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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender External...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
27th
Average Rating
8.0
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
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (4th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 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 2.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

SF
Jul 3, 2024
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.
Anthony Alvarico - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 9, 2024
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.

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 solution does not affect a user's workflow."
"Defender's integration with our identity solutions is critical in our current setup."
"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."
"It is very easy to use, which is what we look for in these types of solutions."
"Better logging allows us to find problems and take appropriate steps to lock them out."
"The most valuable feature is the alerting system."
"The most valuable feature is the seamless integration across different clouds."
"It does a great job of monitoring and maintaining a security baseline. For us, that is a key element. The notifications are pretty good."
 

Cons

"With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support."
"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."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps' initial setup was quite technical but we were prepared. The time of the implementation depends on the job and how many users are being set up."
"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."
"I would like for it to be available on Mac and for it to support all of the features of Microsoft financing products. It is really for Windows."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps’s technical support services needs improvement."
"I would prefer to have filtering options incorporated within the policies, enabling the solution to perform tasks beyond mere blocking or allowing."
"Sometimes the support is actually lacking."
"I would like more customization of notifications. Currently, you either get everything or you get limited information. I would like to have something in between where we can customize the data that is included in notifications."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"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."
"Its pricing is on the higher side. Its price is definitely very high for a small-scale company. As an enterprise client, we do get benefits from Microsoft. We get a discounted price because of the number of users we have in our company. We have a premier package, and with that, we do get a lot of discounts. There are no additional costs. It only comes in the top-tier packages. Generally, the top-tier license is the best license that you can get for your organization. If you want, you can buy it separately, but that's not a good idea."
"We utilize the Microsoft E5 licensing, which encompasses the entire Microsoft suite; however, it is costly."
"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."
"It is a little bit expensive. When you want to have the complete package with Office 365, Defender, and everything else, it is expensive."
"This product is not expensive."
"The price could be better and should be reconsidered."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

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 ...
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...
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.
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...
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Cloud App Security?
It's relatively low-cost, especially since it's often bundled with Microsoft 365.
 

Also Known As

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

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Customers for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps include Accenture, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and Nakilat.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft and others in Microsoft Security Suite. Updated: November 2024.
814,763 professionals have used our research since 2012.