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Fortinet FortiSandbox vs Microsoft Defender for Identity comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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

Fortinet FortiSandbox
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Threat Deception Platforms (7th)
Microsoft Defender for Iden...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (5th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSandbox is 10.0%, up from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Identity is 7.1%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

Abdelhamid Saber - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced network security with adaptable integration and really good support
We use FortiSandbox for scanning files and images that pass through our networks. It integrates with different devices, such as five adapters and other Fortinet devices It is time-saving and more secure. It saves us from a lot of antivirus and anti-malware issues. The adapter is beneficial as it…
ROBERT-CHRISTIAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration within the ecosystem enhances collaboration and automates functionalities
The integration into the Microsoft Defender ecosystem is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Identity. It fits very nicely with all the other Defender tools, allowing for excellent collaboration among them. It also fits seamlessly into Microsoft Sentinel SIEM. Furthermore, Microsoft security solutions can save time as they allow the automation of numerous functionalities, and the reporting inside the Microsoft ecosystem is commendable.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable solution."
"The solution has the highest stability...The solution's setup is not complex as they are already included in Fortinet."
"The real-time analysis capability of FortiSandbox is beneficial for email analysis."
"It is an easily scalable solution."
"The product is great. It can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises."
"Fortinet FortiSandbox's most valuable feature is the security it provides against threats, such as ransomware. Additionally, it integrates well with APIs."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiSandbox are the analysis options, artificial intelligence, and the many interfaces it provides."
"Fortinet FortiSandbox puts suspicious files in quarantine, analyzes for virus risks, and lets them out of quarantine if it detects no risk."
"The feature I like most is that you can create your own customized detection rules. It has a lot of default alerts and rules, but you can customize them according to your business needs."
"Defender for Identity has not affected the end-user experience."
"The solution offers excellent visibility into threats."
"One of our users had the same password for every personal and company account. That was a problem because she started receiving phishing emails that could compromise all of her accounts. Defender told us that the user was not changing their password."
"Microsoft Defender for Identity provides excellent visibility into threats by leveraging real-time analytics and data intelligence."
"This solution has advanced a lot over the last few years."
"Auto-remediation is a valuable feature applied to Microsoft Defender for Identity, reducing the burden of investigating false positives."
"The advanced threat protection is one of the strengths of Microsoft Defender for Identity, as it utilizes user and entity analytics and can detect indicative attacks."
 

Cons

"If you were to compare prices between vendors and manufacturers, you would see that the lowest equipment in the Sandbox line is quite expensive for a new customer."
"Most people are confused about how to use the right integration of the right Fortinet product."
"At least once a week we have a false alarm. This needs to be adjusted so that we get fewer of these occurrences."
"It should be easier to import custom virtual machines. Some of the VMs that are in FortiSandbox don't have the applications that we have in our environment. We need to import a VM with specific applications that we use in our environment. Have all the licenses because this is a real environment. You need a license for the Windows client you run on it. It's possible to import custom VMs, but it's a pain to do it. I would like a tool that simplifies the process."
"The use cases in Fortinet FortiSandbox are not good. It is difficult to upload a custom VM for Fortinet FortiSandbox. The integration of Fortinet FortiSandbox with other Fortinet or FortiGate firewalls is not good. VMs are already installed in the hardware and are working fine, but we tried to approve the custom VM many times but did not succeed."
"It would be better if it had support for Mac and Linux."
"The licensing can be very confusing. It needs to be simplified."
"The response time from technical support should be improved."
"When the data leaves the cloud, there are security issues."
"One area that needs improvement is the number of alerts generated, leading to alert fatigue."
"The documentation provided by Microsoft is often seen as a waste of time."
"We observe a lot of false positives. Sometimes, when we go for a coffee break, we lock our screens. Locking the screen has a separate Windows event ID and sometimes I see it is detected as a failed login."
"An area for improvement is the administrative interface. It's basic compared to other administrative centers. They could make it more user-friendly and easier to navigate."
"The solution could be better at using group-managed access and they could replace it with broad-based access controls."
"The solution should provide more detailed data regarding anomaly detections."
"One potential area for improvement could be exploring flexibility in the installation of Microsoft Defender for Identity agents."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is unavailable at a lower cost and can be difficult to deploy."
"I rate the product's pricing a five or six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high."
"The price of Fortinet FortiSandbox is not expensive."
"FortiSandbox is a subscription that can be purchased from Fortinet directly. Only using FortiSandbox as features purchased as a subscription in the cloud."
"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"The price is competitive."
"Fortinet is more reasonable than Palo Alto."
"We are on an annual license to use the solution. We have an additional feature that is integrated with S5, which is working well."
"The product is costly, and we had multiple discussions with accounting to receive a discounted rate. However, on the open market, the tool is expensive."
"It is very affordable considering that other SIEM solutions are much more expensive and have many more licensing restrictions and fees."
"You won't be able to change your tenants from where you deploy them. For example, if you select Canada, they will charge you based on Canadian pricing. If you are also in London, when you deploy in Canada, the pound is higher than Canadian dollars, but your platform resources are billable in Canadian dollars. Using your pounds to pay for any of these things will be cheaper. Or, if you deploy in London, they will charge you based on your local currency."
"Defender for Identity is a little more expensive than other Microsoft products. Identity and Microsoft Defender for Cloud are both a bit costly."
"Microsoft Defender for Identity comes as part of the Microsoft E5 licensing stack."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSandbox?
The real-time analysis capability of FortiSandbox is beneficial for email analysis.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSandbox?
I think it's affordable. For the six to seven months of usage, the cost has been reasonable.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSandbox?
We sometimes face a delay in email scanning due to not having multiple virtual machines. Improvements could be made in dynamic scanning, scanning all email components such as URLs and attachments, ...
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Identity?
Microsoft Defender for Identity provides excellent visibility into threats by leveraging real-time analytics and data intelligence.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?
In Microsoft Defender for Identity, I would appreciate improvements in providing information on conditional access. They have added more control that can be put in place, which was not present year...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?
The main use cases for Microsoft Defender for Identity involve working with security and signing risk aspects. I work with conditional access, though I have not implemented this task yet.
 

Also Known As

FortiSandbox
Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure ATP, MS Defender for Identity
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lush, Barnabas Health, Options, Riverside Healthcare, Hillsbourough County Schools, Columbia Public Schools, Schiller AG
Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSandbox vs. Microsoft Defender for Identity and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.