Microsoft Releases Defender for Business for Existing Business Customers

Microsoft has released its Defender for Business security suite for existing Microsoft 365 Business Premium customers. That small business endpoint package was already in preview, but is now generally available.

Customers with a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription will automatically see Defender for Business in their Endpoint security portal, Microsoft writes. This does not require users to make any additional configurations. New 365 Business Premium customers can also use the feature immediately. Defender for Business automatically replaces Defender for Endpoint P1 if users already have a license for it. Defender for Endpoint P2 will continue to exist as long as a user’s license continues.

Microsoft released the Defender for Business security package at the end of last year as a standalone beta version. It is a cheaper version of Defender for Endpoint and is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, especially those with up to 300 employees. The company said it released the package because it saw that these small businesses were mainly affected by cyber attacks, but often found a security package too expensive.

The stable version of Defender for Endpoint can only be used for the Defender for Business customers for now. Microsoft is also still testing the beta of the standalone package. That package will be available ‘later this year’, but can still be tried out as a preview.