protection, firewalls, etc.) |
Yes |
Yes |
Web content filtering (tracks and blocks employee access to websites based on content categories) |
Yes |
Yes |
Mobile threat defense (OS-level threat and vulnerability management, web protection, and app security for iOS and Android devices) |
Yes |
Yes |
Identity management (using either Azure Entra ID Free or Premium Plan 1) |
No |
Yes |
Information protection (encrypt, label, and protect sensitive data) |
No |
Yes |
Device management (Intune for device configuration, app deployment, and compliance policies) |
No |
Yes |
Cloud app security (discover and block employee use of unsanctioned cloud-based apps) |
No |
Yes |
As you can see, Microsoft Defender for Business standalone provides advanced security protection for your devices, while the Microsoft Defender solution provided in a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription provides more cyber security and productivity capabilities.
Amaxra is a Gold-level Microsoft Partner with a thriving cyber security practice. We have the expertise, experience, and resources to help you deploy, configure, and manage Microsoft Defender for Business for your SMB.
Here are some benefits of choosing Amaxra as your partner for Microsoft Defender for Business:
With Amaxra as your partner, you can rest assured that the best-in-class security solution protects your SMB from Microsoft. You can focus on your core business objectives while we care for your cyber-security needs.
If you are interested in learning more about Microsoft Defender for Business and how Amaxra can help you deploy it for your SMB, please contact us today. We would love to hear from you and discuss how we can secure your IT environment together.
[blog-cta-1]