Cisco Umbrella vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Umbrella
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Cisco now offers OpenDNS Umbrella Web Filtering. Cisco acquired OpenDNS in August 2015, and rebranded the product as Cisco Umbrella.N/A
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly Microsoft Defender ATP) is a holistic, cloud delivered endpoint security solution that includes risk-based vulnerability management and assessment, attack surface reduction, behavioral based and cloud-powered next generation protection, endpoint detection and response (EDR), automatic investigation and remediation, managed hunting services, rich APIs, and unified security management.
$2.50
per user/per month
Pricing
Cisco UmbrellaMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Academic
$2.50
per user/per month
Standalone
$5.20
per user/per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco UmbrellaMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco UmbrellaMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Considered Both Products
Cisco Umbrella
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Cisco Umbrella better integrated into our Cisco environment.
Chose Cisco Umbrella
I reviewed it, but the minor differences were outweighed by the seamless integration with our existing Cisco infrastructure.
Chose Cisco Umbrella
I have used several different solutions over the years. The Cisco Umbrella solution is by far a way better solution than anything I have used. IT is easy to easy with basic implementations vs. others. Cisco Umbrella is more accurate than other solutions (though not as deeper …
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Different products in different spaces. The Z3 was more of a VPN endpoint so that users didn't have to worry about a client. If they are at home, they are on their corporate network and able to access resources. Cisco Umbrella can be used then to serve corporate DNS across the …
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Cisco Umbrella have the biggest brainpower behind their products and is also from one of the biggest and best players in the Network market.
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Cisco has more options in configuring monitoring/blocking.
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Cisco Umbrella did what we needed it to do far more than the other apps that we tried out. For mobile work on MacBook and iPads, Cisco Umbrella was the best option for our district. The cost was lower as well and did not lower the level of security we received because of lower …
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Have not used similar products
Chose Cisco Umbrella
I really like it for this price point.
Chose Cisco Umbrella
We evaluated a lot of products. The good part is that we didn't go outside. So Ineos grew by acquisition and therefore we inherited a lot of products there. So we looked at the Netskope and Fortinet because they were within our sphere of product portfolios that we had in the …
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Price and integration to Meraki MX, plus ability to protect endpoints with roaming module. Umbrella also came with DLP and evolved to Cisco Secure Connect (special offering for Meraki)
Chose Cisco Umbrella
We just trust Cisco provides a solid reliable solution in Cisco Umbrella, so no other was really needed to be considered.
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Better integration with other Cisco portfolio of products.
We have an enterprise subscription and Cisco Umbrella dns was already included as part of the offering.
Also we are looking into integration with sd-wan in sites where it is hard to provide full spectrum of services that …
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Webex calls are protected by Cisco Umbrella
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Auto SIG Tunnels is a feature that helps in provisioning tunnels automatically using Cisco Umbrella APIs and so this is one win for choosing Cisco Umbrella over others. With Cisco SD-WAN Viptela, the Cisco Umbrella stacks up well because its the same vendor so less …
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Legacy implementation, which was unscalable.
Chose Cisco Umbrella
I am evaluating Cisco umbrella against forcepoint we proxy to consolidate two solutions into one
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Curated filtering lists make Umbrella much easier to maintain than running your own DNS-based filtering
Chose Cisco Umbrella
Barracuda has some additional feature sets in its physical Web Security Gateway hardware, however Umbrella has been more reliable for what we are doing in our environment.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
It's very convenient and very well integrated with our environment.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Majorly because our suite is Microsoft, so make totally sense to have this in the company and the price. It is Microsoft is better than CrowdStrike.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Sophos. Because of the integration with Microsoft ecosystem, we selected Defender.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We have not used anything else other than Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Maybe we've used other antivirus software like Sophos and things like that. They're just not all encompassing and that's why we moved to use this product.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I have been working with customers that they are transitioning from Sentinel One, CrowdStrike to Defender for Endpoint, right? So I think it's because they see the value in the product and also they see how much they can save in terms of the cost for companies because they …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We previously used CrowdStrike on our servers. However, the seamless integration of Microsoft Defender (MD) with XDR and the entire Microsoft ecosystem led us to choose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE).
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
What we love more about this product is the way this pro gets integrated into the other family of solutions, especially Defender for Identity or the XDR solutions. We think that the market, the customers are full of unattended consults coming out from different vendors and that …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
The technical features, usability and the support was nice as compared to the other products.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is more advantageous in our windows heavy infrastructure and it was unparalled in the ease of integration with windows endpoints. Security breaches, system crashes and outages with other competitors like Crowdstrike made it easier for us to go …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Norton is much much more expensive and difficult to use. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy to use and can be operated by a new joiner as well.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CrowdStrike Falcon is also a good solution for endpoint protection which offer EDR Soultion, threat hunting and AI driven threat protection. Sophos Intercept X combines next-gen antivirus with advanced EDR capabilities with its deep learning technology, exploit prevention, and …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is unique for its effortless deployment into the Microsoft ecosystem, where it taps the broadest set of threat intelligence from more than 1.5 billion endpoints. Its state-of-the-art AI-powered automated investigation and remediation minimize …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We started onboarding macOS devices on jamf and started managing it. Because Defender for Endpoint is not working as expected for and compared to price and functionality we are switching from it.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CrowdStrike and SentinelOne. CrowdStrike, you have to deploy it, but it's the defender, it's already baked into the operating system. Same thing with SentinelOne.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Easier to integrate, less hidden fees, easier to maintain, and easier to update. Support is much better on the Microsoft side than CrowdStrike.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I don't think, it's not really something that we were just using Microsoft and it was just an easy thing to do.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I'm not familiar. It's just been one year plus that I started using, so I've just started using Defender, so I really don't know how to compare it with others.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I would say at the end all they are doing the same, but with the benefit that we don't need to install anything. So it's just kind of enabling and then the functionality is available, so other products need to be installed, which is not necessary with the defend
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We use Defender in the cloud. We are currently using Defender in the cloud and also evaluating the XDR solution for programmatic. It's just arguments, the defense in depth. You have Defender Endpoint and then you have what you have in the cloud as well, so it's just augmenting …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Before using Defender for Endpoint, we basically had the starter version of the Microsoft product, which comes prebuilt into the system. We had them using in the initial run, but then what usually happened was the employees started disabling it, and that usually made, we guys …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I am a big fan of Tanium actually, so I think it is good. Tanium seemed like it was maybe a little bit easier, but maybe the capability was lacking. Maybe that's the reason why it seems like Defender for Endpoint might be a little harder to understand. There might just be more …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CrowdStrike Falcon, and Sentinel One are other big ones that we use a bit. Cisco Secure Endpoint we've evaluated as well. Cisco Secure endpoint capability-wise doesn't match up to Defender, SentinelOne, and CrowdStrike both do, but the cost profiles are a bit higher. So most of …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I would say not to name specific company names, because I'm a partner with one of them and that's the account that I work with. But I use some competing solutions that I would say are pretty heavy from an overhead perspective with the agent that has to be installed in the …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Because this product is easier to use and has a lot of development and Microsoft's behind it.
Features
Cisco UmbrellaMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Umbrella
-
Ratings
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
8.3
Ratings
3% below category average
Anti-Exploit Technology00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Centralized Management00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Hybrid Deployment Support00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Infection Remediation00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Vulnerability Management00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Malware Detection00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco UmbrellaMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

ThreatLocker
ThreatLocker
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies

No answers on this topic

CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Zscaler Internet Access
Zscaler Internet Access
Score 8.8 out of 10
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
Score 9.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco UmbrellaMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco UmbrellaMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Likelihood to Recommend
It is good for whole network protection, and individual PCs with the client. Provide good reporting on where your network is going on the net. One thing I would like is a longer history with the logs 14 and 30 days are too short some times.
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Because of its integration with Windows, it is very easy to deploy and manage. Any IT department should be able to leverage the software and interface. The admin portal provides weighted recommendations that comprise the Secure Store, offering admins, security teams, and business owners valuable insights into their security footprint without requiring a strong security background. The software would be ideal for small and mid-sized businesses that cannot dedicate resources to security. Larger enterprises would also benefit, but may require the enhanced license.
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Pros
  • Managing the overall security policies is quite seamless in Cisco Umbrella. it is quite easy to set up and implement web filtering rules and other necessary configurations without any hassle.
  • The reporting features like 'activity search' provides greater visibility of our user's internet activity within our organization. We can identify security related risks quickly and take decisions to mitigate them.
  • The deployment and integration of Cisco Umbrella with other vendors product is quite appreciable. We other non cisco security devices which Cisco Umbrella was integrated with without any major issues.
  • We can easily track down any user that goes to the internet through the activity search feature.
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  • One, it's crazy lightweight, so compared to some of the competitors that we also have used with our security services, it's really lightweight and so I don't have a lot of overhead on the system that it's running on.
  • It does really fantastic PowerShell integration.
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Cons
  • There's always room for improvement in all products for sure. On the umbrella part, I would say that the room for improvement is on the data loss prevention part. So it sits on the PCs, it sees a lot of the traffic that goes on, it knows what files are on the PCs, but it's actually not stopping some of the intellectual property or personal identifiable information from going out. So we are able to block users from accessing applications and websites or even IP addresses, but we're not able to go a bit more granular, more on the data loss side. So that's a gap that I have in the product.
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  • So the fact that Defender for Endpoint still works with signatures is actually, I don't know, a little difficult for us because, I mean, since Microsoft trusts those signatures, you can easily inject code. And we've done it many times. To show that you can inject code through vulnerabilities like CV 2013, 99, and 33 but still keep the signature. So because of the trust of those signatures, the malware just kind of slides into the environment without Defender knowing. That's the first part. The second part is that the behavioral analysis is not precisely its Prime. It's not Defender's best capability for endpoints. So, Defender does not identify all behaviors considered by other EDRs in the market.
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Likelihood to Renew
First off I never give anything a "10" unless it's perfect. LOL - I grade on the curve. I think OpenDNS/Umbrella is a very good product. I think that fact that Cisco absorbed them is one of the proofs of that. I have used the product back when it was free for companies our size. I have not always appreciated the cost - but in the post pandemic cyber chaos, I believe the cost benefit ratio is still very high. I have honestly not looked at other products because Umbrella continues to work to my satisfaction. I consider Umbrella to be one of the key layers in my cyber security strategy.
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Microsoft Defender is closely catching -up in market with existing competitors they have added DLP endpoint & DLP Network and Cloud DLP solution last year with OCR capabilities. I would say Microsoft Defender is not legacy Vendor in end point security, the need to learn from other vendors in market and focus on new XDR technologies, which is going to be new battle for all vendors
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Usability
The product was easy to install and get running. To maintain the product is also a simple matter of maintaining lists of wanted and unwanted domains or URLs. The basic and advanced security features all do what they are intended to do with no known erroneous outcomes
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Because in terms of the usability is easy to understand, it's easy to manage, obviously you need to have specific skills to do that, but I would say that even the console and the product is walking through the flow that you are looking for on this console.
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Reliability and Availability
Cisco umbrella services in the cloud are always available. However, the weakness is the VM installed in the data center that are the first resolvers. If the VMs become unavailable for any reason or the vSphere goes down, then all DNS is affected
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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint chugs along just fine no matter what we throw at it and what systems it's running on. It doesn't take up a lot of resources either, so that's welcomed.
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Performance
our experience with cisco products has always been awesome and same is the case with cisco umbrella .Under umbrella cisco provides flexible and scalable software solution to use across different dept and sites . These softwares are very user friendly ,pages load quickly as these applications are designed for minimum latency and reports are also provided quickely
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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy on memory and resources on clients.
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Support Rating
Whilst the support is good once you get through to them, it's email only and the response is slow. This is a issue, because its a core system that needs to work. We have had issues in the past where several of our companies have gone down due to Umbrella and support is nowhere to be seen. It is very difficult to know whether Umbrella is having service issues, since they do not regularly update customers on the status of their services, such as is seen by providers such as Microsoft (status.umbrella.com just seems to show up all of the time, I'm not sure it's even updated)
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Overall support is really good for this product. Since it's a Microsoft product, you will get good support from a number of different resources, including knowledgebase articles on the web, support from Microsoft technicians, and documentation (which tends to very thorough). Also, there is a vast user support community for this product, so user support forums would also be another valuable channel to get help if needed. I don't envision too many people will have issues/problems with the product, as it tends to run good overall.
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Online Training
Quite easy to understand training modules prepared by knowledgeable trainers. Training modules have included all the desired features of these softwares and the content delivery is very good from the respective module trainers and it explains in details the features and apart from that further training material support is also provided if needed.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
At the time we were forced to move from Cloud Web Security to Cisco Umbrella, Cisco Umbrella was far from being a direct replacement. It was frustrating and difficult to migrate due to the lack of functionality. This has since been addressed, however we now have legacy rulesets that were built as bandaids that cannot be removed. Hopefully the migration to Secure Access will address this.
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Deployment was handled by our team here and everything went pretty smoothly. We did have a few hiccups in our test group, but that only took a bit to get ironed out.
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Alternatives Considered
Different products in different spaces. The Z3 was more of a VPN endpoint so that users didn't have to worry about a client. If they are at home, they are on their corporate network and able to access resources. Cisco Umbrella can be used then to serve corporate DNS across the VPN tunnel to the Z3 device and extend the capabilities of Cisco Umbrella.
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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers strong integration with Microsoft 365 and Azure services, which provide a unified security experience. While McAfee Trellix is known for solid antivirus, Microsoft Defender excels in integration in the ecosystem.
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Scalability
Cisco umbrella provides fleaxible and scalable software solutions which are easy deploy across multiple departments and sites wherever needed and this softwares are very easy to use and provides the best interface along with cisco support for other devices apart from cisco infrastructure but still there is scope for improvement on the inclusion of latest features
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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easily scaled from small orgs to giant enterprises.
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Return on Investment
  • It's too early for us to say now. We started with Cisco Umbrella with the migration and during the migration we choose all the specific access. Now we are going to Cisco Secure Access in our simulations there will be much of cost savings because we don't need the on-premise data center anymore for the ASARs and for the local firewalls and the people, they are managing that on-premise. So we estimate there will be a lot of cost savings, but currently it's not on the paper yet. So we have to wait what the experience is with it, but we are optimistic.
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  • Reduced incidents of security breaches lead to lower remediation costs and avoid potential financial losses and reputational damage.
  • Reduces the need for additional third-party security solutions and training, thereby lowering overall security management costs.
  • Increased efficiency and productivity of IT staff lead to better allocation of resources and cost savings.
  • Reduces the risk of fines and sanctions associated with non-compliance, ensuring business continuity and protecting revenue.
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ScreenShots

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Screenshots

Screenshot of blocked activitiesScreenshot of Detects & respondsScreenshot of discovers vulnerabilityScreenshot of Eliminates blind spotsScreenshot of Risk management