Security teams are tasked with protecting an expanding attack surface with limited personnel and around-the-clock vigilance, facing adversaries who never rest. As cybercriminals increasingly leverage AI to enhance and scale their operations, the frequency, speed, and complexity of threats are on the rise. Bridging this gap requires more than just tools; it necessitates a partner that combines a top-tier security platform with extensive intelligence and human experts ready to act on your behalf at any time. This is precisely the purpose of Microsoft Defender Experts MDR.
We are thrilled to share that we have been recognized as a Leader in the 2026 IDC MarketScape: Worldwide MDR/MXDR for the Enterprise Vendor Assessment (Doc #US54792426, July 2026). You can read the excerpt here.
Expert-led MDR, built on the Microsoft Defender platform
Microsoft Defender Experts MDR is a 24/7 managed detection and response service led by experts, designed to assist security teams in triaging, investigating, and responding to incidents, enabling them to halt cyberattackers and avert future breaches. Instead of adding a separate suite of tools and connectors to your environment, this service operates natively on Microsoft Defender, providing integrated protection across endpoints, identities, email, cloud applications, cloud workloads, and network security, along with continuous proactive threat hunting through Microsoft Defender Experts Hunting.
Since the service is delivered on the same platform it monitors, improvements in detection and intelligence are continuously available to customers. The insights generated by our experts also enhance protection across the wider Defender ecosystem, ensuring that every customer benefits from our experiences in defending various environments.
Threat intelligence at internet scale
Effective detection begins with robust intelligence. Defender Experts MDR utilizes Microsoft’s extensive global threat intelligence, which includes over 10,000 security researchers and the analysis of 100 trillion signals daily across billions of users and millions of organizations. This extensive reach allows our analysts to identify subtle patterns early, often before a campaign escalates, and respond with greater confidence than intelligence derived from any single customer’s telemetry could offer.
AI-accelerated operations, expert-led decisions
Defender Experts MDR also integrates advanced AI and generative AI with experienced human experts. AI helps filter out noise, grades and classifies incidents, and speeds up investigations at machine speed and scale, while our analysts are responsible for the outcomes. According to the IDC MarketScape, “70% of AI-assisted workflows are enabled through automated noise filtering, AI-based grading, and agentic operations while maintaining expert decision-making.” Additionally, “quantified outcomes noted include 97% AI classification accuracy, 77% of malware/phishing agents investigated, 72% faster resolution combining AI and humans, and 45% autonomous investigations.”
The results are evident in the work. Over the past year, Defender Experts addressed 27,000 high-severity incidents, and the team’s threat research now plays a significant role in all Defender detections, enhancing protection for customers well beyond the MDR service itself. Throughout this process, a dedicated security delivery expert and on-demand access to our specialists keep customers updated with proactive check-ins, live dashboards, and clear, actionable reporting.
Managed threat hunting, included
While many providers consider proactive threat hunting a premium add-on, Defender Experts MDR includes it as an essential component of the service through Defender Experts Hunting, augmenting your team with Microsoft experts who consistently search for advanced threats within your environment. These hunts are guided by Microsoft Threat Intelligence, Defender telemetry, and human analysis to better detect malicious activities and enhance security operations center (SOC) responses.
When a threat is detected, notifications from Defender Experts appear as incidents in the Defender portal, complete with technical context.
Source: Original article
