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
81 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)
81 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
81 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)
81 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)
81 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)
81 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

microsoft surface laptop 5g

Microsoft Raises Prices for All Surface PCs, Making Them More Expensive Than Equivalent Macs

Tuesday April 14, 2026 4:21 pm PDT by
Microsoft increased prices for all of its Surface PCs this week, with most models priced hundreds of dollars higher than they were when launching. Windows Central highlighted the increases, which now see Microsoft's mid-range models priced above $1,000 and flagship models priced starting at $1,500. A Microsoft spokesperson said the price increase was due to "recent increases in memory and...
General Apps Reddit Feature

Reddit Starts Blocking Mobile Website, Pushing Users to App Instead

Monday May 11, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
Social network Reddit recently began blocking mobile visitors to its website while pushing them to download the official Reddit app, and it's fair to say that the move is not going down well with users. If you visit reddit.com on your iPhone today, you may see a new popup that can't be dismissed, asking you to "get the app to keep using Reddit." A Reddit spokesperson told Ars Technica...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...