Why Organizations Shouldn’t Overlook Their Microsoft Security Tools

Almost all IT environments experience some degree of application sprawl. Organizations implement new solutions to solve specific problems, but once these tools are up and running, IT teams don’t always have time to explore all of the different features. As a result, it’s easy to end up with three or four tools that overlap in function, at least to some degree.

This is especially common for cybersecurity tools. Many organizations already have access to sophisticated security solutions through their Microsoft enterprise agreements, but these tools often get overlooked. Microsoft also offers other advanced security tools that are not included in most agreements, and these are worth looking into as well.

Intune, a cloud-based unified endpoint management solution, is included with a number of Microsoft enterprise licenses, including Microsoft 365 E3 with the Mobility + Security add-on or E5. The tool manages user access to organizational resources and simplifies app and device management across mobile devices, desktop computers and virtual endpoints.

With Intune, IT administrators can enforce security policies, manage app deployment and ensure compliance across various device platforms, all without impeding user productivity.

Sentinel, a fee-based offering from Microsoft, provides both security information and event management and security orchestration, automation and response capabilities — essentially offering IT leaders, security operations center (SOC) analysts and detection engineers a bird’s-eye view of their entire environment.

Sentinel enables numerous capabilities, including:

• Data collection across all users and infrastructure in both on-premises environments and across clouds
• Detection of threats while minimizing false alarms
• Use of artificial intelligence to investigate threats
• Rapid incident response
• Ingestion of data from Office 365 audit logs, Azure activity logs and alerts from Microsoft threat protection solutions

Like Intune, Microsoft Defender XDR is included with several types of Microsoft licenses. The solution offers a unified portal experience that encompasses all of the Microsoft cloud-based security solutions.

With the Microsoft Defender portal, cybersecurity professionals can monitor and respond to threats for identities, email, data, endpoints and apps.

Copilot for Security is the first generative artificial intelligence security solution created by Microsoft.

Organizations do not always have the staff required for day-to-day detection engineering and threat hunting activities; Copilot for Security can help automate these common detection, investigation and response activities. Rather than responding to threats, SOC engineers can spend more time on being proactive.

Copilot for Security does mean additional costs, but organizations that use it strategically may find that the tool pays for itself in the form of improved productivity among cybersecurity professionals. The ROI comes from reducing the time spent by the security team searching for data to make the right decisions in remediation. With Copilot for Security, they can get that data in minutes instead of hours.

Our research has found that use of Copilot for Security improves the speed of cybersecurity analysts by 26 percent. What’s more, novice analysts are 44 percent more accurate when using the tool. Copilot for Security can be integrated with Intune, Sentinel, Defender XDR and other Microsoft Defender security products.

As everyone knows, there’s no silver bullet when it comes to cybersecurity. Exploring a range of tool types and vendors just makes sense when building out a cybersecurity strategy. As they do so, IT and security leaders should take a close look at the benefits of Microsoft’s offerings — which, in some cases, can be unlocked simply by using the tools the organization already has.