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.

• Microsoft Security Copilot: An AI-powered assistant (in preview/general availability) embedded in the portal helps analysts summarize incidents, write threat-hunting queries in natural language, and get guided response steps.

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 provides proactive, actionable intelligence on active campaigns, adversary tactics, and critical vulnerabilities (CVEs), with direct guidance for mitigation within your environment.

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

• Custom Detection Rules can create automated, proactive alerts using Kusto Query Language (KQL) from the Advanced Hunting experience. These rules continuously scan data for specific attack patterns or anomalies and generate incidents.

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)

Supply Chain & Third-Party Risk

• Monitor and control third-party application access via OAuth grants.
• Detect anomalous activity from connected SaaS apps and vendors using Defender for Cloud Apps, reducing the risk from supply chain attacks.

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