Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) Live Response and Performance Script.
Importance of MDE Live Response and Scripts Live Response is crucial for incident response and forensic investigations. It enables analysts to: Collect evidence remotely. Run diagnostics without interrupting users. Remediate threats in real time. For more information on MDE Live Response visit the below documentation. Investigate entities on devices using live response in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft Learn PowerShell scripts enhance this capability by automating tasks such as: Performance monitoring. Log collection. Configuration validation. This automation improves efficiency, consistency, and accuracy in security operations. For more details on running performance analyzer visit the below link. Performance analyzer for Microsoft Defender Antivirus - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft Learn While performance analyzer is run locally on the system to collect Microsoft Defender Anti-Virus performance details , in this document we are describing on running the performance analyzer from MDE Live Response console. This is a situation where Security administrators do not have access to the servers managed by Infra administrators. Prerequisites Required Roles and Permissions To use Live Response in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE), specific roles and permissions are necessary. The Security Administrator role, or an equivalent custom role, is typically required to enable Live Response within the portal. Users must possess the “Manage Portal Settings” permission to activate Live Response features. Permissions Needed for Live Response Actions Active Remediation Actions under Security Operations: Take response actions Approve or dismiss pending remediation actions Manage allowed/blocked lists for automation and indicators Unified Role-Based Access Control (URBAC): From 16/02/2025, new customers must use URBAC. Roles are assigned to Microsoft Entra groups. Access must be assigned to device groups for Live Response to function properly. Setup Requirements Enable Live Response: Navigate to Advanced Features in the Defender portal. Only users with the “Manage Portal Settings” permission can enable this feature. Supported Operating System Versions: Windows 10/11 (Version 1909 or later) Windows Server (2012 R2 with KB5005292, 2016 with KB5005292, 2019, 2022, 2025) macOS and Linux (specific minimum versions apply) Actual Script Details and Usage The following PowerShell script records Microsoft Defender performance for 60 seconds and saves the output to a temporary file: # Get the default temp folder for the current user $tempPath = [System.IO.Path]::GetTempPath() $outputFile = Join-Path -Path $tempPath -ChildPath "DefenderTrace.etl" $durationSeconds = 60 try { Write-Host "Starting Microsoft Defender performance recording for $durationSeconds seconds..." Write-Host "Recording will be saved to: $outputFile" # Start performance recording with duration New-MpPerformanceRecording -RecordTo $outputFile -Seconds $durationSeconds Write-Host "Recording completed. Output saved to $outputFile" } catch { Write-Host "Failed to start or complete performance recording: $_" } 🔧 Usage Notes: Run this script in an elevated PowerShell session. Ensure Defender is active, and the system supports performance recording. The output .etl file can be analyzed using performance tools like Windows Performance Analyzer. Steps to Initiate Live Response Session and Run the script. Below are the steps to initiate a Live Response session from Security.Microsoft.com portal. Below screenshot shows that console session is established. Then upload the script file to console library from your local system. Type “Library” to list the files. You can see that script got uploaded to Library. Now you execute the script by “run <file name>” command. Output of the script gets saved in the Library. Run “getfile <path of the file>” to get the file downloaded to your local system download folder. Then you can run Get-MpPerformanceReport command from your local system PowerShell as shown below to generate the report from the output file collected in above steps. Summary and Benefits This document outlines the use of MDE Live Response and PowerShell scripting for performance diagnostics. The provided script helps security teams monitor Defender performance efficiently. Similar scripts can be executed from Live Response console including signature updates , start/stop services etc. These scripts are required as a part of security investigation or MDE performance troubleshooting process. Benefits: Faster incident response through remote diagnostics. Improved visibility into endpoint behaviour. Automation of routine performance checks. Enhanced forensic capabilities with minimal user disruption.
Windows Defender Antivirus (Active or Passive)
Hi, I need to get a report of machines with status of Windows Defender Antivirus (Active or Passive). As per the document -https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/microsoft-defender-atp/symantec-to-microsoft-defender-atp-setup#verify-that-microsoft-defender-antivirus-is-in-passive-mode it says to run Get-MpComputerStatus cmdlet in Powershell and check the value for AMRunningMode. When I ran this on a machine where a 3rd party AV was installed with Windows Defender AV running in passive mode, I got the value Normal under AMRunningMode instead of Passive. Is there any other way we can get the status of Windows Defender AV from MDATP Security Center or Intune.Microsoft Defender ATP Servers Licensing
Hi, I have gone through the below article but still am confused on the licensing model for servers if I need to onboard them on MDATP. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/microsoft-defender-atp/minimum-requirements Suppose I have Microsoft 365 E5 Security license with me, so will I be able to onboard windows server from MDATP Security Center or do I need to get any standalone license just for server. I don't want to go with the Pay-as-you-go model from ASC. Thijs Lecomte Alex Verboon Steve NewbyMicrosoft Defender ATP Licensing for Servers
Hi, I am currently using Pay-as-you-go Licensing Model for Defender ATP for Servers as initially we onboarded servers with Azure Security Center. Now what should be the approach to change the licensing model from Pay-as-you-Go to Standalone License for Servers.
Windows Defender ATP folder does not exist
Hello, I was onboarding Microsoft defender ATP but I kept on getting an error that states that the SENSE service was not installed. When I dug deeper, it turns out that the "Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection" folder (in Program Files, which contains MsSense.exe) did not exist. How do I onboard Microsoft Defender ATP?How does NetworkCommunicationsEvents > RemoteURL entity get filled?
Hi team, With WDATP EDR available for Mac I wanted to investigate the RemoteURL field for all Firefox processes, but we don't seem to be capturing that data. NetworkCommunicationEvents | where InitiatingProcessFileName == "firefox" | summarize by RemoteURL RemoteIP is correctly filled, but not RemoteURL. Any ideas?How to stream Microsoft Defender ATP hunting logs in Azure Data Explorer
Microsoft Defender ATP advanced hunting is a query-based threat-hunting tool that lets you explore up to 30 days of raw data. In some scenarios customers would like to centralize their logs from Microsoft Defender ATP with their other logs into Azure Data Explorer or keep the logs accessible for a longer period or build a customer solutions and visualization around this data. This article provides step by step instructions on how to stream Microsoft Defender ATP advance hunting events to Azure Data Explorer using Event Hub.
