It protects cloud and hybrid applications against threats and misconfigurations, covering everything from your source code and development pipelines through to live infrastructure and workloads.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) that secures your applications and infrastructure from the first line of code through to live production. Rather than bolting security on at the end, it builds protection into every stage of the development and deployment lifecycle, so vulnerabilities get caught early, not after they've become a costly problem.
Kick works with businesses across the UK to deploy and manage Microsoft Defender for Cloud as part of a wider Azure security strategy, giving you one unified view of risk across multi-cloud and hybrid environments instead of a patchwork of disconnected tools.
See how Microsoft Defender for Cloud can work for your business
How Microsoft Defender for Cloud protects your business
Defender for Cloud brings together three layers of protection that, historically, businesses have had to manage separately:
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
Continuously assesses your environment, flags misconfigurations and gives your team clear, actionable steps to close the gaps.
Cloud Workload Protection (CWP)
Monitors servers, containers, databases and storage issuing immediate alerts the moment a threat is detected so your team can respond before it spreads.
DevSecOps integration
Embeds security checks directly into your development pipelines, so code is assessed for risk before it ever reaches production.
Together, these give you a single, correlated view of security risk - from the code your developers write, to the infrastructure it runs on, to the live workloads your business depends on every day.
Microsoft Defender XDR integration
More visibility, without more tools
Every Microsoft Defender for Cloud deployment includes automatic access to Microsoft Defender XDR - Microsoft's extended detection and response platform. XDR correlates alerts across your cloud resources, devices and identities, giving your security team (or ours, if you're working with Kick's Pro-Active Security Monitoring) one place to investigate incidents rather than jumping between consoles.
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
- Unified security management across multi-cloud and multi-pipeline environments, managed from the code level up.
- Security built in from day one, protection is embedded in your development lifecycle rather than added after release.
- Full visibility for security teams, who can manage DevOps security posture across every pipeline from a single location.
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
- Breach prevention through continuous assessment of your environment's configuration.
- Actionable recommendations for hardening both cloud and on-premises resources.
- Scalable protection, core CSPM capabilities are included free, with the option to step up to Defender CSPM for advanced posture management.
Cloud Workload Protection (CWP)
- Workload-specific defences for servers, containers, storage and databases.
- Tailored security controls and recommendations built around how each workload type is actually used.
- Real-time alerting that tells you exactly what's happened and how severe it is, so you can act fast.
Common Questions
What is Microsoft Defender for Cloud used for?
Is Microsoft Defender for Cloud free?
Foundational Cloud Security Posture Management is available at no extra cost within Azure. Advanced capabilities - including deeper CSPM and full Cloud Workload Protection - are available through paid Defender plans, which Kick can help you scope and deploy.
Does Microsoft Defender for Cloud cover multi-cloud environments?
Yes. It's built to manage security posture and workload protection across multi-cloud and multi-pipeline environments, not just Azure-hosted resources.
How is Defender for Cloud different from Microsoft Defender XDR?
Defender for Cloud focuses on securing cloud infrastructure, workloads and code. Defender XDR sits on top of it, correlating alerts across cloud resources, devices and identities for unified threat investigation. Enabling Defender for Cloud gives you automatic access to XDR.
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