Defender for Endpoint: Evidence and Entity Investigations

When a security alert triggers, knowing how to trace the evidence and understand compromised entities is the difference between a minor incident and a major breach. This course guides you through the foundational concepts of endpoint security and threat investigation. You will transition from understanding basic security alerts to confidently navigating endpoint data, analyzing process trees, investigating user accounts, and determining the scope of an attack. What you will learn: Understand the fundamentals of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and how modern threat landscapes affect organizational security; Analyze device alerts, file evidence, and process execution trees to trace the root cause of an incident; Investigate user entities and IP addresses to identify lateral movement and potential credential compromise; Apply Zero Trust principles to assess the risk level of endpoints and connected assets; Perform basic search queries and utilize advanced hunting schemas to proactively find hidden threats; Configure automated investigation states to streamline incident response and isolate compromised devices. You will start with core terminology and the architectural basics of Defender for Endpoint before moving into step-by-step written investigation scenarios. The material guides you through analyzing real-world evidence types, assessing entity risk, and executing response actions entirely through clear, written explanations and practical examples. This text-only course is designed for beginning security analysts, IT administrators, and cybersecurity students. No prior experience with enterprise security tools is required. Start building your practical threat investigation skills today.