Organizations have seen the number of human-operated ransomware attacks increase more than 200% since September 2022 and about 70% of organizations encountering these attacks had fewer than 500 employees[1]. With these security concerns top of mind, there is no surprise that in the last five years, the Modern Endpoint Security (MES) market has nearly tripled in size to defend against emerging, sophisticated, and persistent threats. Microsoft continues to develop solutions that help protect organizations of all sizes and today we are thrilled to announce that we have been recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape reports for Worldwide Modern Endpoint Security across three (3) segments for enterprise[2], midsize[3], and small businesses[4] – the only vendor positioned in the “Leaders” category in all three reports. 

IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. The Capabilities score measures vendor product, go-to-market and business execution in the short-term. The Strategy score measures alignment of vendor strategies with customer requirements in a 3-5-year timeframe. Vendor market share is represented by the size of the icons. 

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive enterprise endpoint security platform that helps organizations secure their digital estate across Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and Internet of Things (IoT). It provides AI-powered, industry-leading endpoint detection and response that is core to Microsoft Defender XDR that enables organizations to build a holistic approach with full visibility and signal correlation across security domains. Built on the industry’s broadest threat intelligence informed by more than 65 trillion daily signals and over 10,000 security experts, Defender for Endpoint empowers security teams to fend off sophisticated threats. With the scale and sophistication of enterprise device security in mind, these are some of the ways Defender for Endpoint uniquely empowers analysts:  

• Automatically disrupt ransomware: Terminate sophisticated cyberthreat campaigns like ransomware, business email compromise and adversary-in-the-middle early in the kill chain with automatic attack disruption -- an industry-first, Microsoft-patented capability that helps you outmaneuver attackers.  
• Move at machine speed with Security Copilot: Use the industry’s first generative AI security product, embedded in Defender for Endpoint, that enables analysts to use natural language to speed up daily tasks such as investigating and responding to incidents, prioritizing alerts, and upskilling. 
• Put security posture into action: Your best offense is a secure defense, made possible with built-in vulnerability management capabilities like Microsoft Secure Score. Improve the collective security configuration state of your devices with in-console, prioritized recommendations optimized to reinforce best practices across the application, operating system, network, accounts, and controls. Validate your ideal configuration levels against benchmarks collected from vendors, security feeds, and Microsoft Security’s research teams. 
• Catch adversaries early on: Create early-stage, high-fidelity signals that force adversaries to be correct 100% of the time with built-in deception techniques and automatically generate and disperse decoys and lures at scale that resemble real users and assets in your organization. 

Small and medium businesses (SMBs) face an even more challenging landscape—with increasing cyberthreats, coupled with even more limited security staff or expertise. Built on the principle that SMBs need a similar level of protection as enterprises, Microsoft Defender for Business brings many enterprise-grade capabilities from Defender for Endpoint in a simplified and affordable package for organizations with 1-300 employees. Key capabilities for Defender for Business include endpoint detection and response (EDR) with industry first attack disruption, vulnerability management, attack surface reduction (ASR), next-generation antivirus, and automated investigation and response. It supports platforms such as Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, and Linux. Many features have been optimized for SMBs and include: 

• Quickly and easily onboard your devices: Wizard-based onboarding gets you up and running quickly with out-of-the-box security policies that are “on by default” and a simplified management experience makes it easy for even non-technical users to manage security operations.  
• Get peace of mind with automatic attack disruption: AI-powered attack disruption helps automatically contain ransomware attacks by limiting lateral movement from compromised users or devices. This capability is on-by default, so it is easy for SMBs to stay protected. 
• Protect mobile devices from one solution: You can onboard iOS and Android onto Defender for Business without requiring additional device management solutions or costly add-ons. 
• Share security insights in a simple format: Monthly security summary reports help you better understand the security status of your identity, devices, data, and applications by seeing threats prevented and detected and recommendations to strengthen your security posture. 

Defender for Business is available as a standalone and as part of the Microsoft 365 Business Premium suite. Microsoft 365 Business Premium brings together Office apps, Microsoft 365 services and Teams, with comprehensive security. In addition to ransomware protection with Defender for Business, other key security capabilities include identity and access protection with Microsoft Entra ID Plan 1, safeguarding against phishing attacks and malware in email, OneDrive and Teams with Defender for Office 365, data protection with Microsoft Purview Information Protection, and device management with Microsoft Intune.  

Many SMB customers also rely on Managed Service Provider (MSP) partners to secure their environments. In recognition of the key role that partners play in serving SMB customers, Microsoft has made product investments to help enable partners to deliver security services at scale:

• Manage multiple customers in one place with Microsoft 365 Lighthouse: View security incidents and alerts, create and apply security baselines across all customers, and configure customized email alerts for delivery to users, groups, or third-party ticketing systems such as Professional Services Automation (PSA) systems. 
• Build out your security services: Use streaming APIs to stream device events for advanced hunting and attack disruption.  
• Integrate with 3rd party Managed Detection and Response services: Many MSPs do not have the in-house security resources to build their own security operations center (SOC). Integrate with leading Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services such as Blackpoint Cyber and ConnectWise.   

Learn More

Read more about our comprehensive set of security solutions for enterprise, midsize, and small business.  

• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft’s industry-leading, cloud-powered endpoint security solution offering vulnerability management, endpoint protection, EDR, and mobile threat defense. Sign up for a free trial today. 
• Microsoft Security solutions for SMBs, including Microsoft Defender for Business and Microsoft 365 Business Premium, offering enterprise-grade endpoint protection powered by AI—designed especially for businesses with up to 300 employees.  
• Partners can learn more about building managed services with Microsoft Defender for Business and Microsoft 365 Business Premium through our MDB Partner Kit and BP Partner Playbook. 
• Watch to see how Defender for Business and Microsoft 365 Business Premium can protect your business. 

You can also download the excerpts of the following reports for more details: 

[2]- IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Modern Endpoint Security for Enterprises 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US50521223, January 2024) 

[3]- IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Modern Endpoint Security for Midsize Businesses 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US50521323, February 2024) 

[4]- IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Modern Endpoint Security for Small Businesses 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US50521424, March 2024)  

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity. 

Reference 

[1]- Microsoft Digital Defense Report, Microsoft. 2023.