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Microsoft Secure Score: New recommendations for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Message ID
MC1251207
View in Message Center
Service
Microsoft Defender XDR
Category
Stay Informed
Tags
Feature updateUser impactAdmin impact
Rollout
February 2026March 2026

Summary

New Microsoft Secure Score recommendations for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint will roll out in public preview from late February to mid-March 2026. They include SMB server hardening and blocking file transfer over RDP. Recommendations are off by default and require admin action to enable.

Details

[Introduction]

We’re adding new Microsoft Secure Score recommendations for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) to help your organization strengthen endpoint security and proactively reduce exposure to common attack techniques. These recommendations support more robust security baselines and help you assess and improve protection across your devices.

[When this will happen]

  • Public Preview: Rollout began at the end of February 2026 and is expected to complete by mid‑March 2026.

[How this will affect your organization]

Who is affected

  • Admins who manage Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Microsoft Secure Score.

What will happen

Customers in Public Preview will see the following new Microsoft Secure Score recommendations:

  • SMB server security hardening against authentication relay attacks:

     user settings

  • Block file transfer over Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP):

     user settings

As these recommendations become available:

  • Secure Score will update based on your organization’s implementation of the recommended actions.
  • No changes will be made to your existing configurations unless you choose to enable the recommended settings.
  • These recommendations are off by default and require admin action to adopt.

[What you can do to prepare]

[Compliance considerations]

No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.

Change History

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No change history available

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