Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Shared Mailboxes, and Microsoft 365 Groups

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (MDO) requires shared mailboxes to be licensed but doesn’t extend the same requirement to Microsoft 365 Groups. Given that Microsoft 365 Groups have group mailboxes and can function very much like shared mailboxes, the difference in licensing is remarkable. Why does this happen? It could be due to internal Microsoft politics, omissions, or just a preference for Groups. Who knows?

https://office365itpros.com/2025/08/18/microsoft-defender-for-office-365-2/