Microsoft Defender for Office 365 can provide native protection for files in SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams, but it does not scan every file. Third-party products such as Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration and Trend Micro Cloud App Security document additional or alternative SharePoint and OneDrive controls. The product materials do not establish that one option detects more threats than another. Choose based on the services and events your organization needs covered, what happens to risky files, integration health, and the licensing and configuration you can verify.
What Microsoft Defender for Office 365 does in SharePoint
Microsoft’s Safe Attachments protection for SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams can identify and block files detected as malicious in team sites and document libraries. It adds file protection to the broader email-security offering, but it is not a synchronous scan of every stored file.
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Microsoft Learn states: “Defender for Office 365 doesn’t scan every single file in SharePoint, OneDrive, or Microsoft Teams.” Scanning is asynchronous, and Microsoft uses sharing and guest activity events alongside heuristics and threat signals to identify files for scanning. Microsoft also says its common virus detection engine scans files before Safe Attachments detonation opens them in a virtual environment. Microsoft Learn: Safe Attachments for SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams.
When Microsoft identifies a malicious file, it says the file is locked through direct integration with the file stores, appears in Defender reports and Explorer, and is available to administrators in quarantine. These are specific file-handling capabilities; they should not be read as a guarantee that every file or exposure route is covered.
#1 Best Overall
How the third-party examples differ
Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration
Check Point documents file cleaning, also called Threat Extraction, for Office 365 SharePoint or OneDrive when a malware policy is set to Detect and Remediate. Its product update describes content disarm and reconstruction as an additional layer that removes potentially harmful active content after sandboxing and antivirus processing. That is a distinct file-handling approach, not proof of superior detection or a guarantee that a cleaned file is safe. Check the current product version and tenant settings, and confirm whether administrators can restore original content. See Check Point’s SharePoint and OneDrive file-cleaning guidance and its Harmony Email & Collaboration product information.
Trend Micro Cloud App Security
Trend Micro documents integration with SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business to access and protect stored files. Its migration guidance says retirement of legacy authentication affects file-event protection and directs customers to migrate to token-based authorized accounts. For an existing deployment, verify that migration is complete, the integration remains authorized, and the required permissions and file actions are in place. See Trend Micro Cloud App Security documentation and its authorized-account migration guidance.
Rank #2
- The latest SonicWall TZ370 series, are the first desktop form factor nextgeneration firewalls (NGFW) with 10 or 5 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. The series consist of a wide range of products to suit a variety of use cases.
- Reduce complexity and get the business running without relying on IT personnel with easy onboarding using SonicExpress App and Zero-Touch Deployment, and easy management through a single pane of glass
- Drive business growth by investing in next-gen appliances with multi-gigabit and advanced security features, to future-proof against the changing network and security landscape.
- SonicWall 24x7 support provides chat, email, web, and telephone support for technical assistance | Dynamic Support is designed for customers who need continued protection through ongoing firmware updates and advanced technical support
- Hardware: Operating system: SonicOS 7.0 | Interfaces: 8x1GbE, 2 USB 3.0, 1 Console | Management: Network Security Manager, CLI, SSH, Web UI, GMS, REST APIs | VLAN Interfaces: 128 | Access points supported (maximum): 16
Compare the controls that matter to your organization
| Decision area | Microsoft Defender for Office 365 | Third-party options to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Services covered | Microsoft documents Safe Attachments for SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. | Check Point and Trend Micro document SharePoint and OneDrive capabilities. Verify exact Teams coverage and file-type scope for the specific product and SKU; do not infer broader coverage. |
| Scan model and coverage | Scanning is asynchronous; Microsoft says it does not scan every file and uses activity and threat signals to select files. | The cited product materials do not provide a common benchmark for scan coverage or latency. Ask vendors to document event triggers, exclusions, backlog handling, and remediation timing. |
| Action on risky files | Microsoft says detected malicious files are locked and available to admins in quarantine. A separate tenant setting can block downloads. | Check Point documents file cleaning. Confirm what content is removed, whether users receive a sanitized file, and whether administrators can restore the original. |
| Integration and permissions | Microsoft documents configuration through the Defender portal and Exchange Online PowerShell. | Trend Micro’s migration guidance makes authentication and authorized-account status important operational checks. Confirm current permissions and integration health for any selected product. |
| Licensing and operating responsibility | The cited setup guidance applies to Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 and Plan 2. Check your actual subscription and enabled settings. | The cited product materials do not establish current price, package eligibility, or comparative operating cost. Obtain current SKU-specific terms and quotes. |
| Detection efficacy | The cited materials do not provide a controlled cross-vendor comparison. Vendor feature descriptions cannot establish which product catches more threats. | |
Configure and validate Microsoft’s protection
Microsoft’s setup guidance covers Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 and Plan 2, with configuration through the Defender portal or Exchange Online PowerShell. Follow the current Microsoft instructions for your tenant rather than relying on a remembered portal path or command syntax: Microsoft’s Safe Attachments configuration guide.
The guide recommends setting the SharePoint tenant property Set-SPOTenant -DisallowInfectedFileDownload $true if administrators want to prevent users from downloading files identified as malicious. Microsoft says the setting affects users and admins; deletion remains possible. Confirm the current behavior and implications in Microsoft’s guidance before applying it.
Rank #3
- The TZ570 is designed for mid-sized organizations and distributed enterprise with SD-Branch locations, the TZ570 delivers industry-validated security effectiveness with best-in-class price performance. TZ570 NGFWs address the growing trends in web encryption, connected devices and high-speed mobility by delivering a solution that meets the need for automated, realtime breach detection and prevention.
- Deployment of TZ570 is further simplified by Zero-Touch Deployment, with the ability to simultaneously roll out these devices across multiple locations with minimal IT support.
- The SonicOS architecture is at the core of TZ NGFWs. TZ570 is powered by the feature rich SonicOS 7.0 operating system with new modern looking UX/UI, advanced security, networking and management capabilities. TZ570 features integrated SD-WAN, TLS 1.3 support, realtime visualization, high-speed virtual private networking (VPN) and other robust security features.
- SonicWall 24x7 support provides chat, email, web, and telephone support for technical assistance | Dynamic Support is designed for customers who need continued protection through ongoing firmware updates and advanced technical support
- Hardware: Interfaces: 8x1GbE, 2x5GbE, 2 USB 3.0, 1 Console | VLAN interfaces: 256 | Firewall Inspection Throughput: 4.00 Gbps | Threat Prevention Throughput: 4.00 Gbps | IPS Throughput: 2.5 Gbps | IPSec VPN Throughput: 1.80 Gbps
For either a native or third-party deployment, use a tenant-specific checklist rather than assuming that buying or enabling a product provides the intended coverage:
- Confirm the subscription, product version, and relevant settings are enabled.
- List the collaboration services, file types, and file events that must be covered.
- Confirm how detected or sanitized files are blocked, quarantined, restored, or made available to users.
- Check authentication, permissions, admin consent, and whether integrations remain healthy.
- Ask for documented detection and remediation timing, exclusions, audit reporting, support terms, and current pricing.
What email security does not settle
File scanning and remediation address harmful files, not every SharePoint security problem. The cited product materials do not establish complete coverage for compromised identities, excessive permissions, data loss prevention, backup and recovery, or every form of external sharing. Microsoft 365 collaboration risk can also involve an account using access it already has; Proofpoint discusses identity, files, apps, and external access as broader risk areas, but its vendor analysis is not an independent product-efficacy comparison. See Proofpoint’s discussion of Microsoft 365 collaboration security.
If detection efficacy is decisive, compare products using a documented evaluation approved for your organization and environment. The cited feature pages do not report a shared benchmark, organization-specific configuration, or pricing basis from which to name a universal winner.
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Best Value
- The latest SonicWall TZ370 series, are the first desktop form factor nextgeneration firewalls (NGFW) with 10 or 5 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. The series consist of a wide range of products to suit a variety of use cases.
- Reduce complexity and get the business running without relying on IT personnel with easy onboarding using SonicExpress App and Zero-Touch Deployment, and easy management through a single pane of glass
- Drive business growth by investing in next-gen appliances with multi-gigabit and advanced security features, to future-proof against the changing network and security landscape.
- SonicWall 8x5 Support provides chat, email, web, and telephone support for technical assistance | Dynamic Support is designed for customers who need continued protection through ongoing firmware updates and advanced technical support
- Hardware: Operating system: SonicOS 7.0 | Interfaces: 8x1GbE, 2 USB 3.0, 1 Console | Management: Network Security Manager, CLI, SSH, Web UI, GMS, REST APIs | VLAN Interfaces: 128 | Access points supported (maximum): 20
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