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Attack surface management · November 2026 Edition
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Cortex Xpanse
One of fourteen models named Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management first on the direct prompt; zero named Cortex Xpanse. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Cortex Xpanse by twelve and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management carries 56 labels and Cortex Xpanse 31, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share6%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate11%45%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#4#7A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels5631A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Intruder was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Intruder vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management · Intruder vs Cortex Xpanse · Attaxion vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the attack surface management page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface ManagementFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCortex Xpanse
Direct105 against Cortex Xpanse
Paraphrase211 against Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management · 3 against Cortex Xpanse
Comparative16
Budget-constrained001 against Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management · 1 against Cortex Xpanse
Scale-constrained012 against Cortex Xpanse
Negative004 against Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management · 3 against Cortex Xpanse
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management and Cortex Xpanse were named in the same answer 102 times, of the 161 answers naming Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management and the 119 naming Cortex Xpanse. In those answers Cortex Xpanse took the first choice thirty-six times and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management nine.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management and Cortex Xpanse stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | |||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | |||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | | |
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | ||
| Mistral Small | | | | | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | ||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | |||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | ||||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | |||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | |
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management Cortex Xpanse first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management on the left and Cortex Xpanse on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management and Cortex Xpanse stood in it.
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management first, Cortex Xpanse not the choice
1 of 14 modelsCortex Xpanse was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-6 LunaMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management alternatives: Censys ASM, CyCognito
Neither was the first choice, one was named
9 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Intruder alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Surface, CyCognito, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, Tenable Attack Surface Management, UpGuard BreachSight
GPT-5.4 miniCensys ASM alternatives: IONIX, Intruder, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Gemini 3.5 FlashCyCognito alternatives: Censys ASM, Detectify, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, UpGuard BreachSight
Perplexity SonarIntruder alternatives: Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, UpGuard BreachSight
Grok 4.20Intruder alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Exposure Management, CyCognito, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Mistral SmallCyCognito, Intruder alternatives: Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
DeepSeek V4 FlashUpGuard BreachSight alternatives: CyCognito, Intruder, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Kimi K2Intruder alternatives: CyCognito, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management, SynScan
Muse Glimmer 30BIntruder alternatives: CyCognito, Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Neither was named
4 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Qwen 3.7 FlashTenable Vulnerability Management alternatives: Censys ASM, Dive, Rapid7
GLM 4.7 FlashXIntruder alternatives: CyCognito, SecurityScorecard
MiniMax M2.5Intruder alternatives: Attaxion, Halo Security
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management leads by two points.
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management2%#10 of 14Cortex Xpanse0%#14 of 14Mid-marketThe figures above
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management leads by two points.
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management6%#4 of 12Cortex Xpanse4%#7 of 12Enterprise
The order flips: Cortex Xpanse leads at enterprise.
Cortex Xpanse44%#1 of 10Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management13%#2 of 10What the models said about Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Better suited for organizations heavily invested in Microsoft stack” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · hard negative
“Complex to configure (typical Microsoft complexity), generates significant false positives, requires existing Microsoft licensing” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Strongly Azure/Microsoft-centric—poor fit if you're not heavily invested in their ecosystem” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“If you already use CrowdStrike or Microsoft 365/Azure: Start a Proof of Concept (PoC) with Microsoft Defender EASM” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“For most modern enterprises, CyCognito and Microsoft EASM are currently leading the market” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is often the most pragmatic starting point” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about Cortex Xpanse
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“What to Avoid ... Enterprise-focused; ~$95,000/year starting price” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · hard negative
“Enterprise tools like Palo Alto Cortex Xpanse, Censys, and Mandiant ASM are powerful but often assume six-figure budgets” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · soft negative
“General high-cost or complex platforms (e.g., Cortex Xpanse, Mandiant ASM, CrowdStrike Falcon Exposure Management)” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Strong in automated discovery, risk prioritization, and response. Excellent for broad internet-facing assets and integrations.” Grok 4.20 · scale prompt · first choice
“A leading Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) tool, recognized as a Leader in Forrester's 2024 ASM Wave.” Mistral Small · comparative prompt · first choice
“Cortex Xpanse represents the enterprise benchmark for internet-scale external attack surface management” MiniMax M2.5 · comparative prompt · first choice
Also compared
Intruder vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface ManagementIntruder vs Cortex XpanseAttaxion vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface ManagementAttaxion vs Cortex XpanseCyCognito vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface ManagementCyCognito vs Cortex XpanseMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Censys ASMMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs UpGuard BreachSightMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Tenable Attack Surface ManagementCensys ASM vs Cortex XpanseUpGuard BreachSight vs Cortex XpanseCortex Xpanse vs Tenable Attack Surface ManagementAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full ASM standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.