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Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Microsoft Entra ID Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender External...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
34th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Attack Surface Management (ASM) (12th)
Microsoft Entra ID Protection
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (8th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, 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 Entra ID Protection is 4.6%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

AndyChan3 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced visibility and exposes vulnerabilities but needs more integration
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will move to full-scale production in another year, maybe Microsoft External Attack Surface Management…
Mahender Nirwan - PeerSpot reviewer
Access to other software is just one click away and suitable for big organizations
Currently, we have limited use of Microsoft AD. We only use it to see if user blocks are available. If they are, we unblock the account and get access accordingly. AD has paid access control features. We can add access control over AD. For example, for documentation, we use an Outline tool. It's open source, and we add our company's knowledge base to it. It's an alternative to Confluence. We don't want everyone to have access to all documentation. If I create documentation for my team, only my team should have access, not support or sales. We can add these scopes or access controls over AD. Once integrated, the person will get the appropriate access control features upon logging in. Role-based access control is a great feature of Active Directory.

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."
"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."
"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."
"The deployment process is straightforward. It takes a few hours to complete."
"For me, automatization is most valuable."
"The primary and most valuable aspect of Azure AD identity is its ability to function seamlessly on both on-premise and cloud infrastructure, eliminating the need for extensive updates. However, this dual solution can pose vulnerabilities that require substantial support and security measures in the on-premise environment. Despite the challenges, it is currently not feasible to completely abandon AD, especially for companies in the sales and energy sectors. The integration with Microsoft Defender is crucial for enhancing security, making identity and security the primary focus and purpose of Azure AD."
"The reverse proxy feature provides additional security that is not available in other solutions."
"These features ease the job of security analysts, providing a better vision of user activities and potential risks."
"The multifactor authentication feature is effective, providing an additional layer of security."
"The valuable features of Entra ID Protection include providing me visibility of my entire estate, managing access, and having a level of control."
"I find the most valuable feature to be conditional access. It allows for comprehensive security controls, network security, and application label security."
 

Cons

"Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement."
"With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support."
"The integration is not as seamless compared to competitors like Palo Alto."
"The solution is not optimized to work with Mac devices on a granular level. They work seamlessly with Windows but have a lot to improve to work with Mac devices. It also needs to improve stability and scalability."
"Microsoft has room for improvement in simplifying their integration with third-party solutions and making the licensing model more understandable."
"The platform's pricing and scalability need improvement."
"Identity labeling and sensitivity needs improvement."
"The product's initial setup phase is not easy."
"There is room for improvement in the ability for Entra ID Protection to inherit roles and configurations from whatever solution I am migrating from, so that these don't have to be built from the ground up during the implementation process."
"Entra ID lacks a function to synchronize from the cloud to the local directory. This is a significant issue since there is no write-back feature from the cloud to local, which would allow me to use my own credentials from the cloud tenant securely."
"There is a lot of confusion around the user interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The product cost is on the expensive side."
"From one to ten, if one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the tool a seven out of ten."
"The pricing is competitive in the SMA segment and runs $5-$6 per user."
"The price of Azure AD is not expensive."
"Azure Active Directory Identity Protection is not very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Insurance Company
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement. Introduction of more AI automation into the products would also be beneficial. The integration is not as seamless co...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
The pricing for Microsoft Entra ID protection is not expensive. It varies based on the company's size and quality.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
I have set up my Active Directory locally for the same domain. However, Entra ID lacks a function to synchronize from the cloud to the local directory. This is a significant issue since there is no...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure Active Directory Identity Protection, Azure AD Identity Protection
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs. Microsoft Entra ID Protection and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
848,207 professionals have used our research since 2012.