Cybersecurity & Microsoft Defender | Gerald's Tech

Cybersecurity & Microsoft Defender

I secure Microsoft 365, Azure, and hybrid environments end-to-end—identity first, Zero Trust by default, measurable improvements, and clear documentation your team can run with.

Defender for Endpoint (EDR)

  • Onboarding (Win/Mac/iOS/Android/Servers) & sensor health
  • Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules & device control
  • Next-gen AV tuning, tamper protection, ransomware guards
  • EDR in block mode, indicators (files/URLs/certs) & allow/deny
  • Threat & Vulnerability Management (TVM) remediation plans
  • Hunting queries (KQL), custom detections & live response

Defender for Office 365

  • Safe Links / Safe Attachments, ZAP, anti-phish/impersonation
  • Tenant allow/block lists, transport rules, DKIM/DMARC/SPF
  • Automated Investigation & Response (AIR) playbooks
  • Attack simulation training & targeted campaigns
  • Phish reporting add-ins & user triage workflows
  • Secure Score improvements & reporting cadences

Identity Security (Entra / Defender for Identity)

  • Conditional Access, MFA enforcement & risk-based access
  • Privileged Identity Management (PIM) & least-privilege RBAC
  • Identity Protection (leaked creds, risky sign-ins, policies)
  • On-prem AD sensors (lateral movement, DC sync, pass-the-hash)
  • Passwordless/strong auth (FIDO2, Windows Hello for Business)
  • Access reviews, entitlement mgmt & lifecycle governance

Defender for Cloud Apps (CASB)

  • Shadow IT discovery & sanctioned app catalogs
  • Session controls (download block, watermark, conditional)
  • OAuth app governance & risky app revocation
  • DLP policies across SaaS (Teams/SharePoint/OneDrive)
  • Impossible travel/anomalous activity detections
  • Policy tuning & alert triage runbooks

Microsoft Sentinel (SIEM/SOAR)

  • Workspace design, data connectors & cost governance
  • Analytic rules, UEBA, watchlists & data retention strategy
  • Hunting queries, notebooks & scheduled detections
  • Automation rules & Logic Apps for SOAR
  • Dashboards, workbooks & executive reporting
  • Incident queues, SLA triage & escalation workflows

Monitoring, IR & Threat Hunting

  • 24×7 alerting design (rules, noise reduction, routing)
  • Incident response: contain, eradicate, recover, lessons learned
  • Forensics basics: timeline, volatile data, evidence handling
  • Adversary emulation & purple-team style validation
  • Tabletop exercises & playbook rehearsals
  • Reports for audits, insurance & stakeholders

Platform Hardening

  • Windows security baselines (CIS/Microsoft) & GPO/Intune
  • Application control (WDAC/SRPs), LSASS protection & creds guard
  • BitLocker/FileVault, disk encryption & key escrow (Key Vault)
  • Browser security, SmartScreen, isolation & patch cadence
  • Server/VM hardening, JIT/JEA, secure admin workstations
  • Zero Trust segmentation & privileged access strategy

Network, Email & Web Security

  • DNS filtering, web proxy policies & URL categories
  • Firewall rules, micro-segmentation & VPN posture
  • Email authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) & TLS policies
  • Data Loss Prevention (M365/Purview) & exfil controls
  • Secure remote access (no exposed mgmt ports)
  • Zero Trust access patterns across apps & APIs

Compliance & Data Protection

  • Purview: sensitivity labels, auto-labeling & DLP
  • eDiscovery (Std/Premium), audit, insider risk mgmt
  • Records management & retention schedules
  • POPIA/GDPR alignment & data residency considerations
  • Backup/restore testing, RPO/RTO & recovery drills
  • Access reviews & periodic recertification

User Enablement & Process

  • Security awareness, phishing drills & micro-trainings
  • Joiner-Mover-Leaver workflows & access lifecycle
  • Runbooks, SOPs & admin handover documentation
  • Change control, CAB cadence & configuration history
  • KPIs: incident MTTR, Secure Score, posture dashboards
  • Managed service options & scheduled health checks

Strengthen Your Security Posture

From hardening endpoints and identity to SIEM/SOAR automation and incident response, I’ll tailor a plan that fits your risk, size, and budget—and make it measurable.

Start a Security Assessment Optional: staged rollout with quick wins in week one.