After being named a leader in four of Gartner’s Magic Quadrants in 2023, Microsoft security continues its record of industry recognition, this time for its XDR offering.
As of June 2024, Microsoft has been named a leader in The Forrester Wave™: Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Platforms. Microsoft Defender XDR received the highest scores in Forrester’s strategy, current offering, and market presence categories, and of the 22 evaluation criteria used by Forrester in its assessment, Microsoft took the highest possible spot across 15, including Endpoint Native Detection, Threat Hunting, Vision, Surface Investigation, Analyst Experience and Innovation.
What is The Forrester Wave™?
The Forrester Wave™ uses a transparent methodology to assist software, hardware, and IT services buyers in making well-informed purchasing decisions based on consistent assessment criteria across a range of vendor offerings.
In its appraisal of Microsoft Defender XDR, Forrester reported:
“Microsoft is refining the most complete XDR offering in the market today. Microsoft has long been one of the most vital players in the enterprise software space, starting with its multiple-decades-long iron grip on the operating system market. After years of innovation and a deluge of funding, it has ensnared the enterprise security market as well. Its foray into enterprise security is led by its vision to protect the world’s businesses across all assets and delivered on by the Microsoft Defender suite.”
The reference customers used in Forrester’s assessment drew attention to features unique to Microsoft Defender XDR, describing, “a full timeline of activity that occurs on each endpoint as useful for investigation”. They also noted how “[the] suite enables users to respond to alerts across integrated native tools (Defender for Cloud and Cloud Apps), search over the data, and build user-generated detections.”
Recent additions to Microsoft Defender XDR, including Microsoft Defender for Cloud Data and Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management further aid teams in gaining access to end-to-end data. Its visibility, attack disruption, and detection and response capabilities now work across:
- Endpoints
- Internet of things (IoT)
- Operational technology (OT)
- On-premises and cloud identities
- Email and collaboration tools
- Software as a service (SaaS) apps
- Cloud workloads
- Data insights
In addition to a unified platform and whole-picture data, Microsoft Defender XDR also offers its customers:
Embedded generative AI
Microsoft Copilot for Security is an industry-leading solution that enables security teams to streamline and simplify common, repetitive tasks for improved productivity and better-informed insight. With Microsoft Copilot’s generative AI, teams can simplify incident remediation and guided response, reverse engineer malware code, and create KQL (Kusto Query Language) in natural language.
Advanced attack disruption
By correlating trillions of signals and utilising the power of AI and machine learning through automatic attack disruption, Microsoft Defender XDR is able to proactively detect a number of in-progress attacks including ransomware and business email compromise.
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The Forrester Wave™: Extended Detection And Response Platforms, Q2 2024, Allie Mellen, Joseph, Blankenship, Sarah Morana, and Michael Belden. June 3, 2024.
The Forrester Wave™ is copyrighted by Forrester Research, Inc. Forrester and Forrester Wave™ are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. The Forrester Wave™ is a graphical representation of Forrester’s call on a market and is plotted using a detailed spreadsheet with exposed scores, weightings, and comments. Forrester does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in the Forrester Wave™. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change.
