Defender for Endpoints: Now FREE with M365 E3

Defender for Endpoints: Now FREE with M365 E3

Written by Rob Quickenden, Cisilion’s Chief Technology Officer

Microsoft have recently announced, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P1, a more cost-effective endpoint protection plan that provides threat prevention and protection for any endpoints – including those running on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. The new protection plan will be included for free in Microsoft 365 E3/A5 SKUs.

The current Microsoft Defender for Endpoints SKU is currently included in Windows E5 and Microsoft 365 E5 and will soon become Defender for Endpoints Plan 2.

According to Microsoft, this new solution will make it easier for more security teams across the globe to buy, and adopt, the best of breed fundamentals of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.” Additionally, the new plan will provide generation protection, device control, an endpoint firewall, network protection, web content filtering, among much more.

 


 

Why Now?

As one of the most targeted attack surfaces, endpoints must be protected from new and sophisticated malware and ransomware, which remain prevalent threats with no sign of slowing down. Ransomware continues to persist and evolve, resulting in an increase of financial damage and impact that is felt across numerous industries.

Within the last 18 months, Microsoft have found over 120% increase in organisations that have experienced a ransomware attack. As such, Microsoft have worked towards providing a “security for all” solution – just days after a commitment by President Biden to invest more than $20 billion in security in the next 5 years.

Image from Microsoft Security

Microsoft provide multi-platform and multi-cloud security for a large number of organisations across the globe. The integrated suite of security, threat protection and remediation services will support organisations through simplified, comprehensive protection that aims to prevent breaches whilst enabling customers to innovate and grow their business.

As part of that, Microsoft state that they are excited to offer a foundational set of our market leading endpoint security capabilities for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS at a lower price, in a new solution named ‘Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan (P1), which will be included in Microsoft 365 E3” at no extra cost.

 


 

Licensing & Pricing

Additionally, the new ‘Plan 1’ will also be made available as a low-cost add-on for other SKUs. Microsoft 365 E5/A5 will continue to include Defender for Endpoint ‘Plan 2’.

The plan is currently under public review and therefore able to be trialled for 90 days by signing up. Following the trial, you will be able to purchase the plan from your Microsoft CSP or licensing partner. Those that are already customers of Microsoft 365 E3/A5 will get this at no extra cost once it is released for general availability within the next 90 days.

How to buy Defender for Endpoints Plan 1

 


 

Comparing Plan 1 and Plan 2

Threat protection and remediation services offered by Microsoft Defender for Endpoints (C) Microsoft

Plan 1 looks to assist organisations that are focused on finding mainly endpoint protection (EPP) where the best breed fundamentals in prevention and protection for all client endpoints are found. The plan includes next generation protection, device control, network protection, web content filtering, attach surface reduction rules, controlled folder access, device-based conditional access, APIs and connectors, as well as the ability to bring your own custom TI.

Moreover, the plan allows for access to the Microsoft 365 Defender security experience, providing the ability to view alerts and incidents, security dashboards, device inventory, and perform investigations and manual response actions on next generation protection events.

Plan 2 is aimed at larger enterprises that need full endpoint detection and response (EDR). Building on Plan 1, this plan provides full EDR capabilities to further prevent breaches, reduce time to remediation, in addition to minimising the scope of attacks through vulnerability management, endpoint protection, automated remediation, and in-depth threat intelligence about the latest malware campaigns and threats.

Comparison of capabilities between Plan 1 and Plan 2: Image (c) Microsoft

Read Microsoft’s blog here for greater detail on the above, plus a walkthrough on the setup. Additionally, should you be interested, you can sign up for the preview of the plan here.

 


 

What to do next?

Book our FREE Microsoft Secure Remote Work Workshop and discover how Cisilion can assess your Microsoft licensing and optimise your spend: