Microsoft Defender for Endpoint brings distant deployment to iOS
Microsoft has taken one other step towards making life significantly simpler for enterprise admins looking for to safe fleets of distant iOS gadgets on the endpoint.
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With the newest Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) preview for iOS, Microsoft has taken one other step that ought to make life simpler for IT directors who have to safe distant iOS gadgets on the endpoint.
Endpoint safety with out the person friction
The MDE preview features a new functionality to put in Defender for Endpoint remotely and robotically on any gadgets enrolled within the service. The firm first introduced its intention to ship the characteristic final month.
In observe, this appears comparatively friction-free.
Once configured, the app will probably be put in on iPhones and iPads with out requiring any person interplay. The gadgets are then added to the Microsoft Defender Security console and the person is knowledgeable that the set up has taken place.
With MDE put in, the gadget will acquire all of the anti-phishing, jailbreak detection, and vulnerability evaluation instruments supplied by the service. These embody unsafe connection blocking, which is invaluable for distant employees who might unknowingly use insecure networks.
[Also read: How Jamf plans to let Microsoft Endpoint manage enterprise iPhones]
This data can be made out there to safety groups who can monitor threats throughout all lively endpoints through the console. These groups will obtain an alert about any safety occasions — for instance, if a tool has been jailbroken. And if Conditional Access is in place, the gadget will probably be blocked from accessing company knowledge as soon as it exceeds the appropriate threat rating.
What this implies is that safety professionals trying to guard present groups or onboarding new recruits can put MDE safety in place with out requiring person interplay. It’s an strategy that enables customers to concentrate on their job, moderately than needing to barter a sophisticated set up course of.
“This eases the deployment frictions and significantly reduces the time needed to deploy the app across all devices as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint gets silently activated on targeted devices and starts protecting your iOS estate,” Microsoft’s Sunayana Singh wrote in a weblog submit.
Defender for Endpoint on iOS protects iOS gadgets (iPads and iPhones) operating iOS 12.0 and later. To set up MDE, admins should open up the Microsoft Endpoint Admin Center and open Devices>Configuration Profiles>Create Profile the place they select the platform (iOS/iPadOS), arrange a VPN connection, and set up the code. More data on deployment is obtainable right here.
Microsoft has been shifting quick to assist Apple fleets.
It first launched iOS assist for Defender for Endpoint in December 2020 and gave enterprise IT distant endpoint gadget safety alerts just a few months later.
The firm isn’t fully motivated by the necessity to assist the quickly rising variety of Apple gadgets in use throughout the enterprise, although this can clearly be a part of the mission.
It displays Microsoft’s a lot wider technique to broaden its providers — together with safety — throughout all lively platforms. Defender for Endpoint additionally helps Linux, Android, and Windows 10 on Arm gadgets. (While the corporate seems sadly reluctant to license Windows to Arm-powered Macs, it continues to optimize its providers for the platform and has up to date MDE for Apple Silicon.)
“Trends like employee technology choice programs and the consumerization of IT continue to grow, and organizations need management tools that can adapt and shift to hybrid environments,” stated Microsoft company Vice President Brad Anderson in 2020.
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