Microsoft Defender Suite: the security half of E5
Microsoft Defender Suite
per user per month, excluding VAT
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Microsoft Defender Suite, formerly Microsoft 365 E5 Security, is the enterprise security layer sold without the rest of E5. It carries Microsoft Entra ID P2, and therefore Identity Protection, risk-based Conditional Access and Privileged Identity Management, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, and therefore endpoint detection and response, automated investigation and remediation and threat and vulnerability management. Its natural buyer is a Microsoft 365 E3 tenant that needs E5-level security but not the E5 compliance layer or the E5 productivity components, and would rather add one line than migrate every user.
What it is
Microsoft Defender Suite is the security half of Microsoft 365 E5, packaged as an add-on. Microsoft formerly published it as Microsoft 365 E5 Security.
Who it is for
Organisations on Microsoft 365 E3 that need enterprise security capability without moving the whole tenant to E5, and organisations that want the security layer but not the E5 compliance products.
Key capabilities
- Microsoft Entra ID P2: Microsoft Entra ID Protection, risk-based Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management, access reviews, entitlement management
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2: endpoint detection and response, automated investigation and remediation, threat and vulnerability management, advanced hunting over six months of retained data
- Microsoft Defender products reporting into Microsoft Defender XDR
How to decide between this and E5
The honest comparison is by layer, not by feature list. E5 gives you the security layer and the compliance layer: Insider Risk Management, Communication Compliance, Advanced Audit and eDiscovery that can delete. This suite gives you the security layer only. If nothing in the compliance list is a live requirement, this is the narrower purchase; if two or three of them are, E5 usually wins on arithmetic.
Related lines that are not this
Microsoft also publishes a Defender Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium, which is the small business equivalent capped at 300 seats and requiring a Business Premium base, and frontline worker variants. They are separate products with separate prerequisites, so check which one a quote is actually on.
What was this called before?
Microsoft 365 E5 Security. Microsoft renamed it to Microsoft Defender Suite; the scope is the security layer of E5 sold as an add-on.
What does it not include that Microsoft 365 E5 does?
The compliance layer: Insider Risk Management, Communication Compliance, Advanced Audit and eDiscovery that can delete, along with the E5 productivity components.
Does it include Microsoft Entra ID P2?
Yes. Microsoft lists the Defender Suite among the offers that include Entra ID P2, which is what brings Identity Protection, risk-based Conditional Access and Privileged Identity Management.
Is this the same as the Business Premium version?
No. Microsoft Defender Suite for Microsoft 365 Business Premium is a separate product: it requires a Business Premium base licence and is capped at 300 seats. This one is the enterprise line.
Who is the typical buyer?
A Microsoft 365 E3 tenant that needs E5-level security and has no live requirement in the E5 compliance list, and would rather add one line than migrate every user.
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Category
- Security
- Type
- SaaS
- Billing
- Monthly
- Commitment
- 1-Year
- Available terms
- 1-Year, Monthly
- SKU
- MST-NCE-110-C100
Add-ons Pax8 lists for this licence.
- 1You request the licence, or add it to the cart.
- 2I confirm price, term and seats, and check your VAT number in VIES. Businesses in the EU only.
- 3You pay before we provision, under the CSP Marketplace Terms. The invoice comes from Michal Jatczak, a sole trader registered in Malta, trading as ITSailor. Reverse charge for an EU VAT number that validates in VIES.
- 4Your authorised signatory accepts the Microsoft Customer Agreement before activation.
- 5I place the order with Pax8 within one business day of payment.