What are the differences in discovery capabilities for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps and Cloud App Discovery?
Note
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (previously known as Microsoft Cloud App Security) is now part of Microsoft 365 Defender. The Microsoft 365 Defender portal allows security admins to perform their security tasks in one location. This will simplify workflows, and add the functionality of the other Microsoft 365 Defender services. Microsoft 365 Defender will be the home for monitoring and managing security across your Microsoft identities, data, devices, apps, and infrastructure. For more information about these changes, see Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps in Microsoft 365 Defender.
This article describes the differences between discovery capabilities in Defender for Cloud Apps and Cloud App Discovery (part of Azure Active Directory).
For information about licensing, see the Microsoft 365 licensing datasheet.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is a comprehensive cross-SaaS solution bringing deep visibility, strong data controls, and enhanced threat protection to your cloud apps. Cloud Discovery is one of the features of Defender for Cloud Apps, which enables you to gain visibility into Shadow IT by discovering cloud apps in use.
Cloud App Discovery (as part of Azure Active Directory P1)
Azure Active Directory Premium P1 includes Cloud App Discovery at no additional cost. This is a subset of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. It includes Cloud Discovery capabilities that provide deeper visibility into cloud app usage in your organizations.
Upgrade to Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps to receive the full suite of Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) capabilities offered by Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps.
Feature comparison
The following table is a comparison of the discovery capabilities in Defender for Cloud Apps and Cloud App Discovery.
| Capability | Feature | Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps | Cloud App Discovery (as part of Azure Active Directory P1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud Discovery | Discovered apps | 31,000 + cloud apps | 31,000 + cloud apps |
| Deployment for discovery analysis | Manual and automatic log upload. Learn more about setting up Cloud Discovery | ||
| Log anonymization for user privacy | Yes | Yes | |
| Access to full Cloud App Catalog | Yes | Yes | |
| Cloud app risk assessment | Yes | Yes | |
| Cloud usage analytics per app, user, IP address | Yes | Yes | |
| Ongoing analytics & reporting | Yes | Yes | |
| Custom policy creation | Yes | Yes | |
| Anomaly detection for discovered apps | Yes | ||
| Information Protection | Data Loss Prevention (DLP) support | Cross-SaaS DLP and data sharing control | |
| App permissions and ability to revoke access (OAuth apps) | Yes | ||
| Policy setting and enforcement | Yes | ||
| Integration with Azure Information Protection | Yes | ||
| Integration with third-party DLP solutions | Yes | ||
| Threat Detection | Anomaly detection and behavioral analytics | For Cross-SaaS apps | |
| Manual and automatic alert remediation | Yes | ||
| SIEM connector | Yes. Alerts and activity logs for cross-SaaS apps. | ||
| Integration to Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph | Yes | ||
| Activity policies | Yes |
Next steps
- Read about the basics in Getting started with Defender for Cloud Apps.
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