Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Reviews

The solution is used to protect the endpoint. Also, there's an antivirus and then advanced threat protection. It's also detecting threats and sending that to the cloud and correlating that without the events from other parts of the EMS suites. That's primarily what we are using it for. It is also capable of doing some attack surface reduction that you can configure on the endpoint. It's basic protection plus surveillance. It's also an EDR, however, we are not using that.

It's always very difficult to measure, however, it integrates very well with the other Microsoft products. It's easy to handle them. That's an important point when you want to achieve a higher security level that it's easy to manage. You can be sure that it's up to date and it's managed and the alarms are taking care of and so on. It's not only the technical capabilities, that are important. How it plays together with the rest of your products is also key.

It's not really visible for the user - which is a benefit. 

We know it's pretty good in terms of detecting threats against our platform and attacks. We have seen that.

There's privileged escalation or lateral movements for attacks.

The solution is stable.

The scalability is good.

The dashboards could be better. There's a suite of different products that play together and enhance security and receive signals from different parts of the product suites. When you are trying to look into that sort of depth on a dashboard, or across various dashboards, it can be difficult to obtain a comprehensive overview as it's so divided.

The initial setup can be a bit complex. 

Beyond that, I'm not involved in the day-to-day operation. There may be others that can offer more insights.

We started using it when we started to migrate to Windows 10 and that was likely four years ago. However, that was the Microsoft basic version. Recently, we also enabled the ATP path.

It's my understanding that the solution is very stable. It's a pretty mature solution.

In terms of scalability, we have not encountered any issues. We have around 7,000 end points.

We don't have too many physical people dealing with the solution. We have some people in operations and then some architects and so on, however, they are not involved on a day-to-day basis.

The initial setup is somewhat complex, however, that's not only due to the product. It's also the environment that it is going to be implemented into. Also, when you have a company with a lot of legacy products and all the setups and so on there may be difficulties in terms of getting everything to work together.

The deployment can take up to a couple of months, however, it's dependant on the environment that it needs to be implemented into. For instance, if other kinds of agents are writing on the computer, you need to make sure that it is not consuming too much CPU capacity and so on. If you have a good system, it would be very quick to install.

We have a deployment plan and we have taken advice from Microsoft Learning from their onboarding Planning information. There isn't anything that is very special, as, when you roll out new software on an endpoint, you must make sure that it's not disturbing the day-to-day operation. You start with a small group of test users and then do it in bigger and bigger waves and always be ready to go back. It's good to have that preparedness so that you can roll back and you can investigate what's gone wrong and so on, however that's not special to a different endpoint. That's a normal deployment strategy.

It has been possible to reduce the use of other agents. Beyond that, we have not made any financial calculations in relation to ROI. We have been using McAfee, for example, among others, and it's been possible to scale down. Microsoft is more integrated, more comprehensive, and Defender is part of the Microsoft operating system.

We are customers and end-users.

This Microsoft security platform is very much a SAS platform. It's playing together with all the other security products from Microsoft and the company is using the Azure platform to collect the information and to work on the main refine security findings. It's working very well together with the Microsoft Cloud solution for security.

It's my understanding that they call it the security graph. It's quite important that they are communicating together. Windows Defender, ATP is delivering a lot of telemetry to that form and correlating it with telemetries.

The reason why we have implemented DHCP part is due to the fact that we bought a Microsoft E5 license with a lot of security enhancements.

I've only seen it in the implementation and design phase, however, it's pretty good. That said, it's also within the environment of a large company where the processes can be a bit difficult.

I'd advise users to integrate it into their security operations center so that they can have the full benefit of the product.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

We use this solution to protect and blocks any threats. We use it for protection.

This solution is not secure, which is why I have moved to Linux.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint could be more secure.

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for two years.

I have not yet used technical support.

It comes preinstalled with the OS. There is no need for any deployment. There is no installation or any other steps needed.

The installation of the host OS was easy.

I installed the OS myself.

There is no licensing fee. It comes included with the Windows license.

I don't recommend this solution.

I would rate Microsoft Defender for Endpoint a five out of ten.

We use this solution mainly for safeguarding online use of laptops. 

For the end user it's good to know that everything is safe and well protected. 

I think the solution needs to be more on par with other antivirus products in the market. It should be able to deal with any threats so additional security would be helpful. 

I've been using this solution for nearly three years. 

I've been using this solution for three years and haven't had any problems. 

Installation came together with the operating system and I was able to implement on my laptop.  

There are no licensing costs connected to this solution. 

I would recommend this solution and rate it a seven out of 10. 

It is an antivirus. It is like any other antivirus, except it comes with Windows and you don't need to install anything extra.

People will ask you, "My system does not have an antivirus," because it is so hidden and subtle. You don't feel like you have an antivirus. Many users will wonder and come to you, saying, "I don't have an antivirus installed. Is that company policy? Do we need to get it from outside and install it?" So, we have to tell them, "No, there is an antivirus. It is there."

It is so seamless that people don't even feel or see it. It is just protecting everybody. If you are some kind of techie or have some experience with Windows Operating System, only then do you know that this thing is already built-in. If you go into the Task Manager, you can find the antivirus using up a lot of memory and a bit of CPU power, then you will understand that is the antivirus doing this. Normally, many people don't realize this.

It is already integrated with Windows 10, so you don't need to worry about that. 

It is a basic firewall with some additional anti-exploit measures and parental controls already built in.

It is using a large space in your memory all the time. While an antivirus will use some of your memory, if they could reduce the load of the antivirus to some extent that would be good.

We started using it when they started bundling it with Windows 10, which has been around three or four years.

It is very stable.

You do not need to worry about maintenance. It is automatically updated. Sometimes it will show you a red marker to do a system scan. People normally kind of ignore that, but I suggest people do a system scan from time to time. Now, what happens is just a bubble icon showing a red cross sign, but that may not be enough. It should give a pop-up window to remind people to scan the system once a month or quarter. It should be built-in scanning, without asking anybody, once per month or quarter.

It is scalable.

There is no need to get an additional solution because it comes bundled with Windows. 

We are protecting around 60 to 70 endpoints in India. In the entire company, there may be around 400 to 500.

We have used other antiviruses, like McAfee and Avira Antivirus.

The same thing can be viewed as a pro and a con:

Pro: It is more than silent; you do not even realize that it is an antivirus. Any other antivirus third-party will nag you with pop ups for any small threats. They want to show that they are doing something because you pay them money. They are funny, colorful pop-ups, whatever color they use is like an advertisement for them, e.g., "They are doing it wrong, and we pointed it out." Windows Defender does not do that. In a way, this is good for the people who know the threat sender. They do not really need to be nagged by the antivirus every time you open a site or click on a file.

Con: For normal people who do not know anything about the security side, some pop ups should be there. Some pop-ups call people's attention that you are doing it the wrong way. For example, "This is potentially wrong. Don't visit this site. Don't potentially open this link, file, or attachment." This is missing in Windows Defender.

It has a good return on investment, especially since we are used to paying for antivirus. Now, it is part of the Windows purchase.

You don't need to worry about the renewal and purchase of antivirus products. It is bundled with Windows 10, so you don't need to worry about separately purchasing any antiviruses. 

Whenever you purchase an antivirus, there are so many factors to consider, such as, weighing, doing a comparison, studying everything, and analyzing the cost-benefit factors. You don't need to consider any of this with Windows Defender because it all comes with it. So, you don't need to worry about it.

With Windows Defender, Microsoft is protecting their own operating system from hackers, viruses, malware, etc. It is better to use Windows Defender over other third-party providers. Microsoft knows what best is for the solutions.

If your computers or users are limited and you are not worried about using your computers for a lot of other browsing purposes or a lot of communication from the public, then you can depend on Microsoft Defender as your only solution. However, when your company is a lot more public facing, then you get a lot of mail from the public and must interact with the public. Also, if you must connect your computer to other computers not in your company, then I would suggest going for either a top-of-the line antivirus solution or third-party solutions. Totally depending on Microsoft Defender is not going to work for a company who is facing a lot of public interactions with their computer system.

I would rate it as an eight out of 10.

I haven't experienced any problems.

They could improve the information about how they are dealing with people who could attack minors. This is my main concern. 

Another concern is ransomware, whether people can penetrate and encrypt my data or steal my credit card/banking information. 

I have been using it since 2019.

It performs well. The stability is seamless.

Scalability is not a problem because we don't have servers. We don't do anything more with the computers than use them for studies, reading papers and books, watching movies, and communicating with our family. So, we don't need to scale up.

If they could send me more information, then I could evaluate, read more, and give them opinions. For example, if someone tells me about a problem, then I can give solutions and also write to Microsoft regarding this information.

From the beginning of the pandemic, we received another kind of software when we had to be at home, but it caused us problems with the performance. So, I decided to quit the other software. Then, I installed Windows Defender on all my computers, including my grandchildren's computers.

I was using Sophos previously, but it was causing problems with the performance. For example, when my grandchildren were trying to assume a session, they opened Excel or Word with a 4 GB computer using Windows 10 and then they always lost the connection or the continuities because the computer slowed down. However, when we decided to quit using Sophos and install all the features of Windows Defender, then those problems were resolved.

The initial setup is very easy and straightforward.

My deployment process: I put some checks in the questions that they have. It was very easy. I read about it in the tutorial. I installed it on my entire family's computers (six computers) in less than half an hour.

It is free.

We are totally satisfied with performance and price. However, there is still the question, "Is it safe and secure enough for home, primary-school-age children, and minors?" Despite having a Masters degree in Computer Sciences and Mathematics, I have not been able to say if Microsoft is doing bad or good things.

Many companies may say that they have the best product, but I recommend always watching the news about what a company is doing. Stay informed. Don't be complacent. 

The solution is a nine out of 10.

I primarily use this solution for the safety of my PC. It protects me against ransomware and other types of viruses.

Microsoft Defender has indicated problems with some websites that I was able to remove.

A few years ago, when I was using a different product, I was affected by a virus that destroyed everything. Since using Microsoft Defender, I have not had this kind of problem.

The most valuable feature is that it helps protect me against any type of virus that might attack my system.

The performance is good.

Lowering the price would be an improvement.

I have been using Microsoft Defender Antivirus for the last three years.

Stability-wise, this is a strong product and it works better than other anti-virus solutions.

Prior to this solution, I had used different anti-virus products. One of them was a solution by Kaspersky, which I used for a long time. When I was using it, my PC was running very slow. Sometimes, I was not able to access legitimate websites because Kaspersky blocked them. I found that it blocked many websites that were legally valid, which was frustrating.

Because of these reasons, I switched products.

I used another product after Kaspersky for one year but it was not good either.

Installing this solution on the computer is easy to do.

While expensive, the service it provides is good, which is why we are using it.

Microsoft Defender is an expensive product in my country.

I would recommend my friends and colleagues use Microsoft Defender because it always protects us against ransomware and viruses. 

In summary, this is a great product.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We primarily use this product to get antivirus protection in a cost-effective way.

This product tends to detect a lot more issues than the other antivirus solutions. This is because it's essentially tuned to Microsoft. It has some inbuilt intelligence, so they tend to understand the Microsoft environment and we don't need to do as much exclusion. With other antivirus products, we need to exclude certain files from being scanned.

The malware detection feature is very good.

At times, the other antivirus products are now doing AI, in terms of understanding the behavior of the system and determining when there's an anomaly. This is something that Defender can improve on.

I have been working with Microsoft Defender Antivirus for between two and three years.

This is a stable solution that has matured over the years.

We have approximately 7,000 machines and we have not needed to scale beyond our original implementation.

Microsoft's technical support is fantastic.

We subscribe to the Microsoft Premier Support Package and they tend to respond to our queries very fast. When our engineers contact them, they respond in a very short time.

We currently use Cylance, in addition to Microsoft Defender. I'm not sure what the impact is of using two solutions, whether it is a good thing, or not. We do plan on narrowing this down to one solution in the future.

This product was included with Windows 10, so we did not have to deploy it separately.

Once this product is set up, this solution requires very little maintenance.

We already use Microsoft solutions and I found it cheaper to purchase the bundle, which includes Defender. By including the antivirus in the bundle, it makes it a little cheaper for us. If you purchase it outside of the bundle, it is a little bit expensive.

When you want the central administration functionality, it tends to be more expensive. The normal, standalone model is not expensive, but the enterprise model that includes the bundle with email and some web protection, is a bit more expensive.

When we initially implemented Windows Defender, we were pessimistic about whether it would be good enough. However, it is a pretty mature product now.

My advice for anybody who is considering this product is that it's good, and it gets results early.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

We use this solution for business security protection.

One of the main features is the solution is very light on resources and we do not have any problems with it.

There is room to improve the security of the solution.

We have plans to add an email security solution because this solution does not provide us with what we want.

I have been using this solution for approximately three years.

The solution is stable.

I have found the scalability of the solution good.

We were previously using the Avast security solution.

The installation is very easy, it takes only one day.

We did the implementation ourselves. We have approximately 10 engineers able to do the deployments and maintenance. 

There is not a license required for this particular solution.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Microsoft Defender Antivirus an eight out of ten.

I am using the solution for personal data protection.

The main features of this solution are that it handles everything by itself and is well integrated.

There could be an increase in security for the solution.

I have been using this solution for a couple of years.

The solution has been stable.

In my experience, the solution has been scalable.

There is no license needed, the solution comes with Microsoft Windows.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Microsoft Defender Antivirus a nine out of ten.

Just as the name states, we use this solution to defend endpoints. 

We're actually in the process of moving away from this solution. We are beginning to use SentinelOne.

For me, It's just a standard malware and antivirus solution — nothing more, nothing less. 

I personally haven't experienced any pain points, but some of my coworkers feel that it isn't secure enough.

It would be nice if they could guarantee that we'll always be safe and secure with them. 

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for roughly four years. 

For me, this solution is both reliable and stable. 

I have never had to contact their technical support. 

The initial setup was straightforward. 

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is quite good. We haven't really experienced any issues with it.

I would recommend Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to other users. Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of eight.