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
80 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)
80 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
80 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)
79 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)
80 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)
80 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

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Apple Business hero

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Tuesday March 24, 2026 8:53 am PDT by
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features. The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Tuesday March 24, 2026 12:31 pm PDT by
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and the AirPods 4. The firmware has a version number of 8B39, up from 8B34 on the AirPods Pro 3, 8B28 on the AirPods Pro 2, and 8B21 on the AirPods 4. There is no word on what's included in the firmware, but Apple has a support document with limited notes. Most updates are limited to bug fixes and performance...