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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pros and cons

Vendor: Microsoft
4.2 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 provides comprehensive email protection, including features like anti-phishing, anti-malware, safe links, and safe attachments.
The integration and ease of use of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 streamline operations, allowing for efficient management with a single console and reducing the need to switch between multiple services.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 enhances threat visibility and management, including real-time detection and risk level notifications, which help prioritize organizational threats effectively.
The cloud-based nature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 ensures scalability, resource efficiency, and smooth integration with existing business technologies, offering enhanced flexibility and ease of operation.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 facilitates the protection of sensitive information and supports secure remote working by integrating seamlessly with other Microsoft products like OneDrive and SharePoint.

CONS

Licensing and cost issues are prevalent, as separate licenses are needed, and the pricing model frequently changes, causing confusion.
There are integration challenges across multiple operating systems, non-Microsoft file types, and with other solutions like PowerPoint and email.
Phishing and spam filters could use improvement, as they sometimes allow phishing emails through and generate false positives.
The configuration process is cumbersome, requiring access to multiple tabs and lacking centralized management, causing inefficiency.
Customers often encounter technical support difficulties, as it is not easily reachable and lacks depth in handling configurations and troubleshooting.
 

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Pros review quotes

RZ
May 24, 2024
One of the best features of the tool is its capability to aggregate insights from different workloads, basically from the Office 365 and endpoints part.
Tolu Omolaja - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 1, 2023
The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning.
reviewer1501215 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 13, 2021
Some of the valuable features on the email side are anti-phishing, anti-malware, and Safe Links.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Defender for Office 365. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 2, 2022
Microsoft Defender has a feature to protect each and every attachment. Even if it's an encrypted attachment, it will check for any potential threats.
Jamie LeClair - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 28, 2023
The product's scalability is good.
TL
Nov 11, 2022
It also gives me good visibility because, with Defender, I'm using a Microsoft product to defend Microsoft products. The integration was really seamless and I have wide visibility because it picks up almost everything. Literally, I can see almost every activity that happens, from the e-mail to the workstation itself.
Luis-Brown - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 8, 2023
There are several features that I consider valuable.
HariOmKanth MS - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 14, 2022
The email protection is excellent, especially in terms of anti-phishing policies.
AR
May 28, 2024
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is data backups that we can provide through ticket requests.
Vinutha Madi - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 26, 2023
Defender enables us to secure all 365-related activity from a single place. It gives us visibility into everything happening in Outlook, protecting us against phishing and other email-based threats. Defender helps us detect any suspicious behaviors.
 

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Cons review quotes

RZ
May 24, 2024
Configuring the default strategies and policies in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps generates a lot of noise and false positives.
Tolu Omolaja - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 1, 2023
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 should be more proactive.
reviewer1501215 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 13, 2021
There needs to be an improvement in integrating the product to work across multiple operating systems, and to have better support for non-Microsoft file types.
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Defender for Office 365. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 2, 2022
Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features.
Jamie LeClair - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 28, 2023
Microsoft wants its well-paying customers to finish testing some of its half-baked products, find bugs, and report bugs back to Microsoft's team, which is a little frustrating for those who have to manage it and roll it up to thousands of people across the organization.
TL
Nov 11, 2022
One area for improvement is support, in terms of being able to reach them and, especially, technical support for configuration.
Luis-Brown - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 8, 2023
The phishing and spam filters could use some improvement.
HariOmKanth MS - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 14, 2022
Several simulation options are available within 365, and the phishing simulation could be better.
AR
May 28, 2024
Microsoft Defender for Office 365's Mac functionality requires improvement to deliver the same level of protection found on Windows devices.
Vinutha Madi - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 26, 2023
Microsoft sometimes has downtime, and we'll get several incidents coming in back to back. We have a huge backlog of notifications, many of which may be false positives. However, there might be serious alerts, so we can't risk dismissing all of them at once.