Deploy Microsoft Defender XDR today and start protecting your entire digital estate

The average organization now hosts 351 exploitable attack pathways, says Microsoft’s 2024 State of Multicloud Security Risk Report¹, so it’s no wonder leaders across sectors are calling for enhanced protection of high-value assets within applications, email, endpoints, identity, and more.

But deploying a comprehensive security solution like Microsoft Defender XDR can be a big lift, especially in organizations using legacy systems or a mix of third-party tools. Complex integrations and configurations combined with common issues like limited staffing resources can further delay or even prevent full product implementation.

Fortunately, FastTrack for Microsoft 365 is ready to help streamline your security product deployment and today we’ll explain how.

In this blog, you’ll learn:

• Why Microsoft Defender platform adds value beyond security.
• How to deploy Microsoft Defender efficiently and securely using Microsoft admin center advanced deployment guides.
• Answers to FAQs.

Microsoft Defender: The industry leading², XDR solution with added value

Microsoft Defender protects your entire organization with a unified security platform that consolidates multiple security functions (e.g., endpoint, identity, cloud security) under a single tool.

This comprehensive coverage creates overlapping security, which strengthens overall security and helps reduce workloads for security and IT teams. 

And while in some cases, transitioning security systems can create vulnerabilities in the short term, FastTrack engineers at Microsoft have solved for this by providing incremental security coverage as you wind down third-party point solutions. We’ll describe this in more detail later on but first let’s go over the Microsoft Defender platform.

The Microsoft Defender platform: 

 

Microsoft Defender XDR, powered by AI, integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft 365 products and security tools 

Seamless integration provides for stronger, more consistent, automated security across the entire software ecosystem. For example: 

Microsoft Defender is embedded with Microsoft Sentinel

Microsoft Sentinel is a new FastTrack offering. It’s a very powerful cloud-native, AI-powered security information and event management (SIEM) solution that helps teams address top cyberthreats, including ransomware attacks, by:  

• Enriching data with machine learning: Sentinel employs machine learning to enrich data with Microsoft's threat intelligence, the secret ingredient that fuels capabilities, including threat hunting, detecting, investigating, and responding to threats across an ecosystem. 
• Reducing “alert fatigue”: Sentinel filters through billions of signals, correlates them into alerts and incidents, and even prioritizes incidents. This allows for more efficient and cost-effective remediation strategies and reduced alert fatigue for SOC teams. 

Microsoft Defender integrates with Azure’s Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) that secures full-stack workloads, end to end, across Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Azure Cloud Services with constant cyberthreat monitoring at the code level.

How to deploy Microsoft Defender security products efficiently and securely

Because each organization’s deployment scenario will be as unique as the organization itself, Microsoft engineers designed Defender to be highly customizable and able to accommodate a variety of different scenarios. However, no one should let complexities surrounding custom configurations delay deployment.

FastTrack for Microsoft 365 is here to help

With a variety of self-serve resources, detailed documentation, automated, step-by-step deployment guides, and even one-on-one assistance (with an eligible license), FastTrack can help you reduce complexity and get your Microsoft Defender products up-and-running quickly.

Here’s how to start:

1.    Visit the Microsoft 365 Setup site  

Regardless of license status or credentials, start your journey at the Microsoft 365 Setup site for open, self-service access to detailed setup guides, on-demand videos, and helpful blogs to plan secure and efficient Microsoft Defender deployment workloads. 

2.    Sign in to the Microsoft admin center

Once your organization owns a license and you’re ready to deploy, sign in to the Microsoft admin center and access Microsoft Defender advanced deployment and setup guides.

3.    Deploy using Microsoft Defender advance deployment guides

Start with zero trust

• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint setup guide
• Microsoft Defender for Office 365 setup guide
• Microsoft Defender for Identity setup guide
• Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps setup guide

These streamlined, automated guides combine detailed documentation with stateful personalization, so you know you’re following the right instructions for your organization’s scenario. The step-by-step instructions also lead you through the correct order of operations so you can be confident you’re setting up each Microsoft Defender solution correctly, from beginning to end.

Microsoft Defender setup guides: What to expect once you get there

Each Microsoft Defender setup guide follows a similar pattern.

They begin with an Overview, describing foundational prerequisites and Requirements, then have you identify your organization’s particular Scenario and goals, before walking you through your recommended Deployment and Configuration steps based on your scenario and Microsoft’s best practices.

Let’s walk through the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint guide as an example:

 

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint setup guide

1. Arrive at Overview (see above) to learn more about the Defender setup guide and watch a short video.
2. Follow the subway navigation and review Microsoft Defender for Endpoint’s minimum setup requirements‎ to make sure you’re ready for a secure setup experience before you begin.
3. At Scenario, identify your organization’s current security situation and your goals, for example:

• • Do you already have an endpoint security solution in place?
  • Would you like to see how Defender for Endpoint works before rolling it out?
  • Do you want help designing configurations?

4. At Deployment, find Microsoft’s recommended next steps based on your Scenario. These steps include:

• • Preparation: Key points to consider as you prepare for migration.
  • Setup: Guidance on which specific steps you should carry out next.
  • Onboarding to your tenant: Advice on how to onboard while protecting other platforms in your environment.

     5. Lastly, Configuration is where you’ll configure various settings and learn more about:

• • Attack surface reduction
  • Mobile threat defense
  • Next-generation protection
  • Auto remediation and investigation
  • Microsoft Secure Score
  • Endpoint detection and response
  • Threat and vulnerability management

Frequently asked questions

Transitioning to or implementing a new security suite can be tricky. However, Microsoft Defender setup guides have been designed to eliminate as much risk and friction as possible from the deployment process. They also do a great job of anticipating and addressing questions admins frequently ask. Here are a few frequently asked questions and answers:

1. How do I securely migrate to Microsoft Defender for Office 365? 
   • Read this Learn article to understand securely migrating from a third-party protection service or device to ‎Microsoft Defender for Office 365‎.
2. How should I deal with urgent security incident response issues?
   • Get a better understanding of the complex threats affecting your organization. Subscribers to Defender Experts for Hunting can engage with their own security incident response teams to address urgent security incident response issues.
3. Where can I go to learn how to fix onboarding issues myself?

• • Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
  • Microsoft Defender for Identity
  • Microsoft Defender for Office 365
  • Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

    4. Does Microsoft offer training for Microsoft Defender?

• • Yes! To get started with Microsoft Defender training, browse the list of learning paths, and filter by product, role, level, and subject.

Need additional assistance? 

Whether you have a few questions or want assistance with deployment of your entire Microsoft Defender suite, FastTrack Engineers and Partners are ready to help. Eligible customers can request direct, remote assistance from FastTrack for Microsoft 365. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Microsoft’s 2024 State of Multicloud Security Report 

[2] Microsoft Defender was named an XDR leader in The Forrester Wave: XDR platforms, Q2 2024, receiving top scores in 15 of 22 criteria, including Endpoint Detection, Threat Hunting, and Innovation.