# Microsoft Defender for Identity: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 50 judge labels across 4 categories by 14 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-defender-for-identity

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Identity threat detection and response](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/identity-threat-detection-and-response/index.md) | 26% | 2 | 6% | 47 |
| [Microsoft 365 management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/operations/microsoft-365-management/index.md) | 0% | 95 | 0% | 1 |
| [Privileged access management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/privileged-access-management/index.md) | 0% | 56 | 0% | 1 |
| [Workforce identity and SSO](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/identity/workforce-identity-and-sso/index.md) | 0% | 53 | 100% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "the best ITDR solution today is Microsoft Defender for Identity (or Microsoft Entra ID Protection) if you're already on Microsoft 365 / Entra ID" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, ITDR)
- "If you're already a Microsoft shop, this is often "free" (bundled) — the lowest-friction option with the deepest Microsoft-native telemetry" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, ITDR)
- "Highly rated and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft environments, making it a strong choice if you already use Microsoft 365 or Azure." (Mistral Small, ITDR)
- "Microsoft Defender for Identity is the lowest-friction entry point... Start with Microsoft Defender for Identity via M365 E5" (Muse Glimmer 30B, ITDR)

## And against it

- "Microsoft Defender for Identity in particular is repeatedly flagged for needed improvements in alert tuning, agent flexibility, internal IP handling and technical support to reduce false positives." (Muse Glimmer 30B, ITDR)
- "if your requirements depend on unsupported integrations or older infrastructure... lists no VPN integration or syslog notifications" (GPT-6 Luna, ITDR)
- "there are cases in which this compromise can lead to costly, catastrophic breaches" (Muse Glimmer 30B, Workforce identity)
- "Microsoft Defender for Identity (but requires E5 licensing)" (MiniMax M2.5, ITDR)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mistral Small | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kimi K2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Microsoft Defender for Identity, from 134 of the 147 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- huntress.com: 64
- g2.com: 56
- cybersecuritynews.com: 53
- microsoft.com: 51 (its own site)
- gbhackers.com: 48
- cyberpress.org: 44
- startwithidentity.com: 40
- expertinsights.com: 37
- cynet.com: 35
- peerspot.com: 34

### Pages cited

- https://gbhackers.com/itdr-solutions-compared-features-pricing: 48
- https://cyberpress.org/itdr-solutions-by-business-size: 44
- https://cybersecuritynews.com/best-identity-threat-detection-and-response-solutions: 44
- https://huntress.com/itdr-guide/best-itdr-vendors: 43
- https://expertinsights.com/identity-and-access-management/the-top-identity-threat-detection-and-response-itdr-solutions: 37
- https://cynet.com/security-foundations/identity-security/itdr-vendors: 35
- https://microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/solutions/identity-threat-detection-response: 35
- https://assets.beyondtrust.com/assets/documents/KuppingerCole_LeadershipCompass_IdentityThreatDetectionandResponse.pdf: 31

## In its own words

What Microsoft Defender for Identity's own pages state, read 2026-10-05. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.


## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.