Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB comparison

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs. Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Download the complete report

Helped 893,915 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

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) category, the mindshare of iboss is 4.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is 5.6%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec CloudSOC CASB is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps	5.6%
iboss	4.0%
Symantec CloudSOC CASB	1.0%
Other	89.4%

Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula

Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.

Read full review

Frank Van Der Spek

Security and Continuity Manager at Rolinco NV

Deployment has been seamless with insightful data categorization and enhanced control

The features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps that I have found most valuable include the overall portal view, with bubble graphs which give us insight into what goes where in the categorization, nowadays with Generative AI but all kinds of categorization, collaboration, etc. That central view of the portal is very useful for us. The impact of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps on our organization's ability to assess and manage app related risks has been significant because we have more visibility. Therefore, we can add more control, and we have already done so. This was not possible in the old solution, in the old CASB solution with Netskope. We now can see on the spot, and we do that almost weekly, what the end users are utilizing, which cloud providers or cloud apps they're using. The visibility into OAuth apps provided by Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is very good. The visibility into risk and risk management of our organization's Generative AI apps is very nice, as you can choose the category Generative AI and then see exactly what traffic has been going to and from Generative AI in the cloud. This makes us very insightful on what is used within the company. We have some policies on blocking specific Generative AI, and we use within our company one particular AI part, which is CoPilot of Microsoft. In this way, we can see what the end users are using other than CoPilot, and that makes us more in control. The effectiveness of the integration of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps with Defender XDR and defending against SaaS attacks is very intuitive. It works immediately if we create a new policy or in Purview or in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, or when we make an app unsanctioned by blocking it, then it is almost immediately, or at least within a couple of hours, effective on all the endpoints where the EDR is running. This gives us much better control over things than before.

Read full review

cto543714

CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Works very well in a hybrid environment in terms of DLP policies, but trying to do your own troubleshooting can be a little bit difficult

It does scale. They have different data centers spread out for you to do things. It scales just fine, but it is the setup and configuration that you have to do in order for it to scale the way you want it to. I know that some of the newer technologies, such as Zscaler, are doing SD-LAN type connections and things of that sort to improve performance and scalability. So, things are still evolving in terms of scalability. Depending on how you deployed it, you can run into some performance gotchas. If you take a VPN connection and try to overtax it, you can run into problems. You can't say that it didn't scale. You have to use a different method to get the traffic, or you may have to set up two VPN tunnels or things of that sort. So, if you want it to scale, you have to think it through and make sure you are deploying it in a manner to scale. It can scale, but you have to plan it and make sure you think everything through.

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

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device."

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

"iboss is pretty scalable. They provide good support. The case managers you work with to coordinate what you need are pretty good."

"The iboss system is highly reliable. The false positive rates are small compared to some other systems we've experienced through other partner agencies who use competing solutions."

"The console is cloud-based, which is something I really appreciate."

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device. It operates on the network side and is not device-based. This feature was one of the main reasons why we stayed with them for so long."

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

More iboss pros

"Microsoft Cloud App Security brings them together onto the same platform from a security standpoint, and the application can run seamlessly across different clouds, which helps."

"It's very easy to install and it includes the Intune portal from Microsoft where I can control all the devices from one place."

"The impact of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps on our organization's ability to assess and manage app related risks has been significant because we have more visibility."

"Threat detection is its key feature, and that's why we use this tool. It gives an alert if a PC is attacked or there is any kind of anomaly, such as there is a spike in sending emails or we see an unauthorized website being accessed. So, it keeps us on our toes. We get to know that there is something wrong, and we can isolate the user and find any issues with it. So, threat detection is very robust in this tool."

"The ability to prevent users from using certain applications is one of the most valuable features."

"Defender for Cloud Apps has given us good visibility regarding what we've allowed into our environment until now."

"The most valuable feature is the seamless integration across different clouds."

"From what I've seen, it's a good product."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps pros

"One of the most valuable features of Symantec CloudSOC CASB is its detection functionality. It uses the same base as Data Loss Prevention, allowing for close integration between on-premises DLP and the Symantec CloudSOC CASB. This integration lets you manage policies and incidents across both platforms."

"The stability of the solution is very good; it's one of the most stable products on the market."

"This solution has improved my organization because it allows us to have visibility and monitoring over our global workforce connectivity to Office 365 and for Service Now."

"The monitoring and threat protection were the solution's most valuable features."

"The stability of the solution is great, and it's one of the most stable products on the market."

"The value in some of these solutions is just the integration of technologies with their on-prem DLP solution, so you can tie on-prem and cloud DLP policies together and apply on-prem policies to the cloud to have consistent policies in a hybrid environment, which works very well in that hybrid environment of on-prem and cloud."

"The active directory integration is very valuable as we can connect to the list of users that we have and the cloud control, the blocking, the access control of the cloud, can be handled by this product."

"The value in some of these solutions is just the integration of technologies with their on-prem DLP solution. So, you can tie on-prem and cloud DLP policies together. You can apply on-prem policies to the cloud to have consistent policies in a hybrid environment. So, it works very well in that hybrid environment of on-prem and cloud."

More Symantec CloudSOC CASB pros

Cons

"The area I would like to see improvement in is the ability within the reporter to navigate directly to the content the user is traversing."

"If they could implement an extra security layer preventing access to iboss from the open internet, it would be great."

"Sometimes, obviously, there are bugs."

"The dashboards for local use could be better."

"To scale up, a new iboss Node Blade Chassis must be purchased."

"I am currently doing a PoC of the zero trust aspect of it. Compared to other similar solutions, it is hard to get around each feature. It takes a while to get used to it."

"Regarding pricing, setup costs, and licensing, iboss is not cheap, and that's my only concern."

"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."

More iboss cons

"MCAS doesn't have many reporting capabilities, and it's really an operational nightmare to get all these things done at this point in time by using MCAS."

"The response time could be better. It will be helpful if the alerts are even more proactive and we can see more data. Currently, the data is a little bit weak. It is not complete. I can't just see it and completely know which user or which device it is. It takes some effort and time on my part to investigate and isolate a user. It would be great if it is more user-friendly or easy for people to understand."

"The areas of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps that need improvement are related to IAM, as they do not provide much support for local users."

"Since implementing this solution, we have had more support calls regarding false positives."

"The interface needs to be more user-friendly."

"However, the price of the solution could be better."

"There have been instances where the alerts generated have been false positives."

"There are some features, such as user navigation content filtering, that are disabled by default, and it probably makes sense to enable them by default."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps cons

"They have some room for improvement in terms of being able to do troubleshooting. If you're trying to troubleshoot it, you have to work a lot with their backend people in order to get to a solution. So, trying to do your own troubleshooting can be a little bit difficult."

"The data security needs improvement. We should be able to leverage it a bit better for situations where someone may be trying to upload documents onto the cloud application."

"The data security needs improvement."

"It's a niche product. Not many people use it, and therefore there isn't as much of a knowledge base surrounding it."

"The solution needs to focus on data security."

"I would like to see them develop the ability to integrate it with a central management system."

"The solution should work to incorporate some machine learning policies like IDM and VML."

More Symantec CloudSOC CASB cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"It is a little bit expensive. When you want to have the complete package with Office 365, Defender, and everything else, it is expensive."

"The pricing is in the middle. It isn't too cheap or expensive compared to other antivirus or security products. It is priced according to industry standards."

"It has fair pricing. You pay for what you get. As far as I know, there are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fee."

"The product's pricing seems fair."

"The E5 license offers everything bundled. People are moving to Microsoft because you buy one license and it gives you everything."

"We are an MST and we do not pay for the solution. However, the price of the solution could be better."

"We have an educational licensing agreement. It's a customer agreement for multiple years."

"The pricing is fair."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps pricing and cost advice

"It compares well with the competition because they're all priced on a per-user basis. I've seen the rest of them. There is definitely a huge price difference between them."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

893,915 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	19

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent ...

What is your primary use case for iboss?

We used iBoss mainly for Internet Access by having an Agent on Windows laptops Primarily because when we try to use i...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

I am not involved in pricing, but as per the information I have, during that time, the Blue Coat proxies we were usin...

Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Microsoft Cloud App Security?

Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-nat...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Cloud App Security?

At the time of implementation, when the size of our organization was small, it was a more affordable product. Since a...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Cloud App Security?

The fidelity of the signal in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps has been a challenge in some areas. There have been i...

What needs improvement with Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

After integrating the Gatelet with a live environment, users experienced connectivity issues because they were not im...

What is your primary use case for Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

The solution helps detect and control data in the cloud, focusing on Shadow IT and Shadow Data. The audit module help...

What advice do you have for others considering Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

I rate the overall product a six out of ten.

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Comparisons

Compared 9% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs iboss

Compared 8% of the time

FortiSASE vs iboss

Compared 7% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Cisco Umbrella vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 9% of the time

Netskope vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 8% of the time

Zscaler Internet Access vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 8% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 5% of the time

Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365 vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Competitors

Netskope vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 20% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 13% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 12% of the time

Forcepoint CASB vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 8% of the time

Forcepoint ONE vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 8% of the time

More Symantec CloudSOC CASB Competitors

Product Reports

Download iboss product report

iboss

May 2026

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Download Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps product report

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps report

Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Download Symantec CloudSOC CASB product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

MS Cloud App Security, Microsoft Cloud App Security

CloudSOC, Symantec CloudSOC

Overview

Iboss offers a comprehensive cloud-based security platform valued for its scalability and autonomous features, ensuring robust security with easy deployment and management capabilities.

Renowned for its robust security architecture, Iboss integrates seamlessly within diverse networks, delivering efficient granular filtering and advanced content categorization. Its single pane of glass console provides ease of management, allowing rapid scalability suitable for rapidly deploying environments. Operates in BYOD setups due to inline filtering without device installation. Integration with cloud-based applications enhances user control, and features like SASE, SSL inspection, and ChatGPT risk protection stand as highlights. Despite its strengths, users have pointed out areas for enhancement like direct navigation in reports, SSL decryption, and better cloud integration while having room to improve data loss prevention.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

Scalability: Supports rapid deployment across diverse networks.
SASE: A consolidated approach to secure access.
SSL Inspection: Ensures safe data transmission.
Granular Filtering: Detailed control over accessible content.
Single Pane Management: Unifies control through a centralized console.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Offers competitive pricing with robust features.
Autonomous Operation: Reduces management overhead.
Responsive Support: Provides assistance when needed.
Flexible Deployment: Available for both cloud and on-premises environments.

The usage of Iboss spans educational institutions, specifically K-12, to enforce internet policies, protect data, and support remote work environments. It provides web filtering and security frameworks to ensure safe browsing. Its platform-as-a-service model offers flexibility for both cloud-based and on-premises requirements, integrating seamlessly to deliver enhanced security features suitable for various deployment needs including zero trust, CASB, and network security for work-from-home setups.

iboss

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is a robust tool for shadow IT detection, cloud integration, and threat detection, enhancing security management with capabilities in auditing and data protection.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps strengthens cloud security by providing comprehensive insights into user activities, seamlessly integrating with Microsoft security products and platforms like SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive. Its investigative capabilities enhance threat detection, while real-time alerts and policy applications improve security posture. Organizations benefit from its monitoring, auditing, and privileged identity management features that contribute to enhanced security management and data protection.

What are the key features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps?

Shadow IT Discovery: Identifies and manages unsanctioned applications across cloud environments.
Cloud Integration: Seamlessly connects with Microsoft security products and platforms.
Threat Detection: Offers powerful tools for identifying and mitigating threats in real-time.
Policy Application: Facilitates enforcement of policies across SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive.
User Activity Visibility: Provides detailed insights into user behavior and actions.

What benefits and ROI should organizations consider?

Enhanced Security Posture: Increases the effectiveness of overall security management.
Real-Time Alerts: Offers immediate notifications to improve response times to threats.
Compliance Support: Aids in maintaining compliance through integrated monitoring and governance.
Data Protection: Protects sensitive corporate data through detailed auditing and monitoring.
Integration with Azure: Enhances threat detection through cohesive integration with Azure services.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps implementation varies across industries, crucial for sectors needing stringent data protection and compliance, like finance and healthcare. Firms use it to monitor user activity, enforce data loss prevention policies, and ensure security across multi-cloud environments while integrating with Azure services for comprehensive threat management. These implementations are particularly beneficial in improving compliance efforts and protecting sensitive data.

Microsoft

Symantec CloudSOC CASB is a cloud security platform that delivers robust monitoring and threat detection capabilities. It integrates seamlessly with on-premises DLP for consistent policy application across hybrid environments, providing effective management of cloud-based resources and ensuring security compliance.

Designed for enterprises transitioning to cloud environments, Symantec CloudSOC CASB offers powerful tools for monitoring and controlling sensitive data. It effectively integrates with active directory for streamlined user management, enabling secure access control. Enterprises leverage its capabilities to block unauthorized activities and protect sensitive information as they adapt to cloud services, benefiting from reliable logging and hybrid policy management. While scalability and integration with existing systems are strong suits, there's potential for enhanced data security, endpoint solution integration, and improved Azure AD connectivity.

What are the key features of Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

Monitoring and Threat Detection: Provides continuous oversight and threat identification.
Seamless DLP Integration: Ensures hybrid policy application across environments.
Active Directory Integration: Simplifies user management and access control.
Logging and Access Control: Offers reliable logging and blocks unauthorized storage access.
Hybrid Environment Support: Facilitates management of cloud and on-premises policies.

What benefits can users expect from adopting Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

Enhanced Security: Improves protection of sensitive data in cloud transitions.
Efficient Access Management: Streamlined user control with directory integration.
Scalable Solution: Adaptable to growing organizational needs.
Policy Consistency: Ensures unified policy application across platforms.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Helps identify and mitigate threats effectively.

Organizations in industries such as finance, healthcare, and technology implement Symantec CloudSOC CASB to manage cloud migrations securely. They utilize its modules like Securelet and Gatelet to prevent data leakage, control shadow IT, and regulate access to cloud collaboration tools like Office 365. By establishing keyword-based policies, they monitor uploads, effectively addressing shadow data concerns and reinforcing data security during cloud adoption.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

Customers for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps include Accenture, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and Nakilat.

Globe Telecom

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs. Symantec CloudSOC CASB