As part of its plans to offer threat protection across all popular desktop and mobile computing platforms, Microsoft on Thursday released the public preview of Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) for Linux.
In an official blog post, the company said that security software for Linux was a “Long time request from our clients and we are excited to be able to fulfill that”.
The company further said that it is also working on security solutions for Android and iOS, and will officially announce more details about it at the RSA Conference in San Fransisco next week.
According to Microsoft, its security software will proactively protect users by detecting insecure emails, apps, and endpoints on Linux and Mac using artificial intelligence and automation, just like on Windows.
According to the company:
“Microsoft Threat Protection breaks down security silos so security professionals can automatically detect, investigate, and stop coordinated multipoint attacks. It removes the unimportant and amplifies signals that might have been missed, freeing up defenders to work on the incidents that need their attention”.
The public preview release of Defender ATP on Linux comes less than a year after Microsoft released the software on Mac last March.
As part of its plans to offer its security service on all major platforms, the company also dropped the "Windows" branding from the name in 2019, changing its name to "Microsoft Defender."
Keep in mind that ATP apps are part of Microsoft's enterprise security program, so it's not immediately clear when they'll be available to end users.