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Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps comparison

Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management and Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps are both solutions in the Microsoft Security Suite category. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.6. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management holds a 0.2% mindshare in Microsoft Security Suite, compared to Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps users who would recommend it.
Microsoft Defender External...
Read 1 Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management review
  • 111 Views
  • 66 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
Microsoft Defender for Clou...
Read 33 Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps reviews
  • 1,374 Views
  • 1,121 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management and Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft and others in Microsoft Security Suite.

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Microsoft Security Suite
December 2024
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Helped 824,067 peers since 2012
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender External...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
28th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Attack Surface Management (ASM) (10th)
Microsoft Defender for Clou...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (4th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is 2.2%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

SF
Better at protecting from cyberattacks and haven't had any problems with the scalability of this solution
With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support. That's their weakness. They need to improve their support. Microsoft will always give good support to their big customers or partners, but we're not a big company. If you had a thousand employees and were a big customer, maybe they'd offer better support. But in my 35 years of IT experience, it's always been the same with Microsoft. They transfer us to Europe because we speak French, but when we want to speak in English, they transfer us to people who don't know the product. Most of the time, we find a solution before they call us back.
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Anthony Alvarico - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides discovery, data exfiltration, and sensitive data exposure at low cost
The deployment process is quick, taking two to three days. The implementation and customization require more time. We need to adjust the setup to fit the client's needs, which involves fine-tuning notifications and alerts to avoid overwhelming them. First, you need the appropriate licensing. Once you have that, go to security.microsoft.com and integrate with Defender for Endpoints to receive information. While you can ingest logs from different firewalls, such as Palo Alto or Cisco, we usually implement them with Defender for Endpoints. Once a laptop or desktop is set up in Defender for Endpoints, integrating Cloud Apps with the endpoints allows us to collect the data easily. I rate the initial setup a nine out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.
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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It seems to be better at protecting from cyberattacks."
"The product’s most valuable feature is SQL database."
"Defender for Cloud Apps has given us good visibility regarding what we've allowed into our environment until now."
"One of the most valuable features is auditing. Some of the other protection services have issues with auditing. Microsoft Defender for Cloud has an excellent auditing technique that helps us avoid the risk of filtering or information loss. You can use different tools to guarantee these things. It allows you to conduct an in-depth exploration of applications, users, and files that are harmful or suspicious. You can also enhance your security setup by creating personalized rules or policies that help you better control traffic in the cloud."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of management. It's important."
"The general usability of the solution is very straightforward."
"I like the alert policies because they are quite robust. It has some built-in templates that we can easily pick up. One of them is the alert for mass downloads, when a particular user is running a massive download on your SharePoint site."
"In Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, there is an option to enable files. Once you enable that, it will give you all the files in your organization and where they are located in the cloud... That feature is very useful for investigation purposes."
"I like the web GUI/the management interface. I also like the security of Microsoft. As compared to other manufacturers, it's less complex and easy to understand and work with."
More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps pros
 

Cons

"With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps’s technical support services needs improvement."
"The product is very good so far, however, it would be better if it could include more up-to-date threat protection."
"There could be more granular roles that are out of the box included in the product."
"I would prefer to have filtering options incorporated within the policies, enabling the solution to perform tasks beyond mere blocking or allowing."
"There are some features, such as user navigation content filtering, that are disabled by default, and it probably makes sense to enable them by default."
"I want them to enhance in-session policy."
"We sometimes get errors when we create policies, which is somewhat annoying because some policies stop working due to misconfigurations. We find this challenging because it limits our options for troubleshooting an issue."
"In the future, I would like to see more plug-and-play capabilities that use AI to tell you what needs to be done. It would be helpful if it scanned our devices and made security suggestions, on a configuration basis."
More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We utilize the Microsoft E5 licensing, which encompasses the entire Microsoft suite; however, it is costly."
"Microsoft offers bundle discounts and a pay-as-you-go option."
"Our clients normally use the Microsoft E1 licensing, which is renewed yearly."
"This product is not expensive."
"It has pretty good pricing."
"The pricing is a little bit high but right now, we are okay with it because of the compatibility with Office 365, Teams, and Azure AD."
"The pricing is fair."
"The cost could be improved when you need to pay for anything. For example, refreshing files takes time to load, though it may be my Internet. To improve the refresh time, Microsoft says that we need to pay for a Premium license, and I don't like paying for things that help make a solution better."
More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
I don't see a big difference in pricing compared to its competitors. With "intelligent" or "smart" antivirus, people are willing to pay a little more for something that could make a difference for ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support. That's their weakness. They need to improve their support. Microsoft will always give good support to their big customers or p...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
The kind of companies using it typically have one hundred or more users and are in various sectors, like manufacturing and insurance. We use it to protect against cyberattacks.
See all answers
Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Microsoft Cloud App Security?
Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-native solution, unifying multiple features like DNS-layer security, threat intelli...
See all answers
What do you like most about Microsoft Cloud App Security?
It does a great job of monitoring and maintaining a security baseline. For us, that is a key element. The notifications are pretty good.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Cloud App Security?
Honestly, it is expensive. I would rate the price as eight out of ten.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management (CSAM) vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management Logo
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management (CSAM) vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Compared 24% of the time
Tenable Attack Surface Management vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management Logo
Tenable Attack Surface Management vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Compared 21% of the time
Mandiant Advantage vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management Logo
Mandiant Advantage vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Compared 11% of the time
CyCognito vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management Logo
CyCognito vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Compared 10% of the time
Resecurity EASM vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management Logo
Resecurity EASM vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Compared 9% of the time
More Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management Competitors
Zscaler Internet Access vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Logo
Zscaler Internet Access vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Compared 23% of the time
Cisco Umbrella vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Logo
Cisco Umbrella vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Compared 18% of the time
Netskope vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Logo
Netskope vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Compared 12% of the time
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Logo
Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Compared 7% of the time
Skyhigh Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Logo
Skyhigh Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Compared 4% of the time
More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Attack Surface Management (ASM)
November 2024
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management reportDownload Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management product report
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
December 2024
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps reportDownload Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Cloud App Security, Microsoft Cloud App Security
 

Learn More

Video not available
Microsoft
Microsoft
 

Overview

In this era of hybrid work, shadow IT creates an increasingly serious security risk. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management helps cloud security teams see unknown and unmanaged resources outside the firewall.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is a comprehensive security solution that provides protection for cloud-based applications and services. It offers real-time threat detection and response, as well as advanced analytics and reporting capabilities. With Defender for Cloud Apps, organizations can ensure the security of their cloud environments and safeguard against cyber threats. Whether you're running SaaS applications, IaaS workloads, or PaaS services, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps can help you secure your cloud environment and protect your business from cyber threats.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Benefits:
  • Provides comprehensive security for cloud applications
  • Integrates with other Microsoft security tools
  • Easy to use and deploy
  • Provides real-time threat detection and response
  • Strong protection against phishing attacks and other common threats
  • Highly customizable to meet specific needs of different organizations
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Use Cases:
  • Governance, authentication, security, and compliance. 
  • Detects shadow IT and anomalous user behavior
  • Controls access to applications
  • Provides auditing and filtering setups
  • Used for end-user compute devices, file monitoring, user investigation, and activity
  • Used for data governance, threat detection, and getting visibility over cloud applications
  • Used to identify information about applications beyond organizational boundaries
  • Prevent exfiltration and data filtration of corporate data
  • Used to deal with spam emails and detect shadow IT

Reviews from Real Users

Ram-Krish, Cloud Security & Governance at a financial services firm, says that Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps "Integrates well and helps us in protecting sensitive information, but takes time to scan and apply the policies and cannot detect everything we need".

PeerSpot user, Senior Cloud & Security Consultant at a tech services, writes that Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps "Great for monitoring user activity and protecting data while integrating well with other applications".

Simon Burgess,Infrastructure Engineer at SBITSC, states that Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is "A fluid, intelligent product for great visibility, centralized management, and increased uptime".

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Customers for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps include Accenture, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and Nakilat.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Security Suite
December 2024
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