Microsoft Defender for Endpoint finally gets this important feature

Should bolster corporate network security in the new hybrid workplace

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Businesses will now be able to useMicrosoftDefender for Endpoint to secure their unmanagedendpoint devices.

First announced ina public previewseveral months ago, the new capability gives Defender for Endpoint users visibility over unmanaged devices, whichMicrosoft arguespose the greatest risk to a corporate network’s security, especially in the newhybrid workenvironment.

“The riskiest threat is the one you don’t know about. Unmanaged devices are literally one of your weakest links. Smart attackers go there first,” said David Weston, Microsoft Director of Enterprise and OS Security.

Eye on your realm

Compromised unmanaged devices have been used in the past as springboards to launch broader attacks, such as theEquifax breach, which can be traced back to an unpatched vulnerability on an internet-facing unmanaged server.

Microsoft further drives home the point of reigning in unmanaged devices by leveraging on itssurvey from October 2020that revealed that users are 71 percent more likely to be infected on an unmanaged device.

With the new capability, Defender for Endpoint will be able to sniff out unmanagedworkstations,servers, and mobile endpoints (Windows,Linux,macOS,iOS, andAndroid) that haven’t yet been onboarded and then secure them.

Furthermore, the new capability also discovers network devices, such asrouters,firewalls,VPNgateways and adds them to the device inventory using periodic scans.

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One of the interesting features of Defender for Endpoint’s new capabilities is the built-in logic that can differentiate between corporate and personal networks to ensure it doesn’t accidentally add your private devices not controlled by the organization to its list.

With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’sTechRadar Pro’sexpert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.

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