Microsoft is hoping to boost its security protection for Android and Linux systems with a new release of its Defender Adavanced Threat Protection (ATP) app.

A public preview, or first version of Defender ATP for Linux and Android devices can be installed from today, giving users a welcome security upgrade.

Microsoft Defender ATP is a common presence on Windows devices around the world, offering a frequently-updated protection platform against a wide number of security threats.

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Microsoft Defender ATP for Linux

After being announced earlier this year, the Linux version of Microsoft Defender ATP is generally available now, offering support for recent versions of the six most common Linux Server distributions, including Ubuntu 16 LTS or higher.

"This initial release delivers strong preventive capabilities, a full command line experience on the client to configure and manage the agent, initiate scans, manage threats, and a familiar integrated experience for machines and alert monitoring in the Microsoft Defender Security Center," Microsoft wrote in a blog post announcing the news.

The app can be deployed and configured using Puppet, Ansible, or using your existing Linux configuration management tool.

Microsoft Defender ATP for Android was announced at the RSA security conference earlier this year as the company looked to address what is often the most highly-targeted platform for cyberattacks.

The app offers full device-scanning capabilities to spot the latest malware threats and malicious apps, and will also be able to detect insecure sites and potential phishing threats while the user is browsing the web, as well as blocking access to any pre-determined sites set up by a company's IT team.

IT teams can now quickly enable secuirty features via their dashbaord, with the changes rolling out immediately to prevent any infection.

IT staff can also use the app to block compromised devices out of a corporate network, or stop users from accessing certain in-house apps once they have left the business. Such at-risk devices could also be stopped from accessing company resources such as OneDrive accounts or even the central Outlook mail server.

"Knowing that each of our customers have unique environments and unique needs and are looking for more unification in their security solutions, we communicated our commitment to build security solutions from Microsoft, not just for Microsoft," wrote Rob Lefferts, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft 365 Security.

"We are committed to helping organizations secure their unique and heterogenous environments and we have so much more in store for you this year."

Microsoft had also announced a public preview for iOS devices earlier this year, however the company was not able to reveal it alongside the Android version, instead stating the app is scheduled for "later this year."

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Via ZDNet