2024 brought major updates to Microsoft Defender for Business, Intune, and Entra ID. Here's what changed and what every MSP should have deployed for clients by now.
2024 was a significant year for Microsoft 365 Business Premium. Between Copilot for Security, Microsoft 365 Backup, Autopilot device preparation, and improvements to Defender XDR, there was no shortage of new capabilities for MSPs to deploy. Here's a summary of the most impactful changes.
Defender for Business: automatic attack disruption
Microsoft extended automatic attack disruption to Defender for Business in 2024. This AI-driven capability automatically contains active ransomware and business email compromise attacks — isolating devices, disabling compromised accounts, and blocking attacker tools — without requiring a human analyst to trigger the response. For SMBs without a 24/7 SOC, this is a significant capability upgrade.
Microsoft 365 Backup goes GA
Microsoft 365 Backup moved from preview to general availability, providing native backup for Exchange Online, OneDrive, and SharePoint with 10-minute recovery point objectives. For clients previously using third-party backup solutions, evaluation of the native option is now appropriate.
Intune: improved policy management and Autopilot device preparation
Intune's policy management console was significantly updated, with better assignment filter support and improved status reporting. Autopilot device preparation — the next generation of zero-touch provisioning — moved to GA, offering faster provisioning times and a simpler registration model.
Entra ID: improved MFA and passkey support
Entra ID added native FIDO2 passkey support for Microsoft 365 accounts. Users with compatible devices can now sign in to Microsoft 365 using device-based passkeys — the most phishing-resistant authentication method available. Optimyze began piloting passkey authentication with early adopter clients in Q4 2024.
What MSPs should have done in 2024
By the end of 2024, every managed Business Premium client should have: automatic attack disruption configured in Defender, all devices on Intune compliance policies, Conditional Access policies reviewed against the updated Microsoft security baselines, and MFA Number Matching enforced. Optimyze completed these updates for all managed clients through quarterly policy reviews.
