Microsoft updated the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint September 2026 release notes with new Secure Score recommendations for AI-Readiness. This is not an AI strategy document. It is a concrete endpoint baseline: devices should expose less attack surface, start from a trusted state, isolate critical Windows security functions, and limit the reuse of local administrator credentials. For organizations with 10 to 250 users, this matters because the same endpoints often carry Microsoft 365 access, browser sessions, line-of-business applications, remote administration, and increasingly AI tools. If Defender for Endpoint is already in use, the recommendations can be filtered in the Defender portal and turned into a practical remediation list. The value is that firmware trust, Windows security features, internet exposure, and local administrator controls appear in one operational view rather than as separate hardening notes.
What Microsoft added in September 2026
Microsoft Learn lists the recommendations as a generally available Defender for Endpoint feature. The entry point is the Defender portal under Exposure Management > Recommendations > Devices > Misconfigurations, where administrators can filter by the AI-Readiness tag. Microsoft describes the collection as a layered security baseline against AI-accelerated cyberattacks. The view shows affected devices, exposed critical devices, Device Secure Score points, and potential score impact. That turns a broad hardening requirement into a list of concrete endpoints. For small teams, this matters because it separates general best practice from the devices that currently contribute most to the Secure Score gap.
Which controls are now in focus
According to Microsoft, the collection contains six recommendations. The September update explicitly names four of them as new. They are not tied to one malware family. They address common endpoint conditions that make attacks easier to execute, persist, or expand laterally.
- TPM 2.0 helps establish a hardware root of trust for keys, device identity, and boot measurements.
- VBS helps isolate critical security functions in an environment separate from the operating system kernel.
- HVCI helps validate kernel-mode code, block untrusted code, and protect executable kernel memory.
- Windows LAPS helps prevent local administrator credential reuse and reduces lateral movement risk.
Why this matters for SMBs
Smaller environments often do not have separate endpoint, identity, and security monitoring teams. That makes a prioritized view in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint useful: it does not only show that a setting is missing, but connects the issue with Secure Score, critical devices, and potential impact. This is not licensing advice, and it does not mean every control is automatically available or suitable in every tenant. It does help turn existing Defender signals into an ordered list that a small IT team can review and implement. This is especially relevant in estates that grew over several years, where some devices are fully managed, others were inherited, and local administrator usage was never cleaned up consistently.
Deadlines, limits, and context
Microsoft does not name a retirement deadline for the AI-Readiness recommendations. There is no cut-off date comparable to a deprecation notice. The practical limit is different: Secure Score is a prioritization aid, not an automatic change instruction. Especially for HVCI, VBS, and LAPS, device generation, drivers, management path, and helpdesk impact should be reviewed before broad rollout. Microsoft also includes two existing recommendations in the same collection: reduce unnecessary internet exposure on internet-facing devices and protect the startup process with Secure Boot. That shows that AI-Readiness should be treated as endpoint hardening. A safe process starts with review and pilot deployment, not with an immediate tenant-wide change.
Practical next steps
- Filter the Defender portal by the AI-Readiness tag and document the affected devices in a reviewable list.
- Prioritize critical devices first: executives, finance, administration, server access devices, and endpoints with privileged roles.
- Test TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, VBS, and HVCI on pilot devices before rolling out policies broadly.
- Introduce Windows LAPS with ownership, recovery process, and logging, not as an isolated technical switch.
- Feed the results into a Microsoft Security Assessment or Defender hardening cycle and measure progress regularly.
Official Microsoft sources
- Microsoft Learn: New features in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Microsoft Learn: Security recommendations
- Microsoft Learn: Exposure score in Defender Vulnerability Management
If you want to decide which AI-Readiness recommendations should come first in your environment, we review Defender for Endpoint, device hardening, and prioritization as part of a Microsoft Defender check – get in touch.
What does this mean for your environment?
Assess the topic in the context of your Microsoft 365 environment and define a practical next step.
You speak directly with Sebastian Kerssen – working in the Microsoft ecosystem since 2014, with personal consulting and a dedicated point of contact.
