Back in February, Microsoft announced that the Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, what we have previously known as Defender on the Windows platform, would be making its way to the Android platform.
Now, Microsoft Defender ATP, as it is widely known, is available for preview on Android.
Unlike other software from the company and other developers that we may have previewed before, there is a twist regarding Microsoft Defender ATP.
Microsoft is targeting enterprise users with Defender ATP. As such, the preview is also limited to those with corporate Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) licenses.
For those enterprise users, Microsoft Defender ATP will act like any other antivirus software. It will complement already existing safeguards like Google Play Protect to proactively detect malware and potentially unwanted applications and weed them out. It will also leverage on the Microsoft Defender Smart Screen, which “protects against phishing or malware websites and applications, and the downloading of potentially malicious files” by checking downloaded files against a list of reported malicious software sites and apps known to be unsafe (Windows users will be familiar with Smart Screen – it kicks in when installing apps), to keep users safe. It will also automatically block any connections it deems unsafe.
While Defender ATP will provide an organization’s IT department with a front-row view of all the threats and activity on devices accessing the corporate environment, it will also conveniently plug into other systems Microsoft offers organizations like Endpoint Manager to, for instance, block a compromised device from accessing critical information like work emails on Outlook.
