4 surfaces
Endpoint, email, hybrid identity, and cloud apps connected where in scope
Single tenant or tenant portfolioMicrosoft Defender XDR
Microsoft Defender XDR, deployed for real operations.
We connect the Defender signals relevant to your estate, define who may contain what, pilot high-impact controls in controlled rings, and test the human response path. You leave with verified coverage, ten runbooks, tracked decisions, and evidence stored in your repository.
Do not send credentials, tenant IDs, incident exports, administrative data, or recovery codes through the public contact form. Scoped access is arranged after approval, with MFA and recorded expiry.
10 runbooks
A real incident-response and detection-operations library
Read-only first
Coverage, roles, policies, and alert reality assessed before change
Client-owned
Rules, decisions, evidence, and the Exit Kit remain with your team
Why deployments stall
Defender XDR is a chain of controls, not a portal switch.
An incident is only as complete as the signals feeding it. A response action is only safe when its authority, scope, owner, and evidence requirement were agreed before the alert fired.
Signals exist in separate queues
Endpoint, email, identity, and SaaS telemetry can all be present while the attack story remains fragmented. We verify onboarding, connector health, incident correlation, and entity context as one system.
The queue fires, but nobody owns the decision
A detection is not an operating model. The engagement names who triages, who can contain, which actions need approval, and where the incident record must land.
Controls moved from default to block in one jump
ASR rules, automation levels, email policies, and session controls can disrupt real work. We use representative pilot groups, audit or simulation data, change windows, and explicit expansion gates.
Tuning happened, but the reason disappeared
Every scope, threshold, suppression, and replacement rule needs an owner, rationale, compensating control, and review date. The tuning ledger makes those decisions reversible.
Deployment surface
Each Defender product gets its own readiness and expansion gate.
The estate determines the scope. Hybrid identity work is not invented for cloud-only tenants. Cloud-app controls are not promised for unsupported applications. Product boundaries stay visible.
Defender for Endpoint
Bring the in-scope device estate into a controlled endpoint response model.
- Onboarding coverage by OS family and management path
- Device groups and response permissions scoped by operating responsibility
- Tamper protection, EDR, network protection, and AIR settings reviewed
- ASR rules moved through audit, pilot, warn, or block as the evidence supports
- Vulnerability findings routed to named remediation owners
Defender for Office 365
Align mail and collaboration protection with the tenant's real delivery paths.
- Accepted domains, MX records, and inbound connectors inspected first
- Standard or Strict preset policies used where they fit the operating model
- Safe Links, Safe Attachments, anti-phishing, ZAP, and quarantine paths tested
- High-risk users, trusted senders, and business exceptions documented
- User reporting and investigation flows connected to the incident process
Defender for Identity
Use on-premises identity signals where hybrid Active Directory is part of the attack surface.
- Readiness and capacity checked before sensor deployment
- Sensors validated on supported domain controllers, AD FS, and AD CS systems
- Directory access and response accounts kept least-privilege
- Identity posture findings converted into an owned remediation backlog
- Cloud-only identity protection treated as a separate Entra dependency
Defender for Cloud Apps
Connect the sanctioned SaaS estate without pretending every connector has the same control depth.
- App connectors, Cloud Discovery, and signal sources inventoried
- OAuth app governance and risky grants reviewed
- Anomaly policies tuned against expected business behavior
- Session controls assessed for data handling and user impact
- Unsupported apps and control gaps recorded rather than hidden
Defender XDR operations
Turn product signals into an incident queue the operating team can run.
- Incident correlation, entity graph, and Action Center reviewed
- Unified RBAC mapped to actual analyst and responder duties
- Advanced Hunting queries and custom detections version-controlled
- Response actions assigned an authority, approval path, and evidence rule
- Handover rehearsed with the client team or retained MDR provider
Product eligibility is checked during the baseline: the implementation only scopes capabilities the tenant is entitled and technically able to use. This page is not a product or licence catalogue.
The operating model
Follow the decision from signal to handover.
The mechanism below separates product behavior from operating responsibility. It shows what must be observed, approved, tested, recorded, and left behind.
Loading the interactive console
Access and authority
The response path stays powerful without becoming standing privilege.
Defender actions can affect devices, mailboxes, identities, and SaaS sessions. Assessment access, operating roles, partner access, and production authority are treated as separate decisions.
Assessment access
Security Reader and other read roles are used first. No credentials, tenant IDs, exports, or administrative data travel through the public contact form.
Least privilege
Microsoft Defender unified RBAC and workload-specific roles are mapped to the task. Global Administrator is not the default operating role.
Partner access
Where GDAP fits, access is tenant-specific, granular, time-bound, and explicitly approved. Tenant portfolios do not share universal credentials.
Change authority
Device isolation, mail purge, account action, automation levels, and enforcement changes follow the client's written approval model.
Single-tenant access
Roles are mapped to the approved workstream and removed or reduced at handover. Global Administrator is not the normal operating role.
Multi-tenant isolation
Each tenant keeps its own access decision, evidence, exceptions, and change log. A consolidated view does not create a universal policy plane or shared credential.
Delivery options
Start with coverage, then deploy and prove the operating path.
Each track is scoped after tenant count, existing products, workload shape, access model, current telemetry, pilot population, and operating ownership are understood.
Coverage Baseline
One tenant or a representative portfolio sample
Establish which Defender signals are present, which are trustworthy, and what has to change before enforcement expands.
Scoped to you
- Read-only coverage and configuration assessment
- Permission and operating-owner map
- Alert-source and incident-correlation review
- Prioritised onboarding, policy, and tuning backlog
- Pilot plan with explicit success and stop conditions
Outcome
A decision-ready baseline with gaps, dependencies, owners, and a safe deployment sequence.
XDR Deployment
A controlled single-tenant implementation
Onboard the agreed surfaces, stage policy changes, validate the incident path, and hand over a working operating pack.
Scoped to you
- Endpoint, email, identity, and cloud-app workstreams as agreed
- Pilot cohorts and controlled rollout waves
- Unified RBAC and response-authority design
- Advanced Hunting and custom detection setup where needed
- Validation exercise, evidence pack, ten runbooks, and Exit Kit
Outcome
An implemented Defender XDR control surface with tested operations, visible exceptions, and no dependency on an ITSailor portal.
Tenant Portfolio Rollout
Multiple tenants, business units, or operating regions
Use one governed method while preserving local ownership, policy overlays, evidence, and access boundaries.
Scoped to you
- Shared deployment standard with per-tenant overlays
- Pilot tenant followed by approved rollout waves
- Tenant-specific GDAP and unified RBAC decisions
- Coverage and exception ledger per tenant
- Portfolio reporting, handover, and access-removal evidence
Outcome
A repeatable rollout without universal credentials, silent local exceptions, or one tenant's evidence being mixed with another.
Client-owned evidence
The handover explains every decision.
The delivery kit is populated with your coverage, permissions, policy state, response authority, test results, owners, and exceptions. These are working artifacts, not claims about an unnamed customer.
Ask to inspect a runbookDeployment baseline
defender-deployment-baseline-checklist.md
Coverage, configuration state, manual verification, exceptions, and the prioritised backlog across the agreed Defender surfaces.
Detection tuning ledger
detection-tuning-ledger.md
Rule, source, action, reason, MITRE mapping, compensating control, owner, and review date for every material tuning decision.
Ten operating runbooks
RUNBOOK-01 through RUNBOOK-10
Triage, device isolation, email purge, identity compromise, hunting, tuning, custom detections, ASR, vulnerability remediation, and MDR handoff.
Detection logic and policy exports
detections/ and policy-exports/
KQL, rule metadata, policy state, scopes, and change references kept in the client repository as the inspectable source of truth.
Validation record
incident-validation-record.md
Simulation or test incident, impacted entities, correlation path, actions reviewed, evidence captured, gaps, owners, and re-test conditions.
Control-to-evidence mapping
control-mapping-matrix.md
Implementation evidence mapped to agreed DORA, NIS2, GDPR, or ISO 27001 control objectives where applicable.
Exit Kit
EXIT-KIT-m365-defender.md
Ownership, access removal, operating contacts, evidence locations, open exceptions, rule repository, and handover verification.
Boundaries
The deployment stays precise when an incident becomes urgent.
The SoW distinguishes implementation, client decisions, and retained response services. This prevents a configuration engagement from being mistaken for 24/7 monitoring or live breach response.
Included in the agreed deployment
- Coverage, configuration, role, and operating-model assessment
- Scoped onboarding and policy deployment through controlled waves
- Detection tuning with decisions recorded in the ledger
- Incident-path validation, runbooks, evidence, and Exit Kit
- Handover to the client's team or retained MDR provider
Client inputs and prerequisites
- Named security, IT, messaging, identity, and application owners
- Appropriate Microsoft service prerequisites for the selected surfaces
- Approved pilot groups, test accounts, maintenance windows, and response authority
- A retained on-call, SOC, or MDR function where after-hours monitoring is required
- Secure access approval and a client-owned evidence repository
Separate service or retained provider
- 24/7 monitoring, staffed alert response, or contractual response SLA
- Live breach command, malware forensics, legal notification decisions, or crisis communications
- Microsoft Sentinel deployment and non-Microsoft log ingestion
- Defender for Cloud CSPM or CWPP across Azure, AWS, or GCP workloads
- Penetration testing, certification, regulator approval, or legal assurance
Public guidance
The method follows documented product behavior.
Microsoft documents phased deployment, product-specific pilots, unified RBAC, incident investigation, Action Center review, and least-privilege GDAP. The page links those sources directly.
Microsoft relationship
AI Cloud Partner
CSP Indirect Reseller active. PLA 7113951.
Delivery
Founder-led
The implementation is led directly from Malta without an account-manager handoff.
Access
Read-only first
Production changes begin only after scope, authority, and rollout gates are approved.
Exit
Client-owned
Rules, runbooks, evidence, and access-removal records live in the client repository.
Microsoft Learn
What is Microsoft Defender XDR?
Current product scope across endpoints, identities, email, applications, incidents, automated response, and cross-product hunting.
Microsoft Learn
Pilot and deploy Microsoft Defender XDR
Microsoft's staged process for piloting individual components before completing the wider deployment.
Microsoft Learn
Microsoft Defender unified RBAC
Central permission management, workload activation, device-group scope, role migration, and multi-tenant management considerations.
Microsoft Learn
Plan attack surface reduction deployment
Business-unit pilots, audit mode, representative cohorts, champions, and gradual expansion before wider enforcement.
Microsoft Learn
Investigate and respond in Defender XDR
Simulation, incident investigation, Action Center review, remediation approval, and Advanced Hunting during deployment validation.
Microsoft Learn
Granular delegated admin privileges
Tenant-specific, least-privilege, time-bound partner access that requires explicit customer approval.
Microsoft Learn
Defender for Office 365 preset security policies
Standard and Strict profiles, targeted assignments, operating trade-offs, and configuration analysis.
FAQ
Questions buyers should ask before access is granted.
Is Microsoft 365 Defender now called Microsoft Defender XDR?
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Yes. Microsoft Defender XDR is the current product name for the cross-product detection and response layer. The service URL retains the established Microsoft 365 Defender wording, while the page uses the current product name.
Is this a licensing offer?
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No. This page describes implementation and operating readiness. Existing product eligibility is checked only so the scope does not promise controls the tenant cannot use. Procurement is handled separately and does not determine the technical recommendation.
Do all tenants need every Defender component?
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No. The scope follows the actual estate and the protection outcome. Defender for Identity is relevant when hybrid Active Directory signals exist. Defender for Cloud Apps depends on the SaaS control requirement. The baseline identifies which surfaces add value and which prerequisites are missing.
Do you change production during discovery?
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No. Discovery starts with read-only coverage, configuration, permission, and alert review. Production change begins after the target state, pilot cohort, approval path, evidence requirement, and reversal approach are agreed.
How do you stop tuning from hiding real attacks?
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Tuning is recorded as an engineering decision. Every material scope, threshold, suppression, or replacement carries a reason, owner, compensating control, and review date. Coverage and validation are checked again after the change.
Does automated investigation act without approval?
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Automation behavior depends on the product surface, configuration, permissions, and selected automation level. The engagement reviews the Action Center, approval requirements, response authority, and reversal path before broader automation is enabled.
Can you deploy across multiple tenants?
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Yes. A portfolio rollout uses a shared standard with per-tenant overlays, pilot tenants, local owners, separate evidence, and tenant-specific access. GDAP can provide granular and time-bound partner access where it fits. Universal cross-tenant credentials are not used.
Do you provide a 24/7 SOC after deployment?
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No. ITSailor implements and tunes Defender XDR, validates the operating path, and hands over the runbooks. After-hours monitoring and live incident response remain with your internal team or retained MDR or SOC provider. The handoff is part of the delivery.
Defender XDR or Microsoft Sentinel?
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Defender XDR connects prevention, detection, investigation, and response across supported Microsoft security surfaces. Sentinel adds SIEM capabilities for broader log sources, retention, analytics, and automation. Sentinel is scoped separately when the data and operating model justify it.
Can the evidence support DORA, NIS2, GDPR, or ISO 27001 work?
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It can support control-to-evidence mapping for agreed objectives. The pack can link policies, incidents, actions, queries, owners, and exceptions to the selected framework. It is implementation evidence, not legal advice, certification, regulator approval, or an assurance attestation.
How do we operate without ITSailor?
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The Exit Kit exists from the start. It records the rule and policy repositories, runbooks, access model, operating contacts, evidence locations, open exceptions, and confirmation that ITSailor access was removed.
Put one incident through the operating model before the real one arrives.
Start with a synthetic phishing, endpoint, hybrid identity or OAuth scenario. We map the signals, define response authority, pilot the controls, verify the runbook and file the evidence.