Skip to main content

What Is Microsoft Security Copilot? Should You Use It?

Keeping up with the rapidly evolving cyber threats can be overwhelming. Managing your organisation's security, however, could become more intuitive and simpler.

That’s where Microsoft Security Copilot comes in.

Released on April 1, 2024, Microsoft Security Copilot is a new AI-powered security tool designed to enhance your team's ability to safeguard your network. This tool integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security products and allows for interaction through natural language, offering a user-friendly interface to receive customised guidance and critical insights for efficient threat detection and response.

In this article, we'll delve into the specifics of Microsoft Security Copilot, examining its advantages and determining if it's the optimal solution for strengthening your digital defences.

Microsoft Copilot for Security vs Other AI security Solutions

Microsoft Copilot for Security integrates the latest GPT-4 technology from OpenAI with Microsoft's robust offerings, which include large-scale infrastructure, targeted cyber orchestration, specialised expertise from Microsoft Security, and access to global threat data, alongside a suite of comprehensive security tools.

A significant distinction between ChatGPT and Copilot for Security lies in their intended functions. Microsoft Copilot for Security is engineered for managing security stances, responding to incidents, and compiling reports. It gathers and utilises insights from aggregated security data via plugins, in contrast to ChatGPT, which is designed primarily to engage in user conversations.

Copilot for Security has access to up-to-date information from threat intelligence and draws insights from plugins so that security professionals are better equipped at defending against threats. In addition, the built-in feedback mechanism provides users with control in helping improve the system

Seamless Integration with Microsoft’s Ecosystem

Microsoft Security Copilot is accessible both as a standalone product and within other Microsoft security offerings, providing versatile integration options.

Copilot integrates with several tools, including:

  • Microsoft Sentinel
  • Microsoft Defender XDR
  • Microsoft Intune
  • Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence
  • Microsoft Entra
  • Microsoft Purview
  • Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
  • Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Who Should Use Copilot for Security?

Security Copilot is specifically designed for SOC analysts, compliance officers, and IT administrators. It supports an array of languages and is engineered to meet the diverse needs of a global user base, making it a highly adaptable tool for a range of organisational requirements.

Here's a Step-by-Step Look at Microsoft Security Copilot in Action:

Prompt Processing: Security-related prompts from various tools are enhanced through a technique called grounding, ensuring relevance and actionability.

Plugin Utilisation: These refined prompts are initially processed by various plugins before submission to the language model.

Contextual Enrichment: The AI-generated response is further enriched with contextual data relevant to the query.

Delivery and Evaluation: The final response, equipped with actionable insights, is delivered to the user for evaluation.

This continuous iteration and coordination of services allow Microsoft Security Copilot to deliver uniquely tailored outcomes, leveraging data specific to your organisation’s context.

Security copilot diagram

See how Copilot assists in security and IT operations.

Enhancing Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel with Copilot for Security

The integration of Copilot for Security with Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel markedly boosts the capabilities of these platforms. By leveraging artificial intelligence, this integration delivers a refined user experience for security experts. It enhances the platforms' existing data, signals, and insights, providing tools such as instantaneous analysis of harmful code, assisted management of security incidents, and structured access to threat intelligence. These enhancements position Copilot for Security as an essential component in the arsenal of cybersecurity tools.

Primary Features and Benefits

  • Real-time Threat Management and Mitigation: By leveraging artificial intelligence, Copilot for Security significantly reduces the time it takes to respond to incidents. It provides concise, actionable advice, enabling quick decision-making.
  • Sophisticated Automation of Security Processes: This tool empowers security personnel at every expertise level to execute complex security measures with ease and precision.
  • Seamless Integration and Compatibility: Copilot for Security integrates effortlessly with the current lineup of Microsoft security solutions, boosting the overall performance and effectiveness of the security operations centre (SOC).
  • Continuous Adaptation: The system evolves by integrating insights from newly encountered data, continuously refining its capabilities in threat detection and response.

Copilot for Security Primary Use Cases

Incident Summarisation: Enhance your organisation's understanding and management of security incidents by using advanced generative AI. This technology quickly transforms detailed security alerts into clear, concise summaries. These summaries facilitate faster reaction times and more efficient organisational decision-making by providing digestible and actionable insights.

Impact Evaluation: Apply AI-powered tools to conduct a thorough evaluation of the repercussions associated with security incidents. These tools provide deep insights into the systems and data impacted, helping you prioritise your response initiatives more effectively.

Script Decipherment: Streamline the process of reverse-engineering malicious scripts, enabling analysts of all levels to decipher the actions performed by cyber attackers. Convert intricate command line scripts into easy-to-understand natural language, detailing each action clearly. Efficiently identify and correlate indicators present in the scripts with their corresponding entities within your environment.

Guided Incident Management: Receive comprehensive, step-by-step instructions for managing incidents, from initial assessment and investigation to containment and resolution. Direct links to essential actions facilitate a faster and more coordinated response, ensuring that you can address threats effectively and efficiently.

Should You Use Microsoft Security Copilot?

The decision to use Microsoft Security Copilot should be based on your specific business needs and security challenges. If your organisation utilises Microsoft security products and you are looking to enhance your security operations with AI capabilities, Copilot for Security could be a beneficial addition. However, consider the integration with your existing tools, the resource requirements, and the need for training your team on this new tool.

The only prerequisite for Copilot for Security is an Azure account. However, organisations get the most value from Copilot when connected to their security data. We recommend connecting your Microsoft Security tools and integrating your other security tools to have the best experience and get the most value from Copilot.

Conclusion

Microsoft Security Copilot represents a significant advancement in AI-driven cybersecurity. It has an advanced capacity for real-time threat detection and operational efficiency, as well as extensive integration capabilities. These factors make it a compelling choice. Your unique business needs should guide the decision to adopt Microsoft Copilot.

Get Expert Microsoft Product Support Here!

If you're considering leveraging Microsoft Security Copilot or other Microsoft tools, reach out to us. As experienced Microsoft service providers, we can help you maximise the benefits of these tools. Contact us today to discuss how we can support your cybersecurity needs.