Microsoft Defender XDR Cheat Sheet

Microsoft Defender XDR (formerly Microsoft 365 Defender) is an industry-leading Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solution that:

• Unifies security signals across endpoints, identities, email, cloud apps, and SaaS environments into a single pane of glass.

• Leverages Microsoft’s global threat intelligence by analyzing 65 trillion signals daily.

• Automates threat detection, investigation, and response using advanced AI and behavioral analytics.

• Natively integrates with the Microsoft Defender suite (Endpoint, Identity, Office 365, Cloud Apps).

• Provides enterprise-grade protection for organizations of all sizes.

Key Benefits:

✅ 93% reduction in mean time to respond (MTTR) through automation.
✅ 50% fewer alerts due to intelligent signal correlation.
✅ 360° protection across all attack surfaces.

Key Components & Capabilities

Unified Security Operations

Microsoft Defender Portal (security.microsoft.com):

• Incident queue with intelligent prioritization (CVSS scoring).

• Timeline view of attack chains across all domains.

• Threat analytics with real-time intelligence on active campaigns.

• Automated investigation with root cause analysis.

Cross-domain correlation examples:

• Phishing email (Defender for Office 365) → Malicious payload (Defender for Endpoint) → Credential theft (Defender for Identity)

• Compromised SaaS app (Defender for Cloud Apps) → Data exfiltration attempt

Threat Protection Matrix

Advanced Threat Detection

Threat Protection Across Domains

Advanced Threat Detection

• Behavioral AI models detect anomalies (e.g., ransomware, credential theft).

• Threat analytics dashboard (real-time threat intelligence from Microsoft).

• Attack simulation (phishing, malware, brute-force attacks).

Automated Response & Remediation

• Automated Investigation & Response (AIR) – AI-driven remediation (e.g., quarantining files, blocking users).

• Custom playbooks (Power Automate integration for security workflows).

• Manual actions (e.g., isolating devices, stopping malicious processes).

Threat Hunting & Intelligence

• Advanced Hunting (KQL-based querying for proactive threat detection).

• Microsoft Threat Experts (managed threat hunting service).

• Integration with Microsoft Sentinel (for SIEM & SOAR capabilities).

Use Cases & Scenarios

Incident Response

• Multi-stage attack detection (e.g., phishing → credential theft → lateral movement).

• Automated remediation (e.g., disabling a compromised account).

Threat Hunting

• Proactive querying with Advanced Hunting (Kusto Query Language).

• Custom detection rules for zero-day threats.

Compliance & Reporting

• Pre-built reports (e.g., phishing attempts, malware outbreaks).

• Integration with Microsoft Purview (compliance & data governance)

Comparison with Competitors

Licensing & Pricing

Included in:

• Microsoft 365 E5 (full suite with productivity + security).

• Microsoft 365 E5 Security (security-only bundle).

• Windows 11 Enterprise E5 (includes Defender XDR features).

Standalone Options:

Note: Prices may vary based on volume & enterprise agreements.

Microsoft Defender XDR Cheat Sheet Resources:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-xdr/

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-defender-xdr