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Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Palo Alto Networks WildFire comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Defender for Identity offers cost-effective, efficient security breach prevention, reducing management time without additional hardware needs, meeting client expectations.
Sentiment score
7.4
Palo Alto Networks WildFire provides rapid ROI with affordable, real-time threat prevention, reducing costs and enhancing centralized threat management.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
9.1
Microsoft Defender for Identity support is effective and praised, but lower-tier users may experience delays and first-level challenges.
Sentiment score
7.5
Palo Alto Networks WildFire customer service is praised for expertise but criticized for slow regional responses and handling critical cases.
Generally, the support is more effective than other providers like Oracle.
There is a lack of SLA adherence, and third-party partners do not provide prompt responses.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
9.2
Microsoft Defender for Identity is praised for scalability, handling varied environments and expanding easily with company growth.
Sentiment score
8.0
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is praised for its scalability, adaptability, and versatility in diverse environments and network sizes.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender for Identity is stable and reliable, with positive user ratings despite occasional downtime and minor issues.
Sentiment score
8.4
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is praised for its stability, reliability, seamless integration, and superior threat handling performance.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Identity needs enhanced security, integration, user-friendliness, threat intelligence, and improved documentation to address user challenges.
Palo Alto Networks WildFire needs enhanced protocol inspection, better integration, improved threat intelligence, intuitive interface, and automation with AI.
One improvement I would recommend is the integration of an admin application within Teams, allowing easy access to attack information on a mobile platform.
The dashboard should provide better visibility, especially in showing how many files are sent to Wildfire and their findings.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Identity offers cost-effective pricing through E5 licensing, with flexible options for enterprises based on location.
Palo Alto Networks WildFire is costly but valued for strong threat detection, with pricing varying by features and region.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Identity enhances security with integration, AI analysis, real-time alerts, and a user-friendly dashboard for threat management.
Palo Alto Networks WildFire offers robust malware protection with sandboxing, threat detection, real-time updates, and seamless Palo Alto integration.
The most valuable feature is its hybrid artificial intelligence, which gathers forensic data to track and counteract security threats, much like the CSI series in effect.
The most valuable feature of Wildfire is its sandboxing capability for examining suspicious files or locations.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Iden...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (7th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (1st)
Palo Alto Networks WildFire
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Identity is 8.0%, up from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks WildFire is 12.7%, up from 11.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Easily detects advanced attacks based on user behavior
The best feature is security monitoring, which detects and investigates suspicious user activities. It can easily detect advanced attacks based on the behavior. The credentials are securely stored, so it reduces the risk of compromise. It will monitor user behavior based on artificial intelligence to protect the identities in your organization. It will even help secure the on-premise Active Directory. It syncs from the cloud to on-premise, and on-premise modifications will be reflected in the cloud. Identity harvesting is the most common threat. Legacy Microsoft solutions and Amazon face the same issues in the cloud. Users don't implement other security mechanisms in the cloud. In an on-premise environment, we would have multiple security devices like firewalls and several layers of security. Cloud users are less bothered because cloud features are there and only need to be configured. Microsoft Defender for Cloud is the best solution because all threats are completely visible, and it has a great dashboard. The dashboard displays each threat and score, so we can identify the threat rating and act efficiently to avoid compromising user identities. We have a single sign-on feature on the cloud. If we lose a single set of identities, it can compromise the entire organization, including cloud and on-premise. The same identities are being used everywhere. The user activity has to be completely visible on the dashboard, and it has to generate a pattern. It will notify us if there is any security breach. It is a complete monitoring set. Minor changes in the user identity can lead to data leakage. If a password is changed in the cloud, it will be reflected automatically in the on-premise. This minor change will trigger an alert in Microsoft Defender for Identity. It ensures that each cloud identity is well protected from spoofing. It has a comprehensive database of well-known spoofing techniques, enabling us to provide cloud identity protection completely. It has a vast scope because it is completely single sign-on. In the emerging industry, we use single sign-on because users need to authenticate, but it's challenging to remember multiple passwords. Once your user signs in, you can access all the data. An identity compromise would lead to various issues and affect the data on-premises. Defender maintains a constantly updated database with the latest signatures, attack models, and threats. If it detects one threat, it will monitor the suspicious event and give us frequent alerts. Identity protection is vital because we use an identity mechanism for everything, including firewall-related activities. The exact identity used in the cloud is used in the most complex firewalls. We require an excellent migration technique to regain this user credential if something gets compromised. Blocking this requires a massive set of procedures. Microsoft Defender comprehensively monitors identity and provides frequent alerts regarding any issue, so we don't need to think of anything else. Defender's bidirectional sync capabilities are helpful because we need to sync data from multiple directions, including tenant-to-tenant, on-premise-to-cloud, and cloud-to-cloud syncing. As a university, we have multiple tenants, so we need to sync or access data across platforms. That way, everything is more secure, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud also provides ample security for cloud transfers. The bidirectional sync capabilities are flawless—10 out of 10. Our on-premise Active Directory is perfectly synced with the Azure AD. Everything is synced with on-premise, and changes are reflected in minutes. If a problem with identity is addressed on the cloud, the fix will be mirrored on-premise and vice versa. Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Identity are bundled. If we have these two solutions, we don't need to worry about anything else or third-party antivirus. Microsoft Defender for Identity acts as a link to all the Microsoft security features that require identity-based validation. Microsoft Defender instantly provides identity security for all our applications, and users need not worry about typing their passwords. Even in situations with less complex encryption mechanisms, users don't need to worry about typing in their passwords. Defender will check and monitor if there are any flaws in that, and it will let us know if there are any issues. We're a Microsoft shop, so everything works together. If one feature isn't working, everything will be affected. If Defender isn't working, half of our Microsoft security features will be dead. Without identity security, user data can easily be compromised, and data can fall into the hands of intruders or other hackers. The solutions have to complement each other. If anything got wrong, the entire setup would have flaws. Microsoft security has a legacy security mechanism. A while back, we might have gone with Defender for Endpoint, but Microsoft has also grown into the face of the cloud. The same Defender solution is completely maintaining cloud security. We can imagine Microsoft's vast scale and how Defender can protect the cloud environment from vulnerabilities and attacks. We are definitely delighted with Microsoft products. The dashboard features are fantastic because it provides a comprehensive overview. It has a great alert mechanism and log inspector that tracks when users access various servers. With this kind of identity validation, we can control which servers the users can access. We have total visibility from the dashboard. We can track identity usage even if there are no issues. That is an essential advantage.
Mario Lacroix - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides seamless automation functionality and has a straightforward setup process
The platform's most valuable feature is its seamless automation within the broader Palo Alto ecosystem. Its ability to function autonomously, with automatic updates and integration with tools like Panorama, significantly reduces manual intervention. Additionally, its threat detection capabilities allow us to respond quickly to potential incidents, and the system is self-sufficient, managing itself once configured.
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824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user206346 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 11, 2015
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto Networks
Cisco ASA vs. Palo Alto: Management Goodies You often have comparisons of both firewalls concerning security components. Of course, a firewall must block attacks, scan for viruses, build VPNs, etc. However, in this post I am discussing the advantages and disadvantages from both vendors concerning…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Identity?
Microsoft Defender for Identity provides excellent visibility into threats by leveraging real-time analytics and data intelligence.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?
One improvement I would recommend is the integration of an admin application within Teams, allowing easy access to attack information on a mobile platform to promptly alert affected users and their...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?
I am actively working with Microsoft Defender for Identity for tasks involving SQL identity endpoint management and have used it since 2019.
How does Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks Wildfire?
The Cisco Firepower NGFW Firewall is a very powerful and very complex piece of anti-viral software. When one considers that fact, it is all the more impressive that the setup is a fairly straightf...
Which is better - Wildfire or FortiGate?
FortiGate has a lot going for it and I consider it to be the best, most user-friendly firewall out there. What I like the most about it is that it has an attractive web dashboard with very easy nav...
How does Cisco ASA Firewall compare with Palo Alto's WildFire?
When looking to change our ASA Firewall, we looked into Palo Alto’s WildFire. It works especially in preventing advanced malware and zero-day exploits with real-time intelligence. The sandbox featu...
 

Also Known As

Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure ATP, MS Defender for Identity
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.
Novamedia, Nexon Asia Pacific, Lenovo, Samsonite, IOOF, Sinogrid, SanDisk Corporation
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Palo Alto Networks WildFire and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.