Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Reviews

I use Microsoft Defender for Office 365 on my personal computer, and it's easier here because I don't use the internet to visit inappropriate pages or download anything suspicious from rare sites.

I use Microsoft Defender for Office 365 only on-premises, not cloud, because for cloud services, I use my Gmail account.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 meets my security needs, as it helps me monitor how my computer is performing. Although I am a cybersecurity specialist and have other tools, I use Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to check my computer and those of my parents or friends.

I am using Microsoft Defender for Office 365, as well as Microsoft Process Explorer, but not much else yet because I work everything in virtual machines.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is always active on Windows; I didn't need to configure anything, and if there's something different or suspicious, it alerts me immediately. It's very easy to use. I know that it's a very simple defense, but I use my computer very carefully.

What I appreciate about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is that it's free and comes as an on-premise product by default, so no additional setup is required. It comes by default and gives the client a safety sensation, allowing people to be careful and more relaxed with their computer.

I have seen benefits from using Microsoft Defender for Office 365, as it gives users a relaxed feeling of being protected. I don't usually experience any alerts unless I am playing in Hack The Box and using a virtual machine.

The integration of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 with other Microsoft products enhances my security, as I don't have any problems with the whole Microsoft product suite.

I think that Microsoft Defender for Office 365 could be improved if it could use VirusTotal to compare the programs or anything that I download. VirusTotal helps to identify viruses, malware, trojans, and worms. For example, if I download software to edit videos, if it could scan it through VirusTotal before I execute the installation, it would tell me if the software has anything suspicious.

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for approximately two years.

I rate technical support from Microsoft a 10 because when I have a problem with my computer, they have always been very good.

At this moment, I'm not using any solutions because I was only making a market study of Proofpoint and Perception Point.

The threat investigation tools in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 don't influence my security response times too much because now I am not working with it, but I am very careful with my computer since I know how the field is.

I am not using any artificial intelligence with Microsoft Defender for Office 365; I only use ChatGPT for my personal use.

I haven't recommended Microsoft Defender for Office 365 yet, but if I have a situation where I need to recommend it, I would do so.

I rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 a nine out of ten.

My current use cases for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 are email security, device security, and identity security. Those are the main three ways we use it.

The anti-spoofing technology has helped protect our executives. 

The most valuable feature I have found in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is email security, which is pretty valuable. They've come a long way from when I started looking at them a couple of years ago, and they've gotten a lot better in detecting phishing and spoofing attempts.

An example of how Microsoft Defender for Office 365 features have helped improve my company is that the anti-spoofing technology is effective in preventing executives from being victims of display name spoofing. It has helped prevent many such incidents within our organization.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 solution helps prioritize threats across my enterprise.

The prioritization provided by Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is very important because email is probably one of the most common attack vectors for us, and it helps us justify the cost associated with and the need for such a tool.

The threat intelligence from Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps prepare us for potential threats before they hit and enables us to make proactive steps, as it gives us IOCs and helps us make more informed decisions.

The threat intelligence from Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has not really affected my security operations.

Overall, the solution has saved me time, approximately a month.

It has saved me money, as it has prevented common attacks that we've seen in the past before we had Microsoft Defender for Office 365. We just haven't realized it because it's been pretty effective.

The security has significantly decreased my time to detection and response.

In the areas of improvement for Microsoft Defender for Office 365, the console is the biggest challenge for me. There is a different console for different things; I just want one consolidated console.

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for approximately seven years.

I would assess the stability and reliability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 as very stable, with barely any issues. The false positive rate is very good as well.

The scalability is seamless. 

My experience with customer support and technical support for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has been excellent.

Positive

Prior to adopting Microsoft Defender for Office 365, I used other solutions such as McAfee and Proofpoint, among others. We've tried them all.

We switched to reduce costs and based on its out-of-the-box simplicity of use. 

The initial setup is simple, however, you do need to get well-versed in the different consoles. We use different clouds and they all integrate well. 

It is challenging to quantify with Microsoft Defender for Office 365, however, we have seen a return on investment.  

In terms of the areas where I saw that return on investment with Microsoft Defender for Office 365, it is related to the risk to our environment, specifically regarding users being scammed or phished. We've seen a significant reduction there.

It's likely saved us money. We likely haven't realized it since the security has deflected threats. 

I did consider other products before switching to Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

What made me ultimately choose Microsoft Defender for Office 365 was the cost reduction and the ability to turn it on and let it go without a lot of customization.

Microsoft Defender doesn't automate routine tasks; we do it more manually, and we also have our MSSP. We don't use a lot of the built-in technology for that. 

The automation in Microsoft would have made it more streamlined. Since we outsource it, we rely entirely on MSSP for that. We do it manually and don't use much of the automation aspect. 

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 a nine.

My primary use cases for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 in my company revolve around endpoint security. 

Microsoft 365 in general helps with security needs, and I could receive notifications about potential threats.

It's easy for people who use the Microsoft environment.

The ability to respond to threats if very important. My company has close to 1000 users, managing through Microsoft endpoints, and we require protection of our files.

My impression of the visibility into threats that Microsoft Defender for Office 365 provides is that visibility is quite essential.

This solution helps automate routine tasks and helps automate the finding of high-value alerts. It's fairly robust. 

Threat intelligence helps prepare for potential threats before they hit endpoints. Security operations people also get notifications to understand how the system is doing.

Time to detection has stayed the same. 

Specifically, within Microsoft Defender for Office 365, I want it to improve the DLP capabilities.

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for more than three years.

We haven't had performance issues. 

I honestly have not actually seen anything demos for their support, so I don't have direct real experience.

Positive

We did previously use a different solution. Defender helps us save time and energy and we don't have to manage seperate solutions. 

My experience deploying Microsoft Defender for Office 365 was seamless. We deployed 365 and Defender at the same time, and it just worked. We didn't have to do anything significantly separate.

I have realized other benefits from using Microsoft Defender for Office 365, such as cost. It is bundled into the 365 license. Overall, cost of owning and operating our system goes down.

The cost of operation has reduced. 

The cost is reasonable. Overall, the cost of owning and operating goes down. We've likely saved 30% of costs.

We do not use the solution to prioritize threats. 

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has not yet fully integrated with other security solutions within my environment. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 an eight. There's always room for improvement. 

I use Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for various compliance tasks. For example, I can use it for eDiscovery to search mailbox content. Just today, a manager requested all emails for a departing user who no longer had an active license. Using Defender's content search feature, I exported the user's entire mailbox as a PST file for the manager to import into Outlook. Beyond eDiscovery, Defender also helps us monitor compliance and security scores, manage quarantine emails, investigate phishing alerts, and configure data classification, labeling, anti-spam, and anti-malware policies.

Before using Microsoft Defender for Office 365, we were plagued by phishing and ransomware emails, especially for our board members. To combat this, we implemented a Defender policy that triggers alerts for emails containing keywords like "bank account" or "credit card details." Additionally, a policy tip and disclaimer appear in user mailboxes for such emails. This disclaimer clarifies the email's external origin and allows users to move it directly to junk with a single click. Simultaneously, an alert goes to the administrator, who investigates the email: if legitimate, it's released, otherwise it's blocked.

Our organization operates a single, hybrid tenant environment with a mix of on-premises and cloud-based mailboxes, with the majority residing in the cloud. This small, non-multi-tenant setup supports approximately 2,000 users.

While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 integrates with third-party solutions, our organization prioritizes Microsoft technologies for security. We only integrate external tools with explicit management approval. This focus extends to data backup. Even though Office 365 is a cloud service, we recently purchased Barracuda, a tool that seamlessly integrates with Office 365 for data backup.

Prior to my arrival, our organization lacked a dedicated Office 365/Microsoft 365 security specialist, with IT admins relying on web searches for configuration. Upon identifying vulnerabilities, I implemented Microsoft Defender and other security measures. Our compliance score, which was around 30 percent a year and a half ago, now consistently ranges from 75 to 85 percent, thanks in large part to Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps prevent advanced attacks like business email compromise by stopping lateral movement within the network. It also includes data loss prevention features, where our custom policies have helped block malicious emails, ransomware, and spam before they ever reach our servers. While not perfect, Microsoft Defender has significantly improved our email security, offering around 80 to 90 percent effectiveness, which we're quite happy with.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has significantly improved our security team's efficiency. The comprehensive security analytics dashboard provides insightful information on threats, including the number of phishing attempts and attacks on our servers. This data can be easily exported for clear reporting to management. Overall, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 saves us time and simplifies security analysis presentations.

Our long-established organization has faced recent economic downturns, leading to employee departures. Managers frequently request departing users' SharePoint data, Mailboxes including PST files, and other associated information. So the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is data backups that we can provide through ticket requests.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365's Mac functionality requires improvement to deliver the same level of protection found on Windows devices.

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for two years.

I would rate the stability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 nine out of ten.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is highly scalable.

I've found that Microsoft's third-party support teams are slow to resolve issues. While they do eventually fix the problem, it can take a week for issues that should only take a day or two. In contrast, Microsoft employees can typically resolve issues within two days.

Neutral

While deploying Microsoft Defender for Office 365 in my previous organization with multiple tenants was complex, the current single-tenant setup was easy.

We had a team of four involved in the deployment. Two were in the United States and Belgium and two were in India. 

The implementation was completed in-house.

While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 necessitates pricier E3 or E5 subscriptions, the extensive functionality offered by these licenses across various Microsoft products justifies the investment.

I would rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 eight out of ten.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is deployed in multiple regions in India, China, Belgium, Italy, and the United States.

So far, no maintenance has been required yet, but we regularly check Microsoft's security advisories and discuss them in our scrum meetings. If an advisory requires action, we'll address it accordingly.

I would recommend Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to others.

With over ten years of experience using Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Defender exclusively, I've successfully implemented it at multiple companies. While the upfront cost may seem high, it delivers value based on your infrastructure size. Overall, Microsoft Defender is an excellent security product for any environment, regardless of size.

We use many Microsoft Security products, and overall, it's helping us with our overall security posture. Though we see some challenges, we want to see if the Security Copilot can help, but overall, it's very helpful and essential to our operations.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps prioritize threats across our enterprise. The security products provide good visibility, allowing us to see and prioritize various events, which is crucial given the daily volume of events. We can see what's going on and prioritize. Because there are many different events, we can focus on the most important ones first. This prioritization of threats is very important. Otherwise, it may not be usable because we will be handling thousands of events every day.

The threat intelligence offered by Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps us prepare for potential threats before they hit. It offers visibility and a focused response needed to manage threats promptly. The security features can effectively and quickly identify and prioritize threats, contributing to rapid threat response.

Our application is a SaaS solution, so we have many customers, and the cloud infrastructure is essential to our business. The security features of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 can quickly identify and prioritize threats, allowing our SecOps team to act quickly to respond to the threats.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has saved us time and money. It has decreased our time to detection or time to respond by approximately 10 times because we have 100 gigabytes of logs every day, and without automation, it would be impossible for humans to handle.

This will be a potential risk because if there's any security incident, that will cause reputational and financial damage. Being able to maintain our overall security posture with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is invaluable.

The DLP feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is pretty good. The DLP feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is valuable, and we also use the DLP feature for email real-time detection. The value of the DLP feature is significant to us because we have internal data, sometimes sensitive, and the users may not always be aware of security and privacy, which might lead them to send out information mistakenly to external parties.

We still see many false positives from time to time with Microsoft Defender for Office 365, so it would be good if we can reduce those false positives and provide better workflows for our end users, as sometimes they may not know what to do when they encounter a false positive. Those kinds of workflows will help make it easier to use.

We have been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 since 2018.

Overall, the stability and reliability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 are good, but we do see some hiccups from time to time. Maybe twice last year, we lost the Teams connection, but overall, it is within the SLA range.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales transparently for us, as we grew from 1,000 users to 3,000 users, and we didn't notice much difference.

The technical support and customer support we received for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 are pretty good; we opened tickets, and they typically resolve them quickly.

Positive

We have been using it from the beginning.

It is pretty straightforward, but fine-tuning the rules takes time. We see false positives from time to time, so we need to find the rules to fix our situation.

We started with on-premises. Currently, it's like 80% cloud and 20% on-premises. Exchange and SharePoint are on the cloud, but AD is still hybrid.

Security is very important for us, and we are also a public company, so any security incident will cause serious damage, but it's hard to quantify the return on investment we've seen from Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

It's within our expectations and also competitive in the market.

We didn't evaluate other solutions.

Currently, we do not have automation actions with Microsoft Defender for Office 365. We mainly focus on the detection part because we find some false positives from time to time, so we are not 100% confident to turn on the fully automated mode.

I would rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 a nine out of ten.

We mainly use Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for people who teach or work remotely. This allows us to effectively control and monitor them.

We have faculty who aren't even near the college. Some of our faculty are in other cities and teach remotely. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 enables us to manage everything through the cloud, so we don't have to ship anything back and forth. We can do updates or address any issues with computers remotely.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 facilitates efficient management and updates through the cloud. We do not have to worry about incompatibilities. It just works. My team appreciates the threat visibility Defender offers. It ranks the threats and allows us to prioritize those hitting us the hardest, such as email threats. 

I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost. 

The college has been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for more than two years. I have been there for a year.

The stability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is fantastic.

The scalability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is fantastic, same as its stability.

I rate Microsoft support nine out of 10. Customer service and support have been fantastic. We have direct Microsoft support, which we subscribe to and pay for.

Positive

I don't know which solution was used before since it was in place when I started.

I can't provide specifics since I was not involved before my tenure, but based on my experience, it was seamless.

The implementation was all done in-house, without the use of an integrator, reseller, or consultant.

Defender has reduced the time our security team spends on tasks by 10 to 15 percent, allowing us to focus on other areas. It has also decreased our time to detection and response by about 15 to 20 percent.

I don't have detailed specifics on pricing, setup cost, or licensing.

I don't know about any other solutions that were evaluated before my tenure.

I rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 a nine out of 10 because it works seamlessly without any incompatibilities.

We utilize Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to enhance our email protection.

All of our Office 365 solutions are stored in the cloud. We have recently acquired multiple licenses for Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

We also use DMS. I believe that integration comes out of the box because both products are from Microsoft and I haven't taken any steps to do any integration myself.

The comprehensiveness of DMS and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has been incredibly helpful, particularly concerning email attachments. They have successfully identified numerous suspicious attachments, some of which were reported. The integration of these two solutions has proven to be extremely beneficial. Additionally, they have been effective in detecting phishing links and untrusted sites in emails on several occasions.

I remember what actually prompted us to switch to using Microsoft Defender for Office 365. We had several people who were not tech-oriented receiving loads of phishing emails, and their credentials were almost compromised. It wasn't just them; we had many other users in the organization facing similar issues. To address this, we conducted a phishing simulation, and unfortunately, a lot of people failed the simulation. After analyzing the situation, we realized the need to provide better training and implement additional security measures in case someone made a mistake or failed to follow proper procedures. That's why we decided to go with Microsoft Defender for Office 365. So far, it has been effective in identifying a lot of threats. Previously, we received several complaints about compromised credentials, mainly due to phishing emails. However, since we started using Microsoft Defender for Office 365, the number of complaints has drastically reduced. Although some people still fail our phishing simulation during in-house tests, externally, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has proven valuable in filtering out numerous threats. I'm confident that without it, many accounts would have been compromised.

Microsoft Defender eliminates the need for multiple dashboards. When I'm on the Office 365 dashboard, I don't see any reason why I would need to access another dashboard.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 identifies various threats and notifies us whenever it detects something suspicious. Without Microsoft Defender for Office 365, it would be quite time-consuming. We used to receive numerous complaints about credential tests, but since its deployment, those complaints have drastically reduced. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has saved me a considerable amount of time.

It indirectly helps our organization reduce costs. We encountered a situation where one of our financial officers had their credentials stolen, and someone attempted to impersonate them, trying to transfer funds to other accounts. However, the system flagged the suspicious activity, and we were able to prevent the unauthorized transfer.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 improves our ability to detect and respond to threats. It easily identifies all potential threats and promptly notifies us. I can only imagine the consequences if it weren't in place. Numerous suspicious links and attachments might have gone through, resulting in additional work and time spent on finding ways to remediate, resolve, and contain the situation.

The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning.

URL scanning involves an automatic scan of links and emails. When a user clicks on a link within an email, the system promptly checks the link's safety. If the link is deemed safe, access is granted automatically. However, if it is flagged as unsafe, we receive feedback and notification to caution us about the potentially harmful link. At this point, we are presented with the option to proceed or return. I have personally witnessed the system identify a few unsafe links, making this the primary advantage of using the solution.

The second crucial aspect is the scanning of attachments. When an email containing an attachment arrives, we receive a notification of the new email, along with information that the attachment is being scanned for threats. This additional layer of security provides peace of mind for our organization.

While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers numerous features, these two stand out as particularly impressive and valuable to us.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 should be more proactive. As a major global player, Microsoft possesses the platform to gather more information than any other company. Utilizing this information would enable them to make the system much more proactive. It would be sensible for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to send occasional notifications, acting as advisories on how to prevent the latest threat trends. Similar to a newsletter, these notifications could guide users to take appropriate measures and review their organization's configurations, thereby ensuring maximum security.

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for around four years.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is extremely stable. I have not seen any downtime.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is scalable. We only need to add licenses to include more users.

Eighty percent of the time, the technical support is good. There are occasions when we are redirected, which can be annoying, but for the most part, they are good.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward. There wasn't much to do for Defender. We simply purchased the licenses and applied them to the users. It was a seamless deployment. As for Office 365, we had a couple of E3 licenses and had to install Office on the users' desktops. That proved to be a tedious task. 

To deploy Microsoft Defender for Office 365, we simply wrote a script to assign licenses to users in bulk. Three people, including myself, handled the deployment.

For small and medium organizations, the pricing might not be affordable. Although Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a good product; something all organizations should have. However, the question is, can all organizations afford it? For large enterprise organizations, they can definitely afford it, but for small and medium organizations, they might struggle to cover the expenses. 

We also assessed Sophos Email before implementing Microsoft Defender for Office 365. Since we were already using Office 365, we believed it would be a seamless and more effective option to proceed with Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

I would rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 a seven out of ten. The solution meets my expectations, but I would appreciate information on current threats and an increase in the level of intelligence gathering to be more proactive. It would be helpful to receive information on steps I can take to prevent potential threats, as our organization might be a target based on the threat intelligence it has gathered.

I have had a couple of Microsoft resellers try using Sentinel with my organization. Perhaps it was due to the configuration, but it didn't seem like there was much setup required. Essentially, we weren't able to see as many details as we expected, likely because we already have an in-house sync solution, and we were attempting to integrate Sentinel alongside it. Consequently, we also continued using the other solution. However, what we obtained from Sentinel, didn't provide us with much information compared to our existing solution. This is why we decided not to proceed further with the Proof of Concept for Sentinel. It's possible that the reseller didn't configure something properly, or maybe it didn't demonstrate some of the things it was supposed to. But based on our end-user experience, we didn't receive sufficient information from Sentinel as we do with our current solution. Hence, we made the decision not to move forward with the POC for Sentinel.

It is not advisable to engage with different vendors. This is because there will be instances where issues arise, and a particular vendor may not take responsibility for the problem. Dealing with multiple vendors makes it challenging to accomplish tasks efficiently, as we often find ourselves unsure about which vendor is accountable for each aspect. On the other hand, opting for a single vendor, even if they cannot fulfill all our requirements, is still preferable. This choice allows us to have a clear point of contact when something goes wrong, and the integrations are smoother. Additionally, using multiple vendors can lead to integration problems.

To properly utilize Microsoft Defender for Office 365, we must first acquire an Office 365 subscription. If we are already using Office 365 and seeking enhanced protection, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 becomes an obvious choice. It offers seamless integration and straightforward usage. To proceed effectively, we need a clear understanding of the users requiring protection and precise guidance on configuring the policies to ensure they provide the necessary protection effectively. 

We use Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to protect our Outlook 365 inboxes. When opening links in emails, Defender's URL defense verifies the legitimacy of the URL, ensuring it's not a spam link. This protection is active whenever clicking on any link within Outlook 365.

Our organization's security has been strengthened with Microsoft Defender for Office 365. Regardless of the specific tools we use for our daily office tasks, our data remains protected.

It provides great visibility into vulnerabilities compared to its competitors. Its insights and timely identification of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures enable proactive threat mitigation, making it the preferred choice for comprehensive security.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is critical for our organization's security and privacy because it helps prioritize enterprise-wide threats and protects our sensitive data. Data breaches pose a significant financial risk, potentially costing millions or even billions of dollars, making Defender's role in safeguarding our data vital.

It automates routine tasks and prioritizes high-value alerts, providing automated insights to our security team. This allows us to proactively block harmful activities like anonymous calls and intrusions, significantly enhancing our overall security automation.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 provides threat intelligence, enabling proactive threat mitigation. It monitors all network traffic, both incoming and outgoing, allowing us to track data and protect our network perimeter. This comprehensive monitoring includes network calls, enhancing our overall system security.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has helped to save us time and money and has reduced our time to detect and respond.

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its spam filter. This filter effectively reduces wasted time by automatically identifying and blocking spam emails before they reach our inboxes, moving them directly to the spam folder. This prevents the constant need to manually review and delete these unwanted messages.

Microsoft needs to broaden its global support presence by establishing teams of subject-matter experts in all regions.

I have been using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 for six months to one year.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is stable.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers excellent scalability, as evidenced by Microsoft's support of nearly all Fortune 10 companies.

The technical support is good, providing a clear channel for submitting requests. Based on the severity level, C1, C2, or C3, they consistently provide appropriate responses within the agreed-upon four-hour service level agreement.

Positive

As a technical user of Microsoft Defender for Office 365, I've seen a positive return on investment in how it helps secure our environment and ecosystem. The insights and intelligence provided have also been invaluable to our security team in securing our enterprise's information.

I would rate Microsoft Defender for Office 365 nine out of ten.