Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Now Supports Android and iOS Devices -- Redmondmag.com

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Now Supports Android and iOS Devices

By Kurt Mackie
01/27/2022

Microsoft announced this week that the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint service now has threat and vulnerability management support for "all major device platforms across the organization -- spanning workstations, servers, and mobile devices."

By "all major device platforms," Microsoft means that it just added Android and iOS support, which is now at the "general availability" commercial-release stage in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. The product already had support for macOS and Windows devices.

Linux server (but not client) distros are supported, too, in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint product, provided that the operating systems are listed in this Microsoft document.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint can now assess Android OS versions for vulnerabilities, as well as installed applications. It won't assess the vulnerability of applications in "bring your own device" Android scenarios, but IT pros with administrative privileges can still enable that capability. For Android Enterprise users, just the apps that were installed for a work profile will get assessed by Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

On the iOS side, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint can check the vulnerability of iOS versions on devices, but not the vulnerability of applications. Microsoft is planning to add the ability to assess applications "at a later date."

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint was recently reorganized by Microsoft into two products, Plan 1 and Plan 2. The new Plan 1 product, for organizations just looking for device protection capabilities, was commercially released in November and is expected to show up sometime this year for organizations having Microsoft 365 E3/A3 subscriptions.

Last year, Microsoft indicated that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint was getting centralized oversight over newer Windows and Windows Server devices that were not managed by Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Oversight over Linux and macOS devices not managed by Microsoft Endpoint Manager was said to be coming, too, back then.

The ability of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to detect unmanaged devices was added back in June.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint formerly was called "Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection," but it got renamed in 2020.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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