Protect with AI is Microsoft’s approach to embedding generative AI directly into its security portfolio so your team can manage threats more efficiently. It brings together a specialized security-focused language model, Microsoft Security Copilot, and Microsoft’s existing security products into a unified experience. In practice, this means: - **Integrated AI in your existing tools**: Copilot is natively embedded across Microsoft Defender XDR, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud. - **Unified, prompt-based interface**: Analysts can use natural language prompts to investigate incidents, summarize alerts, and ask questions across identities, devices, apps, data, and cloud workloads. - **Faster, guided responses**: Copilot provides guided investigations, script analysis, and query assistance so analysts can move from detection to response more quickly. - **Better use of your team’s time**: Routine and complex but repetitive tasks are handled by AI and automation, so your team can refocus on strategic work such as improving security posture and planning. By combining Microsoft’s security capabilities with AI, Protect with AI helps your team see more of the threat landscape, react faster, and make more informed decisions without having to switch between multiple disconnected tools.

Protect with AI increases visibility and speeds up response by using AI to analyze large volumes of security data and present it in a way that’s easier for analysts to act on. Key ways it helps: - **Data analysis at scale**: Security Copilot processes signals across identities, devices, clouds, and applications at the speed and scale of AI, surfacing potentially dangerous threats that might otherwise be missed. - **Consolidated incident view**: Copilot pairs a unified view of all active incidents with threat intelligence, so your team can see what’s happening across the organization in one place instead of piecing together information from separate tools. - **Noise reduction and critical insights**: AI highlights high-value alerts and filters out noise, helping analysts focus on what matters most. - **Guided investigations**: For security operations, Copilot can walk analysts through incident response steps, assist with script analysis, and help build and refine queries. - **Coverage across key domains**: - *Security operations*: Manage vulnerabilities, investigate incidents, and respond faster. - *Device management*: Generate and simulate policies, gather forensic data, and apply best practices from similar deployments. - *Identity management*: Discover overprivileged access, generate access reviews, and evaluate licensing across solutions. - *Data security and compliance*: Identify impacted data, summarize risks, and surface potential regulatory compliance issues. - *Cloud security*: Discover attack paths, summarize cloud CVEs, and manage cloud security posture more efficiently. In a Microsoft randomized controlled trial with **147 experienced security analysts**, the group using Security Copilot completed tasks faster and reported better quality outcomes, indicating that AI support can materially improve both speed and effectiveness in real-world operations.

Protect with AI is designed to help teams do more with the people they already have and to fit into existing security environments. **Addressing skills gaps and team development** - **On-the-job coaching for junior analysts**: Copilot acts as a coach, guiding less-experienced team members through investigations, policy creation, and analysis, which can shorten the time it takes them to become productive. - **Force multiplier for experts**: Senior professionals get an always-ready assistant to handle research, summarization, and repetitive tasks, freeing them to focus on higher-value work like architecture, threat hunting, and strategic planning. - **Leveling up without proportional headcount growth**: Because AI sees more and moves faster against threats, you can strengthen your security posture without a matching increase in hiring and training costs. **Integration with existing tools** - **Deep integration with Microsoft Security**: Protect with AI and Security Copilot integrate with: - Microsoft Defender XDR - Microsoft Sentinel - Microsoft Purview - Microsoft Entra - Microsoft Intune - Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management - Microsoft Defender for Cloud - **Third-party integrations**: Copilot also connects with a range of third-party solutions, including: - Unified Security Operations Platform - Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence - CIRCL - Crowdsec TI - Cyware - Greynoise Community and Greynoise Enterprise - Netskope - Tanium - URLScan.io - Valence Security By consuming signals from these tools and providing natural language guidance, Protect with AI helps streamline workflows, enhance visibility, and build team expertise. In Microsoft’s research, a large share of security professionals who used Copilot said they would want it the next time they performed the same task, reflecting its practical value in day-to-day work.