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Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Also known as MDCA, CASB

A cloud access security broker that discovers which SaaS applications are in use and controls how company data moves through them.

It answers the shadow IT question by analyzing traffic to reveal which cloud services staff have adopted, then lets you sanction, restrict, or block them and apply session controls to the ones you keep.

It also detects risky behavior inside sanctioned applications, such as mass downloads or sharing to external domains.

Where this comes up

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps sits inside our microsoft 365 and cloud work. If you are trying to work out what this means for your own environment rather than in the abstract, that is the page worth reading next, and a short call will get you a straight answer faster than either.

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Related terms

Shadow IT Software and services staff adopt on their own, without IT approval or oversight. Data exfiltration Copying data out of your environment to somewhere the attacker controls. Microsoft Defender Suite Microsoft's bundled security add-on: Entra ID P2, Defender for Endpoint P2, Defender for Office P2, Defender for Identity, and Defender for Cloud Apps. Software as a service Subscribing to software the vendor runs entirely, accessed through a browser or app.

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