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Week 10: Windows provides additional protection for Older OS's

Last week, Microsoft announced they would apply their advanced threat service to older versions of their operating system." Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is a service that detects ongoing attacks on corporate networks, then follows up to investigate the attack or breach, and provides response recommendations. Software baked into Windows 10 detects attacks, while a central management console allows IT administrators to monitor the status of covered devices, and react if necessary (Lefferts, 2018)."
Microsoft has gone against their traditional selling model as ATP has been used to upsell clients to a better license. "For Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, we are building a behavioral based EDR solution to give security teams rich insights into threats on their endpoints. All detections and events are surfaced in Windows Defender Security Center, the cloud-based console for Windows Defender ATP. Security teams benefit from correlated alerts for known and unknown adversaries, additional threat intelligence, and a detailed machine timeline for further investigations and manual response options (Keizer, 2018)." I would suggest this is Microsoft being proactive due to the Meltdown and Spectre situation. Since it is likely users aren't updating machines for a variety of reason, this will help to protect those machines which haven't gotten the appropriate protection.
What this means for information security/cybersecurity professionals is that in a mixed environment of various Windows OS, they will have the ability to ensure security precautions across the total environment. This should help streamline incident response process and provide greater resolution of data intrusion detection.

References:

Keizer, G. (2018, February 14). Microsoft to cover Windows 7 with advanced threat service. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from https://www.computerworld.com/article/3255289/microsoft-windows/microsoft-to-cover-windows-7-with-advanced-threat-service.html


Lefferts, R. (2018, February 15). Announcing: Windows Defender ATP support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. Retrieved February 19, 2018, from https://blogs.windows.com/business/2018/02/12/announcing-windows-defender-atp-support-for-windows-7-and-windows-8-1/

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