{
  "slug": "microsoft-defender-for-office-365",
  "category": "spam-filters",
  "name": "Microsoft Defender for Office 365",
  "description": "Email and collaboration security add-on for Microsoft 365 that scans mail, links and attachments for phishing and malware on top of Exchange Online Protection spam filtering. It also covers Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive.",
  "website": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-defender-office-365",
  "license": null,
  "platforms": [
    "web"
  ],
  "jurisdiction": {
    "code": "US",
    "name": "United States",
    "eyes": "Five Eyes",
    "eu": false,
    "gdpr": false,
    "cloud_act": "provider"
  },
  "pick": false,
  "pick_reason": null,
  "disclosure": null,
  "grade": "D",
  "score": 50,
  "coverage": 100,
  "summary": "Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the spam and virus filtering criteria. It meets 4 of 8 criteria: no ads or data sales, transparency report, tells users about requests and TLS configuration. It partly meets independent audit. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry and security headers. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B-.",
  "url": "https://privacyratings.com/spam-filters/microsoft-defender-for-office-365/",
  "markdown": "https://privacyratings.com/spam-filters/microsoft-defender-for-office-365/index.md",
  "answers": {
    "open_source": {
      "title": "Open source",
      "weight": 3,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "Closed source."
    },
    "no_trackers": {
      "title": "No trackers or telemetry",
      "weight": 3,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/privacystatement",
      "note": "Microsoft collects required diagnostic data from its products that cannot be turned off, and its websites use analytics and advertising cookies."
    },
    "no_ads": {
      "title": "No ads or data sales",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "yes",
      "evidence": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/trust-center/privacy",
      "note": "Paid business service with no ads. Microsoft states it does not use customer data from its cloud services for advertising."
    },
    "independent_audit": {
      "title": "Independent audit",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "partial",
      "evidence": "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/compliance/regulatory/offering-soc-2",
      "note": "Office 365 is covered by yearly SOC 2 Type 2 audits, but the full reports are only available through the Service Trust Portal after sign-in."
    },
    "transparency_report": {
      "title": "Transparency report",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "yes",
      "evidence": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/reports/government-requests/customer-data",
      "note": "Publishes counts of government requests for consumer and enterprise customer data twice a year."
    },
    "user_notice": {
      "title": "Tells users about requests",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "yes",
      "evidence": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/reports/government-requests/customer-data",
      "note": "Microsoft gives prior notice to enterprise customers of requests for their data, except where prohibited by law."
    },
    "tls": {
      "title": "TLS configuration",
      "weight": 2,
      "answer": "yes",
      "evidence": "https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=security.microsoft.com&hideResults=on",
      "note": "Grade A+"
    },
    "security_headers": {
      "title": "Security headers",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "no",
      "evidence": "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/observatory/analyze?host=security.microsoft.com",
      "note": "Grade B- (65/100+)"
    },
    "web_standards": {
      "title": "Modern web standards",
      "weight": 1,
      "answer": "pending",
      "evidence": null,
      "note": "Not tested yet."
    }
  },
  "tests": {
    "ssllabs": "A+",
    "observatory": "B-",
    "internetnl_web": null,
    "internetnl_mail": null,
    "trackers": [],
    "tested_at": "2026-10-01T07:06:28.190Z"
  },
  "last_modified": "2026-10-01T07:44:20Z"
}