Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Symantec Advanced Threat Protection comparison

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Symantec Advanced Threat Protection

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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

Microsoft Defender for Iden...

Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

8th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (5th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (3rd)

Symantec Advanced Threat Pr...

Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

22nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Identity is 3.6%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Advanced Threat Protection is 2.2%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Identity	3.6%
Symantec Advanced Threat Protection	2.2%
Other	94.2%

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

Featured Reviews

Oluwa Adetunji

CyberSecurity Engineer | Information Security Management at Self Employed

Automation and threat intelligence streamline threat response and user management

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 years ago. They have also integrated Azure Information Protection where policies can be configured. The Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) allows users to reset their passwords, which is a valuable tool for remote workers. They have added more features into conditional access that integrate with other components, including SSPR and Identity Information Protection, trusted IPs, and locations. These configurations in trusted IP addresses are integrated into conditional access and control the applications I want to secure. Regarding impossible travel scenarios, I can either block the user or grant access while requesting multi-factor authentication. They should improve the automation for impossible travel detection. When connected to Wi-Fi and then to VPN, the system sometimes interprets the IP address change as impossible travel. If Microsoft could develop a feature that indicates when impossible travel is caused by VPN connections, it would prevent unnecessary password resets and session disruptions, especially for VIP users in organizations.

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TapabrataSamanta

Lead Architect at Zones

Reliable platform with effective integration capabilities

Our primary use case for the product is to provide advanced threat protection to our clients, primarily in the banking and financial sectors Symantec ATP has been beneficial in ensuring robust security for our clients. Its effectiveness in detecting and mitigating threats has improved customer…

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

"It gives you a holistic view of everything happening in your organization, and you can use it to do a lot of monitoring."

"The feature I like the most about Defender for Identity is the entity tags. They give you the ability to identify sensitive accounts, devices, and groups. You also have honeytoken entities, which are devices that are identified as "bait" for fraudulent actors."

"Microsoft Defender for Identity helps me automate routine tasks and find alerts that I set up to receive, so it helps me get where I'm trying to go easier and faster."

"I recommend Microsoft Defender for Identity because it is easy to implement."

"It is easy to set up. Based on the number of devices you would like to set up, you can use scripts, Group Policy, etc. It takes five minutes to set up."

"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."

"All the integration it has with different Microsoft packages, like Teams and Office, is good."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Defender for Identity are the simulations; whenever something happens, it provides complete step-by-step process details, including the hierarchy, how it happens in the environment, and the lateral movement, which is amazing."

More Microsoft Defender for Identity pros

"It has certainly helped out our audit efforts because we each stay compliant in terms of various security standards."

"Currently we have 800-plus nodes connected with this solution, without any issues."

"The great advantage in using this product is it creates multiple services."

"Currently we have 800-plus nodes connected with this solution, without any issues. The solution is scalable."

"You don't have to buy a separate email security platform. You can enable that using their endpoint, and I like that. You don't have to have two agents running on the same box."

"The technical support services are excellent."

"The product integrates well with our systems, and we have not encountered any problems."

"All of the solution's features are quite valuable for us. We especially like the threat protection it provides."

More Symantec Advanced Threat Protection pros

Cons

"The technical support needs significant improvement. Documentation for more minor issues in the form of guides or walkthroughs could help to resolve this issue. The number of tickets raised would decrease, removing some pressure from the support team and making it easier to clear the remaining tickets."

"There is no option to remedy an issue directly from the console. If we see an alert, we can't fix it from the console. Instead, we must depend on other Microsoft products, such as MDE. That is a significant drawback. It simply works as a scanner, which can sometimes put enough load on the sensors. Immediate actions should be possible from the dashboard because. It can prevent issues from spreading further."

"When the data leaves the cloud, there are security issues."

"The solution could be better at using group-managed access and they could replace it with broad-based access controls."

"I would like to be able to do remediation from the platform because it is just a scanner right now. If you onboard a device, it shows you what is happening, but you can't use it to fix things. You need to go into the system to fix it instead."

"They should improve the automation for impossible travel detection. When connected to Wi-Fi and then to VPN, the system sometimes interprets the IP address change as impossible travel."

"Microsoft should look at what competing vendors like CrowdStrike and Broadcom are doing and incorporate those features into Sentinel and Defender. At the same time, I think the intelligence inside the product is improving fast. They should incorporate more zero-trust and hybrid trust approaches. They need to build up threat intelligence based on threats and methods used in attacks on other companies."

"One potential area for improvement could be exploring flexibility in the installation of Microsoft Defender for Identity agents."

More Microsoft Defender for Identity cons

"The cloud platform needs to have improvement in terms of the user interface and the different capabilities it has available. It needs to match the other leading next-gen EDR products that are available in the market. That's the reason why we are stepping away from Symantec. Their cloud environment is just generally lacking in comparison to others."

"There are some ‎features that would add value to this product. One of them would be a graphical presentation of threats that the system has encountered."

"Scalability could be better."

"Not ideal for advanced threat protection."

"The support for new OSs and older OSs could be a little tighter. They need to be more upfront about what protection services they're going to provide on new OSs. I haven't seen the Windows 11 version out yet. It is either already released in Beta, or the Beta will be released soon. There could be a little bit more advanced updates on what they're doing to help protect Windows 11 environments. They can let us know in advance so that we know it is going to be protected. We can't roll out the new OS without putting end-point protection on it. So, they should tell us what is their support model for that, and what are they doing to protect Windows 11. They're not telling me, and that's a criticism. The same issue is applicable to all the other antivirus tools. It is not just Symantec; all of them have this problem."

"The administration interface needs a lot of improvement. It should be UI based, and simple. They need to improve it. It's pretty much not that friendly compared to what we were using as Bitdefender before. It's okay but is improving, actually."

"The support has dropped down to a five out of ten."

"Solutions like CrowdStrike, ESET, and SentinelOne have really jumped ahead on behavioral and algorithm-based detection capabilities. Symantec is trying to catch up, but they still have some limitations of being an old-school AV protection program and adding AI and behavioral learning and detection algorithm."

More Symantec Advanced Threat Protection cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Defender for Identity is a little more expensive than other Microsoft products. Identity and Microsoft Defender for Cloud are both a bit costly."

"It is very affordable considering that other SIEM solutions are much more expensive and have many more licensing restrictions and fees."

"Microsoft Defender for Identity comes as part of the Microsoft E5 licensing stack."

"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."

"Symantec Endpoint Protection has an average price."

"Symantec Advanced Threat Protection's pricing is comparable."

"Pricing is good. It is nice to have a great product at a fair price."

"The pricing of this solution is inexpensive and affordable."

"The price is quite expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Marketing Services Firm

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	15

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	13

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?

I really would have to sit down to think about how Microsoft Defender for Identity can be improved. I didn't take stock in what needs to be improved because I appreciated having the tools right the...

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?

My main use cases for Microsoft Defender for Identity include Conditional Access, checking risky users, remediating risky users, and user sign-ins. I can easily remediate or determine what the user...

What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Defender for Identity?

I don't really use Microsoft Defender for Identity a lot because my new role doesn't allow me to take time to do so. I don't really use the threat intelligence feature of Microsoft Defender for Ide...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Advanced Threat Protection?

The price is quite expensive because a different entity has taken over the company.

What needs improvement with Symantec Advanced Threat Protection?

One area for improvement could be the pricing model. Future releases could further enhance integration capabilities with other platforms and simplify the licensing model to compete more with Micros...

What is your primary use case for Symantec Advanced Threat Protection?

Our primary use case for the product is to provide advanced threat protection to our clients, primarily in the banking and financial sectors.

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Comparisons

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Compared 4% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Identity vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Identity

Download Microsoft Defender for Identity product report

Symantec Advanced Threat Protection

Download Symantec Advanced Threat Protection product report

Symantec Advanced Threat Protection report

Also Known As

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

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Identity offers real-time threat detection and protection for hybrid Active Directory environments. It integrates with Microsoft 365 components for seamless security and monitors advanced behaviors, enhancing identity protection across cloud and on-premises environments.

Microsoft Defender for Identity provides detailed threat insights and user behavior analytics to detect unauthorized access and notify anomalies. It allows setting custom detection rules, enhancing threat response automation. While it needs improvements in cloud security, SIEM integration, and access controls, users leverage its ability to mitigate identity threats like suspicious logins and ransomware. Enhanced integration with Microsoft security products ensures a coordinated threat response for identity control and privilege management.

What are the key features of Microsoft Defender for Identity?

Active Directory Federation: Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365 for comprehensive security.
Real-time Security Monitoring: Provides immediate insights into advanced user behaviors and potential threats.
Threat Insights: Delivers detailed analysis of threats with the ability to customize detection rules.
User Behavior Analytics: Analyzes user activities to detect anomalies and potential risks.
Identity Protection: Offers comprehensive protection in both cloud and on-premises environments.

What benefits should users expect from reviews of Microsoft Defender for Identity?

Unauthorized Access Prevention: Identifies potential unauthorized activities with advanced detection mechanisms.
Anomaly Notification: Alerts users to unexpected activities within their environments.
Threat Response Automation: Facilitates rapid response to threats with automated solutions.
Enhanced Cloud Security: Strengthens identity management across hybrid and cloud frameworks.

In specific industries, organizations implement Microsoft Defender for Identity to secure on-premises and hybrid Active Directory environments through user and entity behavior analytics, malicious activity detection, and integration with Microsoft security tools. This approach enhances security posture assessment and helps mitigate identity threats like identity harvesting and unauthorized access.

Microsoft

Symantec Advanced Threat Protection provides comprehensive security measures, offering real-time threat analysis and endpoint protection to defend against both traditional and emerging threats, ensuring a secure and resilient online environment.

Symantec Advanced Threat Protection integrates seamlessly with existing IT infrastructures to enhance email security, incident management, and network monitoring. With advanced detection capabilities including Zero-Day protection, its stable performance and straightforward setup are appealing. The system also streamlines application control and integrates effectively with SIEM products. Despite requiring enhancements in graphical threat visualization, network-based threat protection, and support for platforms like Windows 11, it remains a robust choice for comprehensive protection against cyber threats.

What features does Symantec Advanced Threat Protection offer?

Real-time Threat Analysis: Instantly detects and analyzes threats as they emerge.
Click-time URL Protection: Prevents malicious URL clicks.
Endpoint Security: Provides robust defense for endpoints.
NetFlow Threat Protection: Analyzes network traffic for threat detection.
Zero-Day Protection: Protects against unknown vulnerabilities.
SIEM Integration: Seamlessly works with SIEM products for enhanced monitoring.

What benefits or ROI should users expect?

Enhanced Security: Protects against both traditional and emerging threats.
Simple Deployment: Easy setup and stable performance simplify integration.
Comprehensive Documentation: Offers in-depth guidance and data analysis.
Email and Network Protection: Strengthens defenses on critical fronts.
Multi-Platform Support: Effective for cloud and hybrid deployments.

In financial sectors, Symantec Advanced Threat Protection is widely used to shield endpoint devices and secure email communications. Its capabilities are crucial for safeguarding workstations and servers, providing antivirus, malware, and network threat protection to ensure client data in banking and finance remains safe from advanced threats.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.

ECI

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Symantec Advanced Threat Protection