This is where MXDR, embedded into the Microsoft 365 stack, makes the difference. Signals from Defender, Entra, Intune, and Sentinel stop existing in silos and become a single, readable story: who did what, when, from where, and with what impact. The integration doesn’t add noise; it builds orchestration. And it’s that orchestration that turns alerts into decisions, and decisions into actions.
Let’s imagine a Monday morning. A well-crafted email slips past suspicion and earns a click. In Exchange Online, Defender for Office 365 detects suspicious indicators; minutes later, Entra ID logs an unusual sign-in from an unlikely geography. On a laptop, Defender for Endpoint flags the launch of PowerShell in a way inconsistent with that user’s habits. On their own, these are snapshots; together, they form the storyline of an identity compromise attempt followed by lateral movement. MXDR stitches them into a single timeline, escalates the case to an incident, and initiates the response.
The operational sequence is fast and guided. In Entra, tokens are revoked, and credentials are forcibly reset, cutting off the suspicious session. The endpoint is isolated with Defender, keeping only the channels essential for investigation. At the tenant level, the campaign sender is blocked, while Sentinel orchestrates hunts to identify malicious forwarding rules, OAuth apps with unusual/unauthorized consent, and any lateral movement. Intune enforces a temporary non-compliance status on the device, preventing a hasty return to production. Here, automation truly makes the difference: playbooks sequentially orchestrate the removal of malicious rules, token revocation, disconnection of suspicious apps, and temporary risk elevation in Conditional Access; once the analysis is closed, the device reenters compliance in Intune without unnecessary manual steps.
Automation doesn’t mean giving up control. In critical contexts, the most invasive actions — isolating a production server, rotating credentials of a privileged account — go through approval gates with clear roles. It’s light but rigorous governance: the SOC proposes, the internal manager authorizes, and every decision is logged. This prevents over-blocking and keeps security aligned with operational continuity.
For IT and security leaders, the difference is measured in time gained. Fewer minutes lost interpreting, more minutes invested in deciding: faster triage, first-pass closures, shorter exposure windows. The benefits extend beyond operations: end-to-end traceability — evidence, timing, decisions — streamlines audits and compliance, in line with NIS2 principles and, for financial entities, DORA. Security stops being an after-the-fact narrative and becomes a demonstrable process.
Integration doesn’t require changing what already works. If you use Microsoft 365, you already have most of the necessary telemetry. MXDR adds the craft: cross-cutting interpretation, codified response, and the ability to learn from closed cases. Every incident becomes material for strengthening rules and processes, reducing the chances of watching the same movie again.
In the end, the promise is pragmatic: using what you already have in Microsoft 365 to see more clearly, understand sooner, and act effectively. MXDR is the way to achieve this without chasing yet another platform.
The role of 4IT
4IT Solution has created Security Essentials, a new package entirely dedicated to turning security into day-to-day operations: it includes, among other services, MXDR for managed response, log management, vulnerability management, and EASM, bringing together visibility, priorities, and action under a single orchestration without disrupting the existing stack.
