Multicloud and hybrid support |
Supported in Plan 1 and 2 |
Defender for Servers can protect Azure VMs, AWS/GCP VMs, and on-premises machines connected to Defender for Cloud.
Review Defender for Servers support and requirements. |
Defender for Endpoint automatic onboarding |
Supported in Plan 1 and 2 |
Defender for Cloud automatically onboards machines to Defender for Endpoint by installing the Defender for Endpoint extension on connected machines. |
Defender for Endpoint EDR |
Supported in Plan 1 and 2 |
Supported endpoints receive near real-time threat detection using Defender for Endpoint EDR capabilities. |
Threat detection (OS-level) |
Supported in Plan 1 and 2 |
Integration with Defender for Endpoint provides OS-level threat detection. |
Integrated alerts and incidents |
Supported in Plan 1 and 2 |
Defender for Endpoint alerts and incidents for connected machines are displayed in Defender for Cloud, with drill-down in the Defender portal. Learn more. |
Threat detection (Azure network layer) |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
Agentless detection detects threats that are directed at the control plane on the network, including network-based security alerts for Azure VMs. |
Software inventory discovery |
Supported in Plan 1 and 2 |
Software inventory discovery (provided by Defender Vulnerability Management) is integrated into Defender for Cloud. |
Vulnerability scanning (agent-based) |
Supported in Plan 1 and 2 |
With the Defender for Endpoint agent, Defender for Servers assesses machines for vulnerabilities with Defender Vulnerability Management. |
Vulnerability scanning (agentless) |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
As part of its agentless scanning capabilities, Defender for Cloud provides agentless vulnerability assessment, using Defender Vulnerability Management.
Agentless assessment is in addition to agent-based vulnerability scanning. |
OS baseline misconfigurations |
OS recommendations based on Linux and Windows compute security baselines are supported in Plan 2 only.
Other MCSB recommendations in Defender for Cloud continue to be included in free foundational posture management. |
Defender for Cloud assesses and enforces security configurations using built-in Azure policy initiatives, including its default Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark (MCSB) initiative.
Defender for Servers collects machine information using the Azure machine configuration extension. |
Regulatory compliance assessment |
Supported in Plan 1 and 2 |
As part of its free foundational posture management, Defender for Cloud provides a couple of default compliance standards.
If you have a Defender for Servers plan enabled (or any other paid plan), you can enable additional compliance standards. |
OS system updates |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
Defender for Servers assesses machine to check that updates and patches are installed. It uses Azure Update Manager to gather update information.
To take advantage of Azure Update integration in Defender for Servers Plan 2, on-premises, AWS, and GCP machines should be onboarded with Azure Arc. Learn more. |
Defender for Vulnerability Management premium features |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
Defender for Servers Plan 2 includes premium features in Defender Vulnerability Management.
Premium features include certificate assessments, OS security baseline assessments, and more, and are available in the Defender portal only. |
Malware scanning (agentless) |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
In addition to the next-generation antimalware protection provided by the Defender for Endpoint integration, Defender for Servers Plan 2 provides malware scanning as part of its agentless scanning capabilities. |
Machine secrets scanning (agentless) |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
As part of its agentless secrets scanning capabilities, Defender for Cloud provides machine secrets scanning to locate plain text secrets on machines.
Secrets scanning is also available with the Defender Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) plan. |
File integrity monitoring |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
File integrity monitoring examines files and registries for changes that might indicate an attack. You configure file integrity monitoring after enabling Defender for Servers Plan 2.
File integrity monitoring uses the Defender for Endpoint extension to collect information. The previous collection method that used the MMA is now deprecated. Learn more about migration to the Defender for Endpoint extension. |
Just-in-time virtual machine access |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
Just-in-time virtual machine access locks down machine ports to reduce the attack surface. |
Network map |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
The network map provides a geographical view of recommendations for hardening your network resources. |
Free data ingestion (500 MB) |
Supported in Plan 2 only |
Free data ingestion is available for specific data types in Log Analytics workspaces. Learn more. |