Jamf Protect vs. Microsoft Forefront (Discontinued Product)

If the environment is predominantly Apple based then Jamf Protect is a strong solution for providing EDR capabilities to endpoints. The detection capabilities are up to par with other leading EDR tools and it integrates well with Jamf MDM. Additionally, the compliance, telemetry, log forwarding, and USB device management being included as part of Jamf Protect provide good ROI.

Incentivized

In large deployments, I have found Microsoft Forefront to be very effective at combating the majority of threats faced by our users. It provides the base platform for catching threats that would otherwise threaten our users and their data. If you have an environment that is under constant malware threat, then a secondary program may be needed as required.

Incentivized

• Low resource use Protected Agent - stops tampering with agent and is not a resource hog
• Managed and custom Analytics - along with the out of the box Analytics provided by JAMF, admins can also set up their own to focus on areas of concern eg NISTcompliance items
• Vendor support - support is very responsive and knowledgeable

Incentivized

• SCEP is a light weight client which is minimally impactful on the user end.
• Forefront's management console provides excellent monitoring and reporting.
• Setup and configuration is very easy.

Incentivized

• Jamf scoping can be a but of a pain sometimes
• For none security specialists it can be a little hard to navigate the portal
• It can be hard at times to understand the alerts and what is causing them

Incentivized

• Malware detection is not quite 100%. We have to use a secondary program occasionally.
• On low ram and weak CPU systems scanning can freeze the machine.
• The same reporting tools that are on the console version, aren't on the client.

Incentivized

Jamf Protect is easy to manage. It is a separate interface from Jamf MDM which is nice for Security Operations teams. It allows Security teams to manage only the Security aspects without having to dig through all of the MDM configurations. For exception uses cases, Jamf Protect does provide options to customize settings where needed.

Incentivized

In some aspects, Jamf Protect was far superior to the others mentioned above. The only downside I can see is that it is only macOS which could be a problem for hybrid environments.

Incentivized

The biggest advantage that MSF and SCEP provide over Norton is: One: Far less client overhead required. Both Norton and McAfee are highly intensive client side when in use. Two: We've had far better luck using the Microsoft system with its detection capabilities, versus the others. Three: It is tied right into the Microsoft updating system, which provides central updating capabilities of av/mal/windows updates.

Incentivized

• Reduced helpdesk tickets for admin tasks; reduces overall IT costs
• Reduced lost time due to malware
• Reduced lost data due to infected computers needing a wipe and purge of any malware

Incentivized

• Less turnaround on virus based issues.
• Helps reduce malware issues over time.
• Can breed overconfidence in the system, so people don't always try a second tool.

Incentivized