Microsoft has finally decided to extend its endpoint protection platform to additional operating systems, starting with macOS. As it announced the release of Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) for macOS in limited preview, it renamed Windows Defender to Microsoft Defender (via VentureBeat).
The initial preview of Defender for Mac will focus on signature-based malware detection. Defender ATP for Windows tracks various system behaviors and reports them to the ATP cloud service, which can be used to detect threats even without identifying any specific piece of malware. The Mac client will soon include similar reporting capabilities as well.
Microsoft Defender ATP gives macOS users “next-gen” antivirus protection, but Microsoft is also promising to add Endpoint Detection and Response, and Threat and Vulnerability Management (TVM) capabilities in public preview next month. TVM is designed to help security teams discover, prioritize, and remediate known vulnerabilities and misconfigurations exploited by hackers.
Microsoft has also announced the launch of Windows Virtual Desktop in public preview and has also rolled out a handful of software updates, including those for Office 365 ProPlus, Windows 10, and Microsoft 365.
