Formerly a Windows 10 exclusive, Microsoft today announced that Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is coming to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

That was not to say that a older computer operating systems are set to gain total benefit of ATP, however. Microsoft says that it is the Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) functionality which makes its method Windows 7 and 8.1 once this summer. This cloud-driven feature can be made available as a general preview in the year.

Microsoft notes that while one of the main reasons cited for upgrading to Windows 10 will probably be the improved security, discover that plenty of organizations that is still running slightly older os's. The company says the backporting of Windows Defender ATP to Windows 7 and 8.1 is known as a way to "help our customers get the best security possible en route to Windows 10 prior to a end of support for Windows 7 in January 2020."

Writing with the Windows blog, Microsoft says:

For Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, we have become building a behavioral based EDR means to fix give security teams rich insights into threats for their endpoints. All detections and events are surfaced in Windows Defender Security Center, the cloud-based console for Windows Defender ATP. Security teams really benefit correlated alerts for known and unknown adversaries, additional threat intelligence, and also a detailed machine timeline for added investigations and manual response options.

Although this solution can run side-by-side with third-party antivirus solutions, advertising and marketing together with Windows Defender Antivirus (sometimes known as System Center Endpoint Protection (SCEP) for down-level). With Windows Defender Antivirus, security teams am able to see all malware detections and trigger response actions avoiding the spread of malware, inside same console.

The firm also states that it has been hiring its partners that may help Windows Defender ATP better detect threat not just to Windows, but you will also macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android devices.