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BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Symantec Endpoint Security comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of BlackBerry Cylance Cybersecurity is 1.1%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 10.8%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Endpoint Security is 4.0%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Sooraj Makkancherrry - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
AnuragSrivastava - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides detailed visibility into threats but the ability to add exceptions needs improvement
One major item for improvement is the ability to add exceptions. We can add some exceptions, but not at the level we need to. The second major area for improvement involves enhanced capabilities for different operating systems or platforms. That is, even though we have coverage for different operating systems or platforms such as Linux, we don't get all of the controls and enhanced capabilities that are available with Windows devices. Reporting could also be improved because, at present, we get limited results at times. For example, in an environment with more than 100,000 devices, you may just get 10,000 results when you run a report.
Hakeem_Abdulkareem - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution has given us visibility into compliance within our whole system and helped us ensure everything is updated
Symantec's application security module needs some improvement. You need to create a lot of fingerprints for application security. For instance, let's say I have different brands of ATMs in my environment, like Wincor and NCR. I use GRG to deploy an application control to whitelist some applications. I have to get the exact image of the different models of ATMs. When I tested in the past, some machines would not connect to the server without that. Only the approved software on the ATM should run. Anything outside that should not even come up at all. We did this so that an outside person doesn't introduce malicious software to the ATM. That's the essence of locking down with application control. Using Symantec for application control has been hectic, so I use Carbon Black to do the lockdown. Checking that data security will work fine with Carbon Black. Carbon Black worked fine. Setting up approval in Carbon Black works differently than Symantec. In Symantec, we first need the fingerprints of the applications running underneath. Before setting up Carbon Black, you first install the agent, allowing it to learn the environment. It will analyze all the software's behavior and provide recommendations for what should be allowed. It's more straightforward, whereas configuring application control in Symantec is a bit cumbersome.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"CylancePROTECT works on AI technology, is always up to date, and uses very few resources on your devices."
"One of the best features of the solution is that it's easy to deploy."
"The solution is easy to deploy."
"It secures different entry points into the network."
"CylancePROTECT is a fairly decent antivirus."
"CylancePROTECT is very stable - we've had no issues with performance and no errors or bugs."
"The most valuable features are script blocking and macros within Word documents for stopping unwanted applications from running in the background."
"It provides good insight into the programs, applications, or websites that may need attention."
"In my opinion, the most valuable aspects are the reporting analytics and integration with Sentinel. Defender does an excellent job of correlating the different entities that comprise threat analysis, analytics data, and log analytics. It helps to piece together investigations into any exploit or malicious activity within a specific tenant. AI and analytics tools are probably the most valuable components."
"Defender has very little impact on the end-user and the agent works quite well with a minimal impact on the client and server."
"Real-time detection and cloud-based delivery of detections are highly efficient."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comes pre-installed in Microsoft Windows."
"Defender is stable, I haven't had any problems with viruses when using it, and it's easy to update."
"The most valuable aspect is information, specifically the automatic investigation of packages."
"The patch updates and version updates are very good. Those happen on an automated basis whenever I'm connecting to the organization network, either through LAN or through the VPN."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's WCS function, a content filtering solution, has proven to be the most useful, stable, and reliable option for our current needs."
"When they started they found it very easy; not easy to implement but easy to use. We started with the headquarters here and later we also implemented it for all the subsidiaries in the region, in other countries. They have a centralized solution, so they can help other countries in management."
"ATP is really impressive, and with EDR, it is the best solution I have ever known."
"With a single console, you get control over Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android. This control is most valuable."
"The initial setup is very simple and straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of Symantec Endpoint Security is the protection of our systems."
"Some of the features that were important were a built-in firewall and device control."
"Threat protection has always worked well."
"It just works. We have a console, and I can see it at a glance. I don't have any problems with it at all."
 

Cons

"Reporting is an area with shortcomings in CylancePROTECT that needs to be improved."
"The high price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required. The product's price should be more competitive."
"The company that sells us the licenses sometimes doesn't know how to do certain things."
"Enhancing the product's detection rates and streamlining the user interface for easier management in daily operations would be beneficial improvements."
"Additionally, their channel management has been lacking, with a notable disregard for small and medium-sized businesses, focusing primarily on large enterprises and very large MSPs."
"An area for improvement in CylancePROTECT is its pricing, as it's a bit costly."
"It's a good solution but some features just need to be updated."
"The solution’s technical support could be improved."
"Right now, there's a portal for Azure, portals for Microsoft Office, and portals for endpoints. It would be good to have only one portal and integrate everything."
"Microsoft should improve support for third-party platforms, because not all functionality is available for all of them. It's a good product, but they should just extend the functionality for all platforms."
"The integration and effectiveness of email security could be better. It's already built-in to the solution and checks emails, scans the links they contain etc."
"It is not very scalable from the eyes of an MSP because there is no dashboard that you can use to see all of your devices that have Windows Defender unless you have your own dashboard or an RMM tool to actually look at it. So, you might not get to know that a particular computer of a client is doing something, and it might have got a virus. That person might know that, but unless you set it up to actually send you the information, you won't get to know that. That's one of the things that is hard with Microsoft Defender. It is not made for the MSP world where you have one pane of glass to see all of your clients with Microsoft Defender on it unless your RMM tool already has that built-in and it can see the telemetry from Microsoft Defender."
"There's a lot of manual effort involved to configure what we need."
"There is a lot of information to take in, and the portals tend to change quickly due to the fast-paced nature of the industry."
"The log searches for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint are pretty difficult to navigate. It needs a better UI or more intuitive search and filter mechanisms to make it easy to get through and filter through all the data logs."
"The dashboard customization could be improved."
"Is not a full anti-ransomware solution."
"Users mostly complain that the solution slows down the system whenever something is scanned."
"The solution could improve by having a better graphical interface."
"The spam filter is something that you can't control, and you can't set the filter to intercept different types of emails."
"Its interface needs improvement. Its interface is very old, and it needs a new look. Other solutions, such as Sophos and BitDefender, have a better and more modern interface, whereas Symantec has had the same interface for a while. There has been no enhancement in the interface. They should update and provide a better interface in 2022 for a better user experience for their customers."
"The biggest thing I would like to see is malware remediation, if there is some kind of outbreak. We'd like to see better remediation and better detection and response. It's pretty good at capturing things, but it doesn't stop everything, so better machine learning would be helpful."
"The stability was not the best. There were times when antivirus updates broke it. It wasn't necessarily self-updating - at least, not in terms of the virus signatures. It updated in terms of the executable files. Therefore, when Windows updates would come out, they often couldn't be installed, or the computer would hang due to the fact that the updates weren't compatible with the antivirus."
"The Centralized Management could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The price is reasonable for us at the moment. I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten."
"The tool is not that expensive."
"I think that the price we are paying is good for what it is."
"CylancePROTECT's pricing is reasonable, at about €18 per user, per year."
"It is expensive, but not unreasonable."
"The license price for this solution could be better. It's on the expensive side."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is included with a Microsoft E5 license."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comes with Windows 10, and it's free. But for you to be able to manage it in the cloud and use the console, you need to have either an Office 365 E5 subscription or a Microsoft M365 subscription. You need to buy an extra license."
"It is within the same range as other products. It is not too expensive, and it is also not cheap. Its price can be better, but, well, it is Microsoft."
"You need a license to use this solution."
"We are required to pay for the data we ingest, and increasing the data amount incurs additional expenses."
"The license cost is around $35 per machine, which is not expensive compared to other products."
"Compared to ESET, the pricing for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is on the higher side."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is cost-effective because there's one unified license, and with this unified license, you get the capabilities for your cloud applications, servers, and endpoints as well. Therefore, it saves us a lot of money because the cost with other solutions is for just one piece of OS or maybe an urban environment. The licensing process is not complex as well."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Symantec is expensive."
"The problem is Symantec is more expensive than other vendors."
"This is not the cheapest product and I know others that are most cost-effective, although it is difficult to compare because it depends on the features."
"The price of the product is competitive if compared to its competitors in the market."
"It is the better product, even if it is a little on the higher side."
"I’d say SEP deserves the money."
"It's pretty awesome price-wise. That's why we give it to most of our clients. It isn't very expensive. Compared to Cisco AMP, which is very expensive, its price is okay. It's also cheaper than Malwarebytes."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
25%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 necessa...
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.
What needs improvement with Blackberry Protect?
I face challenges with the exclusion policy - it still scans folders we told it not to, causing issues. When we conta...
How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface,...
Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?
We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior sol...
How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?
The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never pu...
Which is better - Cortex XDR or Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Aqua Security is easy to use and very manageable. Its main focus is on Kubernetes and Docker. Security is a very valu...
What do you like most about Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Symantec have everything – documentation, videos, data sheets.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Symantec Endpoint Security's pricing is better than most offerings based on my research. It seems to be half the cost...
 

Also Known As

Blackberry Protect
Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Symantec EPP, Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP)
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Panasonic, Noble Energy, Apria Healthcare Group Inc., Charles River Laboratories, Rovi Corporation, Toyota, Kiewit
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Audio Visual Dynamics, Red Deer Advocate, Asia Pacific Telecom Co. Ltd., Kibbutz Ein Gedi, and AMETEK, Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne and others in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP). Updated: April 2025.
850,076 professionals have used our research since 2012.