What's new in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Article
08/17/2023

Applies to:

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The following features are in preview or generally available (GA) in the latest release of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

For more information on preview features, see Preview features.

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For more information on what's new with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Windows, see: What's new in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Windows

For more information on what's new with other Microsoft Defender security products, see:

For more information on Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on specific operating systems:

August 2023

(GA) The Monthly security summary report is now generally available. The report helps organizations get a visual summary of key findings and overall preventative actions taken to enhance the organization's overall security posture completed in the last month.

July 2023

The eBPF-based sensor for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux is available for public preview on all supported Linux devices. For more information, see Use eBPF-based sensor for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux.
Manage endpoint security policies in Defender for Endpoint is now in public preview
You can now configure security settings directly in Microsoft 365 Defender.
A new file page is now available in Defender for Endpoint. The file page now includes information like file details and file content and capabilities. For more information, see Investigate files.

June 2023

Microsoft Defender Antivirus scan response action is supported for macOS and Linux for client version 101.98.84 and above. It is in preview. See Run Microsoft Defender Antivirus scan on devices.
Isolating devices from the network is supported for macOS for client version 101.98.84 and above. It is in preview. See Isolate devices from the network.
Forcibly releasing devices from isolation is now available for public preview. This new capability allows you to forcibly release devices from isolation, when isolated devices become unresponsive. For more information, see Forcibly release device from isolation.

May 2023

Performance mode for Microsoft Defender Antivirus is now available for public preview. This new capability provides asynchronous scanning on a Dev Drive, and doesn't change the security posture of your system drive or other drives. For more information, see Protecting Dev Drive using performance mode.

March 2023

Support for Mixed-licensing scenarios is now in preview! With these capabilities, you can Manage Microsoft Defender for Endpoint subscription settings across client devices (preview!).

February 2023

The Microsoft Defender for Identity integration toggle is now removed from the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Settings > Advanced features page. Because Defender for Identity is now integrated with Microsoft 365 Defender, this toggle is no longer required. You don't need to manually configure integration between services. See What's new - Microsoft Defender for Identity.

January 2023

Tamper protection can now protect exclusions when deployed with Microsoft Intune. See Protect Microsoft Defender Antivirus exclusions from tampering
Live Response is now generally available for macOS and Linux. For more information, see, Investigate entities on devices using live response.
Live response API and library API for Linux and macos is now generally available
You can now run live response API commands on Linux and macos.

December 2022

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Device control removable storage access control updates:
1. Microsoft Intune support for removable storage access control is now available. See Deploy Removable Storage Access Control by using Intune user interface
2. The new default enforcement policy of removable storage access control is designed for all device control features. Printer Protection is now available for this policy. If you create a Default Deny policy, printers will be blocked in your organization.
  - Intune: ./Vendor/MSFT/Defender/Configuration/DefaultEnforcement
    See Deploy and manage Removable Storage Access Control using Intune
  - Group policy: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Defender Antivirus > Features > Device Control > Select Device Control Default Enforcement
    See Deploy and manage Removable Storage Access Control using group policy
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Device control New Printer Protection solution to manage printer is now available. For more information, see Printer Protection Overview

November 2022

Built-in protection is now generally available. Built-in protection helps protect your organization from ransomware and other threats with default settings that help ensure your devices are protected.

October 2022

Network protection C2 detection and remediation is now generally available.
Attackers often compromise existing internet-connected servers to become their command and control servers. Attackers can use the compromised servers to hide malicious traffic and deploy malicious bots that are used to infect endpoints. Network protection detection and remediation will help improve the time it takes security operations (SecOps) teams to pinpoint and respond to malicious network threats that are looking to compromise endpoints.

September 2022

Attack surface reduction (ASR) rules report now available in the Microsoft 365 Defender portal.
The attack surface reduction (ASR) rules report is now available in the Microsoft 365 Defender portal. This ASR report provides information about the attack surface reduction rules that are applied to devices in your organization and helps you detect threats, block potential threats, and get visibility into ASR and device configuration.
Built-in protection (preview) is rolling out. Built-in protection is a set of default settings, such as tamper protection turned on, to help protect devices from ransomware and other threats.
Device health reporting is now generally available.
The device health report provides information about the health and security of your endpoints. The report includes trending information showing the sensor health state, antivirus status, OS platforms, Windows 10 versions, and Microsoft Defender Antivirus update versions.
Device health reporting is now available for US Government customers using Defender for Endpoint.
Device health reporting is now available for GCC, GCC High and DoD customers.
Troubleshooting mode is now available for more Windows operating systems, including Windows Server 2012 R2 and above. See the article for more information about the required updates.

August 2022

Device health status
The Device health status card shows a summarized health report for the specific device.
Device health reporting (Preview)
The devices status report provides high-level information about the devices in your organization. The report includes trending information showing the sensor health state, antivirus status, OS platforms, and Windows 10 versions.
Tamper protection on macOS is now generally available
This feature will be released with audit mode enabled by default, and you can decide whether to enforce (block) or turn off the capability. Later this year, we'll offer a gradual rollout mechanism that will automatically switch endpoints to block mode; note this will only apply if you have not made a choice to either enable (block mode) or disable the capability.
Network Protection and Web Protection for macOS and Linux is now in Public Preview!
Network Protection helps reduce the attack surface of your devices from Internet-based events. It prevents employees from using any application to access dangerous domains that may host phishing scams, exploits, and other malicious content on the Internet. It's the foundation on which our Web Protection for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is built. These capabilities include Web threat protection, Web content filtering, and IP/URL Custom indicators. Web protection enables you to secure your devices against web threats and helps to regulate unwanted content.
Improved Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) onboarding for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016
Configuration Manager version 2207 now supports automatic deployment of modern, unified Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Windows Server 2012 R2 & 2016. Windows Server 2012 and 2016 devices that are targeted with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint onboarding policy will use the unified agent versus the existing Microsoft Monitoring Agent based solution, if configured through Client Settings.

July 2022

Add domain controller devices - Evaluation lab enhancement
Now generally available - Add a domain controller to run complex scenarios such as lateral movement and multistage attacks across multiple devices.
Announcing File page enhancements in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Have you ever investigated files in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint? We now make it even easier with our recent announcement of enhancements to the File page and side panel. Users can now streamline processes by having a more efficient navigation experience that hosts all this information in one place.
Introducing the new alert suppression experience
We're excited to share the new and advanced alert suppression experience is now Generally Available. The new experience provides tighter granularity and control, allowing users to tune Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alerts.
Prevent compromised unmanaged devices from moving laterally in your organization with “Contain
Starting today, when a device that isn't enrolled in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is suspected of being compromised, as a SOC analyst, you'll be able to “Contain” it. As a result, any device enrolled in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint will now block any incoming/outgoing communication with the suspected device.
Mobile device support is now available for US Government Customers using Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for US Government customers is built in the Azure US Government environment and uses the same underlying technologies as Defender in Azure Commercial. This offering is available to GCC, GCC High and DoD customers and further extends our platform availability from Windows, macOS, and Linux, to Android and iOS devices as well.

June 2022

Defender for Servers Plan 2 now integrates with MDE unified solution
You can now start deploying the modern, unified solution for Windows Server 2012 R2 and 2016 to servers covered by Defender for Servers Plan 2 using a single button.
Mobile Network Protection in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Android & iOS now in Public Preview
Microsoft offers a mobile network protection feature in Defender for Endpoint that helps organizations identify, assess, and remediate endpoint weaknesses with the help of robust threat intelligence. We're delighted to announce that users can now benefit from this new feature on both Android and iOS platforms with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

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