Microsoft Defender ATP Arrives for Android

One of the challenges of the modern workplace is that endpoints have evolved faster than some of the technologies needed to protect them. We often think about endpoints being laptops, as that is the traditional way of exposing your environment, but it extends to nearly everything from widgets collecting data in the field to the phones we carry in our pocket.

One of the products that Microsoft offers its customers is ATP, or Advanced Threat Protection, and that service is reaching two new endpoints today. First up, Defender ATP for Linux has reached general availability and there is a new preview of Defender ATP for Android.

Image #1 Expand
msedge 2020 06 23 15 43 54

The app, which is being released today, is a ‘preview’ with more features being added down the road. But starting with this release, ATP on Android can help protect your users from phishing, scanning of malicious applications, files, and potentially unwanted applications, prevent/limit the impact of a breach, and by using ATP for Android, you have unified security center for defenders to manage all endpoints and functionality.

But does Android really need malware/phishing/data breach protection? That’s a fair question and something you should consider for your environment. While the Office 365 suite does a good job of preventing data leakage with various features, that’s not going to stop external threats from attempting to gain access to your environment through a compromised Android handset.

The reality is that even though Google tries to scan and prevent malicious apps, the end result is that many are finding ways to bypass these filters. This means you can either try to ignore the potential threat to your environment (not a good idea) or find methods to harden your operations. Keep in mind, there are other solutions available too, besides Microsoft’s ATP offering.

Microsoft provides a slightly more technical look at how the application works that you can check out here before deploying it to your users.