Mastering Microsoft 365 Defender

Get to grips with Microsoft's enterprise defense suite and its capabilities, deployments, incident response, and defense against cyber threats

Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF ebook

What’s inside

• Help in understanding Microsoft 365 Defender and how it is crucial for security operations
• Implementation of the proactive security defense capabilities of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Identity, Office 365, and Cloud Apps so that attacks can be stopped before they start
• A guide to hunting and responding to threats using M365D's extended detection and response capabilities

What your journey will look like

• This book will help you get up and running with Microsoft 365 Defender and help you use the whole suite effectively.
• You'll start with a quick overview of cybersecurity risks that modern organizations face, such as ransomware and APT attacks, how Microsoft is making massive investments in security today, and gain an understanding of how to deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint by diving deep into configurations and their architecture.
• As you progress, you'll learn how to configure Microsoft Defender Antivirus, and onboard and manage macOS, Android, and Linux MDE devices for effective solutions.
• You'll also learn how to deploy Microsoft Defender for Identity and explore its different deployment methods that can protect your hybrid identity platform, as well as how to configure Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and Cloud Apps, and manage KQL queries for advanced hunting with ease.
• Toward the end, you'll find out how M365D can be integrated with Sentinel and how to use APIs for incident response.
• By the end of this book, you will have a deep understanding of Microsoft 365 Defender, and how to protect and respond to security threats.

Some of the things you'll learn in this book

• Modern cybersecurity threats and a brief history of Microsoft security
• All you need to know about Microsoft 365 Defender in the threat landscape
• Leveraging pro-active security benefits that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides
• How Microsoft Defender for Office 365 protects your email and communication platforms
• How Microsoft Defender for Identity protects your hybrid identity and Active Directory
• Improving visibility and security of your shadow IT and cloud services with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
• Hardening your environment with Vulnerability Management and Secure Score

You'll get the most out of this book if

• You're a security engineer, incident responder, blue teamer, or an IT security professional who wants to deploy and manage Microsoft 365 Defender services and successfully investigate and respond tocyber threats
• You have a basic understanding of networking, vulnerabilities, operating systems, email, Active Directory, and cloud apps

Table of Contents

1. Microsoft and Modern Cybersecurity Threats
2. Microsoft 365 Defender: The Big Picture
3. The Fundamentals of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
4. Onboarding Windows Clients and Servers
5. Getting Started with Microsoft Defender Antivirus for Windows
6. Advanced Microsoft Defender Antivirus for Windows
7. Managing Attack Surface Reduction for Windows
8. Managing Additional Capabilities for Windows
9. Onboarding and Managing macOS
10. Onboarding and Managing Linux Servers
11. Onboarding and Managing iOS and Android
12. Deploying Microsoft Defender for Identity
13. Managing Defender for Identity
14. Deploying Exchange Online Protection
15. Deploying Defender for Office 365

(N.B. Please use the Look Inside option to see further chapters)

Ruairidh (Ru) Campbell is a Microsoft Security MVP and leads Microsoft consultancy at Threatscape.

At Threatscape, Ru develops, delivers, and manages offerings and professional services for cybersecurity, compliance, identity, and management.

In the cybersecurity community, Ru runs the Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance user group and his blog (campbell.scot), regularly speaks at other user groups and conferences, and contributes to well-known industry publications such as Practical 365.

Ru holds 14 Microsoft certifications and a B.Sc. (Distinction) in computer networking from the University of the West of Scotland. Away from cybersecurity, he is a petrolhead who enjoys heavy metal and hiking around Scotland with his wife.

Viktor Hedberg is a Microsoft Security MVP and senior consultant at Truesec.

At Truesec, Viktor works with proactive security measures within the Microsoft sphere of technologies, by delivering workshops on best practices and by his deep technical expertise in these areas.

In the cybersecurity community, Viktor runs his blogs at Truesec (Experts – viktor-hedberg). Alongside this, he is one of the hosts of the Swedish Windows Security user group, as well as a co-host of the Swedish podcast The Nerd Herd. He is a frequent speaker at both conferences and user groups around the world, focusing on matters of Microsoft Security.

Viktor holds numerous Microsoft certifications, as well as being a Microsoft Certified Trainer. Away from cybersecurity, Viktor is a family man, spending most of his time with his wife and three kids, as well as enjoying football, both as a practitioner and as a fan. Heavy metal has been part of his life since his early teens.