Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting
by Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is a managed cyber threat hunting service that extends Microsoft's own security team to hunt proactively across Microsoft Defender XDR telemetry — one of the best threat hunting tools in cyber security for organizations running Microsoft 365, offering expert-led hunting across endpoint, email, identity, and cloud at a fraction of the cost of building an internal hunt team.
Starting Price
Defender Experts for Hunting from ~$3/user/month; contact microsoft.com for enterprise pricing
G2
Gartner
Capterra
Ratings & Reviews
Key Features
- Microsoft Expert-Led Proactive Threat Hunting
- Hunting Across Full Microsoft XDR Surface — Endpoint + Email + Identity + Cloud Apps
- Microsoft Security Copilot — AI-Augmented Hunt Investigation
- 65 Trillion Daily Signals for Hunt Context
- Expert Notifications — Direct Analyst Communication
- KQL Advanced Hunting — 30-Day Data Retention
- Custom Detection Rules — Persistent Hunt Automation
- MITRE ATT&CK Coverage Reporting
- Monthly Hunt Summary Reports
- Hunting Across Microsoft Sentinel (Optional Integration)
- Expert Ask (On-Demand Analyst Consultation)
- Automatic Attack Disruption Correlation with Hunt Findings
- Nation-State Threat Actor Hunting (MSTIC Intelligence)
Pros & Cons
Pros
- +Microsoft's own security team hunts your environment — same analysts who defend Microsoft's infrastructure
- +Hunting across all Microsoft XDR surfaces (endpoint + email + identity + cloud apps) natively
- +MSTIC (Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center) intelligence powers nation-state threat actor hunting
- +Most affordable managed hunting service for Microsoft 365 E5 customers
- +Security Copilot AI augments hunt investigation
- +2
- +100+ Gartner reviews — strongest social proof in the market
- +FedRAMP High for U.S. government
Cons
- −Best value limited to Microsoft 365 / Azure environments
- −Less effective for non-Microsoft endpoint coverage (Linux
- −non-Windows)
- −KQL expertise required for self-service advanced hunting
- −Hunt methodology less transparent vs. CrowdStrike OverWatch reporting
Best For
Microsoft 365 organizations wanting expert-led cyber threat hunting across their full Microsoft environment — at the most affordable price point for managed hunting — where Microsoft's own MSTIC analysts hunt for nation-state actors using the same intelligence that protects Microsoft's global infrastructure.
Target Audience
Enterprise, Government, Education, Organizations running Microsoft 365 or Azure
Key Integrations
Competitor Tools
Pricing
Model
Annual subscription — per user; Defender Experts for Hunting pricing on quote
Starting At
Defender Experts for Hunting from ~$3/user/month; contact microsoft.com for enterprise pricing
Free Trial
Yes — 90-day Microsoft 365 E5 trial includes advanced hunting capabilitiesCompany Info
Founded
1975
Headquarters
Redmond, WA, USA
Employees
228,000+
Company Size
All sizes — most cost-effective for Microsoft 365 E5 subscribers
Funding
Public (NASDAQ: MSFT) — Market Cap ~$3.2T (January 2026)
Certifications
Awards & Recognition
Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader — EPP 2025 | Forrester Wave Leader — XDR Q4 2025 | SC Awards Best Threat Hunting Microsoft 2025 | IDC MarketScape Leader — MDR 2025
Data sourced from G2, Gartner & Capterra · Verified by Firmographic