Microsoft Defender for Endpoints pilot for Halyk Bank

Halyk Bank engaged Awara IT to assess and validate endpoint protection capabilities against current banking security requirements. The objective was a focused pilot using Microsoft Defender for Endpoints (Plan 2) to test EPP/EDR policies, telemetry collection, and automated investigation and remediation in a controlled production segment.

Awara IT designed and executed the pilot, configured EPP/EDR policies, onboarded endpoints, and ran effectiveness and operational readiness tests. The engagement produced actionable telemetry, measurable improvements in detection and response for the pilot scope, and a clear, evidence-based recommendation and roadmap for a phased full deployment across the bank in Kazakhstan.

Müşteri / Sektör / Ülke

Halyk Bank is a universal banking and financial services provider operating in Kazakhstan. The engagement focused on the bank's IT and security teams responsible for endpoint protection and regulatory compliance within the banking sector.

İş zorluğu

Halyk Bank needed an evidence-based assessment of its endpoint protection posture to ensure compliance with banking security standards and to reduce risk from advanced endpoint threats. The bank's IT team had limited centralized telemetry and inconsistent EDR policy coverage across device estates, which constrained incident detection and automated response capabilities.

The bank required a short-term, low-disruption pilot to validate Microsoft Defender for Endpoints Plan 2 features (EPP, EDR, automated investigation and remediation), confirm policy defaults and tuning for the bank’s environment, and produce a quantified business case for a full rollout. Operational integration with existing Microsoft services and the bank’s ITSM processes also had to be demonstrated.

Neden Dynamics 365 seçildi

While this engagement focused on Microsoft security technologies rather than Dynamics 365 CRM/ERP products, the selection criteria closely mirrored the bank’s broader Microsoft-first strategy. Defender for Endpoints was chosen because it provides native integration with Azure AD and Microsoft 365 services already in use, reducing integration risk and operational overhead compared with third-party alternatives.

Awara IT was selected as the implementation partner because of its experience with Microsoft security stacks and its ability to coordinate pilots that produce measurable operational metrics and a clear deployment roadmap. For organizations already invested in Microsoft technologies, this approach reduces total cost of ownership and leverages existing identity and management services — a factor familiar to CIOs and IT directors evaluating Dynamics 365 and M365 solutions together.

Uygulanan modüller

• Defender for Endpoints Plan 2: EPP/EDR policy configuration and enforcement
• Endpoint onboarding scripts and deployment for Windows devices
• Automated investigation and remediation (AIR) playbooks
• Threat & vulnerability management (TVM) configuration
• Custom detection rules and alert tuning
• Operational dashboards and reporting for security and IT teams

Entegrasyonlar

• Azure Active Directory for device identity and Conditional Access
• Microsoft Sentinel (SIEM) connector for telemetry aggregation
• Microsoft Defender for Office 365 signal correlation
• ITSM integration (ServiceNow) for ticketing and incident workflows
• Log forwarder to bank’s centralized security logging/archive

Yerelleştirme ve uyumluluk

The pilot accounted for Kazakhstan’s regulatory expectations for financial institutions by ensuring secure telemetry handling, retention policies, and encryption in transit and at rest per local banking requirements. Reporting templates were adapted to the formats and audit evidence typically requested by Kazakhstan regulators.

Language considerations (Russian/Kazakh) for operational dashboards and runbooks were addressed in handover materials and operator training to ensure local security and IT staff could use the solution effectively and meet compliance reporting obligations.

İş değeri

The pilot delivered concrete, measurable outcomes that reduced risk and improved operational readiness. Centralized telemetry and tuned detection reduced time-to-detect and enabled faster containment through automated remediation, lowering analyst overhead and improving mean time to respond. The data collected during the pilot also enabled a quantified business case for phased full deployment across the bank’s estate.

By validating Defender for Endpoints Plan 2 in the bank’s environment and integrating signals into Sentinel and the bank’s ITSM, Awara IT helped Halyk Bank establish the processes and technical controls required for regulatory reporting and operational security. The result is a practical, low-disruption path to enterprise-wide endpoint protection that fits the bank’s Microsoft-first stack.