BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity vs Microsoft Defender for Business comparison

BlackBerry and Microsoft are both solutions in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category. BlackBerry is ranked #30 with an average rating of 8.3, while Microsoft is ranked #18 with an average rating of 7.6. BlackBerry holds a 1.1% mindshare in EPP, compared to Microsoft’s 2.1% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of BlackBerry users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

BlackBerry Cylance Cybersec...

Read 44 BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity reviews

2,759 Views
2,511 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Busi...

Read 19 Microsoft Defender for Business reviews

4,566 Views
3,379 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

BlackBerry Cylance Cybersec...

Microsoft Defender for Busi...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

BlackBerry Cylance and Microsoft Defender for Business both compete in the cybersecurity field, focusing on endpoint protection. Microsoft Defender seems to have an advantage due to its strong integration within the Microsoft ecosystem and cost-effectiveness.

Features: BlackBerry Cylance offers a lightweight agent, machine learning for zero-day threat protection, and centralized management for robust endpoint protection. Microsoft Defender provides comprehensive threat detection, excellent integration with Microsoft tools, and strong vulnerability management capabilities.

Room for Improvement: BlackBerry Cylance requires better reporting, improved false positive management, and a more user-friendly interface. Microsoft Defender needs to address false positives, enhance integration and reporting features, and improve ease of remote actions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: BlackBerry Cylance is deployable across various environments but receives mixed reviews on support due to slow responses. Microsoft Defender is also versatile in deployment with generally praised support, although it is sometimes noted for complexity without proper pre-warning on changes.

Pricing and ROI: BlackBerry Cylance's pricing is perceived as high, though users appreciate its security effectiveness. Microsoft Defender is commended for its cost-effectiveness and competitive pricing within its integration-friendly ecosystem. Both products enhance labor efficiency and security but Microsoft's pricing is seen as more flexible and affordable.

To learn more, read our detailed BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity vs. Microsoft Defender for Business Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity vs. Microsoft Defender for Business

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 868,787 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

BlackBerry Cylance Cybersec...

Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

30th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Defender for Busi...

Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

18th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (15th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity is 1.1%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Business is 2.1%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Business	2.1%
BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity	1.1%
Other	96.8%

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

Featured Reviews

Sooraj Makkancherrry

Security Operations Manager at Philips

Doesn't have daily updates, which is important for healthcare IT

I face challenges with the exclusion policy - it still scans folders we told it not to, causing issues. When we contact support, they tell us to update the latest agent, but we can't do that immediately due to medical device protocols and validation testing. I wish support would try to understand our issues better instead of giving this standard response. The machine learning feature they use often tells us to upgrade the agent or add things to the exclusion list, which isn't unacceptable. It's a very good and new technology as a tool and antivirus. But sometimes, it doesn't work properly with our medical devices and products, quarantining files it shouldn't even after we add them to exclusions. This is tricky for us.

Read full review

Takayuki-Umehara

Public Cloud Engineer at Prudential

Product deployment protects assets but needs improvement in system support

I am doing maintenance for Microsoft Defender for Business, and I'm currently working with it. We don't need to use the latest version of Microsoft Defender for Business. We still use the latest virus definition file that Microsoft Defender for Business has automatically updated. We implement a basic update mechanism. Our compliance division manages how many servers and PCs we have and whether those servers have antivirus solutions. I am not certain about how Microsoft Defender for Business helps with AI-driven security strategies. I just use it normally and don't know if it uses AI technology. I rate Microsoft Defender for Business a six out of ten.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The solution is stable."

"It provides good insight into the programs, applications, or websites that may need attention."

"Two or three years ago when the WannaCry virus struck, the people that were on Cylance were the ones that weren't affected."

"Does malware analysis. Blocks WannaCry and other attacks that have come out."

"CylancePROTECT works on AI technology, is always up to date, and uses very few resources on your devices."

"The most valuable features are script blocking and macros within Word documents for stopping unwanted applications from running in the background."

"Has good RAM capacity for the power I need"

"Endpoints are protected in real-time without the need of a centralized server."

More BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity pros

"I would recommend Microsoft Defender for Business to others, rating it as ten out of ten."

"Microsoft Defender for Business is good for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers solid security flexibility and integration with tools like Microsoft Lighthouse and some other software. It takes some of the features of Defender for Endpoint EDR and provides those services for small and medium-sized business environments."

"The security features in Microsoft Defender for Business that have been most effective for our company include the way it's built-in and intertwined into all the operating systems, giving us a good opportunity to holistically block things for the organization using that tenant."

"Microsoft Defender for Business offers the best pricing option in the market and is very cost-effective."

"Using Microsoft Defender for Business is beneficial for my company."

"The best features of Microsoft Defender for Business include it coming as an XDR solution which provides automated investigations, remediations, and endpoint detection and response."

"Defender's main strength is its integration with Microsoft Sentinel, offering valuable insights."

"A few things are valuable. One is the alerting we see when any kind of intrusion is happening, any kind of malware is being deployed across the endpoints, or any kind of suspicious activity is going on. We have a footprint across all of North America, Canada, and Mexico, so we want to make sure that all our endpoints are protected and we are able to look for any anomalous activity."

More Microsoft Defender for Business pros

Cons

"The stability could be improved."

"The security scripting needs improvement. It needs deeper security for scripting."

"I would like to see a better UI in terms of sifting through more specific data and providing analytics. A little bit more would be nice."

"The solution should implement AI in the product."

"The solution’s user interface could be improved."

"It was not effective. There were a lot of false positives, even when we use Adobe, and everybody uses Adobe, which is not a threat."

"The product must make the interface a little more user-friendly."

"Having worked with SentinelOne, Cylance is good, however, it probably needs to add a feature similar to SentinelOne's rollback functionality. With this feature, if you get infected, with a click, you can go back to the pre-infection state. If Cylance could add this functionality to their offering as well, that would be ideal."

More BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity cons

"Pricing could be lowered as it is expensive and not suitable for low-budget organizations."

"The security could always be improved."

"The user interface has a lot of features which can make it complex and hard to adapt to for some users."

"I am not satisfied with Microsoft's technical support. There are challenges with the knowledge and experience of the support staff, frequent redirection between departments, and slow response times."

"If I need logs and don't have local storage bundled with Defender, I need to add workspace and log analytics, which is costly for storing logs of 2 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB."

"The pricing of Microsoft Defender for Business has a long way to go since people are still preferring solutions such as CrowdStrike and Palo Alto."

"The threat detection capabilities require significant customization for multistage threat detection."

"Microsoft should provide batch management solutions with the application, integrating pass management with roles."

More Microsoft Defender for Business cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company is on a yearly CylancePROTECT subscription. Price-wise, the solution is slightly expensive, so I'd rate it as eight out of ten."

"We went through a third party initially to do the renewal, but we won't be renewing, we will move on to something else."

"We would just add more if there are new users, but right now you just need one license for per user."

"This cost of the license is approximately $5 USD monthly per user."

"The product cost is about $5, per user, per month."

"Currently, we have competitive pricing for Cylance, which is affordable enough to consider."

"The initial end-point cost may seem a little high (~$55/device/year) but when you look at the total peace of mind that the solution provides, with no reboots for updates, and negligible performance impact, it is well worth it."

"I think that the price we are paying is good for what it is."

More BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity pricing and cost advice

"Since we're a nonprofit, we get pretty good discounts on the tool."

"The tool's cost has been a little high, but I do not think it was terrible."

"It has to get more competitive because we are starting to see some of the competitors providing better pricing, and some of it, of course, is to gain market share. The Defender product pricing is probably a little higher than the competitors."

"The tool is cheap, while some other solutions are more expensive. I remember the tool cost about five euros for a workstation or for a user on a monthly basis."

"Defender for Business is included by default with an Office 365 premium subscription."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

19%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	13

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Blackberry Protect?

It is a good endpoint solution. It is very easy to manage and detect the threat immediately. It will take the necessary actions.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Blackberry Protect?

The price is reasonable for us at the moment. I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Blackberry Protect?

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Business?

A few things are valuable. One is the alerting we see when any kind of intrusion is happening, any kind of malware is being deployed across the endpoints, or any kind of suspicious activity is goin...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Business?

Our thoughts on the pricing for Microsoft Defender for Business are that we wish it could be better. If the pricing was a little better, we would definitely increase what we currently have.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Business?

Microsoft Defender for Business could improve by offering more of their offerings available in the basic tenants since not everyone has a budget for higher-level licenses, but everyone needs securi...

See all answers

Comparisons

CrowdStrike Falcon vs BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity

Compared 14% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity

Compared 13% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Complete vs BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity

Compared 9% of the time

Symantec Endpoint Security vs BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity

Compared 8% of the time

Deep Instinct Prevention Platform vs BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity

Compared 3% of the time

More BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity Competitors

HP Wolf Security vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 19% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 15% of the time

Trend Micro Worry-Free Services Suites vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 6% of the time

Norton Small Business vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Business Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity

October 2025

Download BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Business

September 2025

Download Microsoft Defender for Business product report

Also Known As

Blackberry Protect

No data available

Overview

BlackBerry Cylance provides endpoint security, threat protection, and antivirus capabilities, using AI and machine learning for protection against malware and ransomware on desktops, servers, and virtual machines worldwide. Its AI-driven threat detection operates even with limited internet, facilitating effective threat management.

BlackBerry Cylance's centralized dashboard simplifies threat management and vulnerability protection for organizations globally. The platform combines AI and machine learning to deliver superior zero-day threat protection and minimize CPU usage, offering stable and accurate threat detection without frequent updates. It includes tools like CylanceOPTICS and CylancePERSONA for enhanced user behavior monitoring and adopts a proactive approach that effectively manages threats at various lifecycle stages. Renowned for stability and performance, it efficiently prevents unauthorized applications while maintaining system productivity.

What are the main features of BlackBerry Cylance?

Minimal CPU Usage: Efficiently operates without taxing computer resources.
AI and Machine Learning: Advanced technology for zero-day threat protection.
Lightweight Design: Functions without constant updates for simplified usage.
Centralized Management: Offers a user-friendly, intuitive dashboard.
CylanceOPTICS and PERSONA: Tools for in-depth user behavior analysis.

What are key benefits to look for in user reviews?

Effective Malware Detection: Recognized accuracy in identifying security threats.
Proactive Threat Mitigation: Actively detects and manages threats.
Stability and Performance: Consistent protection without hampering system performance.
Reduced Unauthorized Access: Limits unpermitted application activity.

In the professional sector, BlackBerry Cylance is leveraged to protect crucial infrastructure through a robust approach accommodating environments with limited connectivity. Its widespread deployment in industries, including healthcare and finance, is attributed to its ease of deployment and comprehensive protection capabilities. However, enhancements in reporting, pricing structures, and technical support are avenues for development, reflecting user feedback for improving detection rates and overall dashboard usability.

BlackBerry

Microsoft Defender for Business is a new endpoint security solution that was designed especially for the small and medium-sized business (up to 300 employees). With this endpoint security solution, your company's devices are better protected from ransomware, malware, phishing, and other threats.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Panasonic, Noble Energy, Apria Healthcare Group Inc., Charles River Laboratories, Rovi Corporation, Toyota, Kiewit

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity vs. Microsoft Defender for Business

September 2025

Free Report: BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity vs. Microsoft Defender for Business

Find out what your peers are saying about BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity vs. Microsoft Defender for Business and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity vs. Microsoft Defender for Business report.

See our list of best Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) vendors.

We monitor all Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.