Microsoft continues to extend security for all with mobile protection for Android

Just a year ago, we shared our first steps on a journey to enable our customers to protect endpoints running a variety of platforms with our announcement of Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac. Knowing that each of our customers have unique environments and unique needs and are looking for more unification in their security solutions, we communicated our commitment to build security solutions from Microsoft, not just for Microsoft. Since then, we’ve announced capabilities for Linux servers, and at RSA, and we offered you a sneak peek into our mobile threat defense investments.

Today, I’m proud to announce the public preview of Microsoft Defender ATP for Android.

Protecting mobile devices from evolving threats, phishing attacks, unwanted apps

As more business is getting done on mobile devices, the lines blur between work and personal life. The threats here are unique. For example, one of the biggest and fastest growing threats on mobile is phishing attacks, majority of which happen outside of email, such as via phishing sites, messaging apps, games, and other applications, and are tricky to spot on smaller form factors. Other common mobile threats include malicious applications that users are lured into downloading, as well as increased risk introduced by rooted devices that may allow unnecessary escalated privileges and the installation of unauthorized applications.

In this rapidly evolving world of mobile threats, Microsoft is taking a holistic approach to tackling these challenges and to securing enterprises and their data with our new mobile threat defense capabilities. We’re leveraging our unique visibility into the threat landscape and the vast signal, intelligence, and security expertise we have from across domains, such as our expertise in phishing and email, our endpoint threat research on malware and attacker techniques, and our focus on identity and zero trust to bring protection capabilities to mobile. Our integrated approach to security enables us to provide more complete coverage. Leveraging these capabilities, Microsoft Defender ATP for Android will help to protect our customers and their users by delivering:

• Protection from phishing and access to risky domains and URLs through web protection capabilities that will block unsafe sites accessed through SMS/text, WhatsApp, email, browsers, and other apps. We’re using the same Microsoft Defender SmartScreen services that are on Windows to quickly detect malicious sites which means that a decision to block a suspicious site will apply across all devices in the enterprise.
• Proactive scanning of malicious applications, files, and potentially unwanted applications (PUA) that users may download to their mobile devices. Our capabilities and investments in cloud-powered protection and intelligence on application reputation allow us to quickly detect sophisticated malware and apps that that may display undesirable behavior.
• Adding layers of protection to help prevent and limit the impact of breaches in an organization. By leveraging tight integration with Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Conditional Access, mobile devices that have been compromised with malicious apps or malware are considered high risk and are blocked from accessing corporate resources.
• A unified security experience through Microsoft Defender Security Center where defenders can see alerts and easily get the additional context they need to quickly assess and respond to threats across Windows, Mac, Linux, and now mobile devices.

There’s more to share on how these capabilities work and how to get started on the blog in the Microsoft Defender ATP tech community.

In the coming months we will be releasing additional capabilities on Android and you will hear more from us about our investments in mobile threat defense for iOS devices as well.

I’m also thrilled to share that our initial release of Microsoft Defender ATP for Linux is now generally available. Customers have asked us to broaden our selection of platforms natively supported by Microsoft Defender ATP, and today we’re excited to officially start our journey with Linux. This release marks an important moment for all Microsoft Defender ATP customers when Microsoft Defender ATP becomes a truly unified solution to secure the full spectrum of desktop and server platforms that are common across enterprise environments: Windows, macOS, and Linux.

We are committed to helping organizations secure their unique and heterogenous environments and we have so much more in store for you this year. We’re excited for you to join us in our journey as we continue to deliver the industry’s best in integrated threat protection solutions.

For more information on Microsoft Security Solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us at @MSFTSecurity for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

-Rob

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