Can Windows Defender Really be an Enterprise Security Solution?

When Microsoft uses their own software that is in development on a daily basis it is referred as dog fooding.

This is not a term unique to Microsoft and it is used by software companies around the world as they put their new software into use to evaluate its performance in real world scenarios.

Ultimately, that process of self testing usually allows the company to address performance and functionality concerns that might not ever surface during the typical QA testing process.

When you consider the size and scope of a company like Microsoft, with around 100,000 employees and all of their computing devices, testing products and measuring their success should be taken seriously because they have a solid sample size to learn from.

Recently, Microsoft IT released a new white paper about how they have implemented Windows Defender, which comes fully integrated into Windows 10, to protect their end users data and hardware from malware and virus attacks.

"Today’s antimalware solutions must help protect against and combat increasingly sophisticated, malicious software. Traditional antimalware strategies often put IT security professionals in the position of being reactive rather than proactive. What’s more, these security strategies can sometimes slow down or interrupt business productivity. Instead, IT security professionals need to protect their companies against malware as efficiently as possible from the start, while enabling the business to be productive and agile. One of our missions at Microsoft IT is to empower the modern enterprise by providing a trusted, more secure computing environment. We use Windows Defender to help tackle our antimalware and security needs."

The white paper, available for download as a Word document at the Microsoft Download Center, begins with a little history about how Microsoft has moved from managaing Windows without a built in malware/virus solution to having a fully implemented option with Windows Defender in Windows 10.

In the next section of the paper they talk about the benefits they have derived using Windows Defender such as:

These are all benefits that any IT shop would love to realize in these days of reduced resources and pass along to their company as a whole.

Of course, dog fooding their own software has also allowed them to develop many lessons learned that can be passed along to customers as well.

As your own company evaluates a possible migration to Windows 10, considering security is a top priority so this white paper will be a very valuable asset in your evaluation process.

Just in case you were not aware of it Microsoft IT produces an entire showcase of the various tools and methods they use to support the IT infrastructure at Microsoft. Although the scale compared to your company may be different, the information about the implementation and use of these technologies could be invaluable.

But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.

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