Microsoft Defender ATP Security Platform Coming to iOS and Android - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Microsoft Defender ATP Security Platform Coming to iOS and Android

by

Microsoft today announced that it plans to bring a version of its Defender ATP security platform to iOS and Android.

microsoft defender atp mac
Defender ATP provides "preventive protection, post-breach detection, and automated investigation and response" for Windows and macOS, but it is unclear what the platform will offer on iOS given it is a sandboxed operating system. Existing "antivirus" apps for the iPhone typically only offer features such as identity theft and phishing prevention, website and phone call blocking, and VPN access.

Microsoft plans to share more details about Defender ATP for iOS and Android next week at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx Avatar
84 months ago
Microsoft Defender is great on Windows; it's nice to finally have good malware protection on Windows without having to download third party antimalware software.

However, I don't really see the point of this on MacOS. Macs already have a malicious software detection system, and so far it's done its job pretty admirably. I suppose Defender could help find Windows malware being downloaded to a Mac before it ends up on someone's other computer or Windows VM, but that seems like a limited usage scenario.

Regardless, though, having more options is great. Bring it on!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago
Ideal tool to reduce battery, randomly cause CPU to overclock and fans to spin up to maximum.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Dee Avatar
84 months ago
It’s built on the same engine which ESET uses; and I’m already using that on my Mac.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago

Sure, if you think of your employees as threats, rather than human beings deserving of privacy.
ANY sane IT-admin or infosec responsible sees all users of corporate resources as potential targets for intentional or unintentional compromise and data leak. The higher privilege the more counter measures and monitoring.

Identity, information and device based posture in that order.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago

Yeah - and because it's all done on MS backend your complete network traffic - browser URLs your opening etc. - is logged on their backend (again: true for MS Defender ATP).
And your IT admins have a nice dashboard on i.e. https://securitycenter.windows.com/ where they "check"/see what your doing (which websites your opening, when and from where) on your device.
So from a privacy point of view - that's Orwellian total surveillance...
Which is extremely valuable when you need to backtrack what was stolen, where it was moved, which other systems were impacted and what residual RAT/malware/persistence needs to be cleaned out afterwards during a breach?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago

It’s built on the same engine which ESET uses; and I’m already using that on my Mac.
Are you finding it doing anything useful?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

Friday July 24, 2026 7:26 pm PDT by
It is now late July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are less than two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro...
Apple Intelligence Comes Under Fire Feature

Apple Will 'Watch Everything Burn' When AI Bubble Bursts - Ed Zitron

Monday July 27, 2026 7:11 am PDT by
Memory prices have doubled, Macs and iPads have gone up, and iPhones are expected to follow. Ed Zitron – who writes the Where's Your Ed At newsletter, hosts the Better Offline podcast, and has been described by Politico as the AI boom's most "acerbic gadfly" – has spent years arguing the buildout driving those costs will never pay for itself. We asked him what happens to Apple if he's...
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max Feature

'Apple Upgrade' Program Launching on Tuesday

Sunday July 26, 2026 8:20 am PDT by
Update — July 28: Apple Upgrade has officially launched. In his newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that a new "Apple Upgrade" program is set to launch in the U.S. on Tuesday, July 28. Apple will stop accepting iPhone Upgrade Program sign-ups on the same day, but he said customers who are already enrolled will be able to remain in the program "for the time being." ...