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Advanced protection for the AI-era
Sophos Endpoint combines remote ransomware protection, boot-record protection, 60+ exploit mitigations, and adaptive defenses to stop advanced attacks launched by human operators or AI-enabled tools.
Cyber defense system
Sophos Fusion unifies controls, threat intelligence, MDR analysts, AI, and 500+ third-party integrations into one coordinated defense system, enabling detections from one control point to trigger response across others.
WHY SOPHOS Endpoint
Built to Prevent. Proven to Protect.
Sophos is the only vendor named a “Customers’ Choice” across these five categories: Endpoint, XDR, MDR, Email, and Firewalls. This underscores the strength of:
- Open design, with 500+ third-party XDR integrations
- Sophos Fusion, which protects more than 625,000 organizations worldwide.
- Adaptive Attack Protection that hardens defenses during active attacks.
A Cybersecurity Defense System. Not a Product Stack.
See how Sophos and Microsoft compare across the capabilities that matter most.
| Capability | Sophos MDR | SECURE BY DEFAULT |
|---|---|---|
| SECURE BY DEFAULT | Tuned protection that is on by default Sophos ships with the strongest possible protection defaults. Technologies like exploit mitigations and ransomware protection are tuned and enabled out of the box, providing minimal setup time and maximizing protection. |
Significant parts of Microsoft’s protection, including anti-exploit and ransomware protection, are not pre-tuned or enabled by default, leaving customers to manually configure and tune them or accept weaker protection. |
| ADAPTIVE ENDPOINT DEFENSES | Protection that gets tougher under attack Sophos Adaptive Attack Protection automatically applies heightened, technique-focused defenses when active-adversary behavior is detected, restricting commonly abused actions and reducing the attacker’s options while defenders investigate. |
Microsoft Defender XDR correlates signals and can automatically contain compromised assets, but there is no heightened endpoint protection posture when hands-on-keyboard activity is detected. |
| CYBER DEFENSE SYSTEM | Sophos Fusion Sophos brings endpoint, network, email, cloud, identity, threat intelligence, MDR analysts, AI, and third-party integrations together as a coordinated cyber defense system that responds as one. |
Microsoft offers a stack of products and control points that do not all integrate out of the box or act as one, and third-party products rarely contribute to detections or response action. |
| OPEN ECOSYSTEM | Works with the security you already own 500+ integrations turn existing investments into active defenses. Sophos brings Microsoft and other third-party technologies into one defense system, without forcing you to replace what already works. |
Protection and response are deepest across Microsoft products, with more limited action across third-party tools. |
| COORDINATED RESPONSE | Synchronized Security Built right in to our control points, Security Heartbeat and Active Threat Response share context and automatically coordinate posture, isolation and blocking across endpoint, firewall, switches, access points, XDR, and MDR. |
Microsoft correlates signals and coordinates actions centrally but lacks a direct, automated endpoint-to-network response. |
| AIRTIGHT RANSOMWARE PROTECTION | Ransomware protection with rollback Sophos CryptoGuard monitors file activity regardless of source, disrupting ransomware running locally or remotely and automatically rolling back affected files. |
Microsoft recommends using Controlled Folder Access for signatureless disruption of ransomware. However, this is not enabled, configured nor tuned by default. Automated rollback is missing. |
| MANAGED DETECTION AND RESPONSE | Comprehensive MDR Sophos MDR supports broad third-party integrations, hands-on-keyboard response, direct analyst access, and critical incident management with MDR Plus. MDR Plus also adds a breach protection warranty. |
Microsoft MDR protects the Microsoft stack. Broader incident response requires Plan 2 and E5, while third-party response remains limited. |
Tuned protection that is on by default
Protection takes preparation
“Everything about Sophos, from their admin tools to the user experience to the support and sales team, is top-notch.”
Director, IT Security in the Media Industry, $50M-$250M
Validated by the analysts
and organizations that matter most.
Validated by the analysts and organizations that matter most.
A Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms for 17 consecutive reports
A top performer in the MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations for Enterprise Products and Managed Services (MDR)
The only vendor named Gartner Customers’ Choice for MDR Services, XDR, Endpoint Security, and Firewall
A leader in the IDC MarketSpace assessments for worldwide MDR services and Modern Endpoint Security.
The only vendor named a G2 Leader in MDR, Endpoint Protection, EDR, XDR, and Firewall.
A Leader in the Frost & Sullivan Frost Radar™ for Endpoint Services, Endpoint Security, and XDR.
Ready to see the difference?
Join thousands of security leaders who trust Sophos MDR to protect what matters most.
Disclaimer:
The content on this page was prepared by Sophos based on publicly available data as of August 2026. It is intended for informational purposes only.
Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER and PEER INSIGHTS are trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates.