Anti-Virus and Threat Protection Service Transition to Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Enhancing Schools Cybersecurity with Microsoft Defender Antivirus

As part of our commitment to improving cybersecurity across Lancashire schools, Lancashire County Council Education Digital Services is announcing a planned transition from Sophos Central and Intercept X to Microsoft Defender Antivirus.

Microsoft Defender Antivirus is a built-in antivirus solution for Windows that provides real-time protection against software threats like viruses, malware, and spyware across email, applications, the cloud, and the web. It is already integrated into standard Windows operating systems and offers a robust and efficient security solution without the need for additional installations.

Schools that subscribe to Sophos Central and Intercept X Advanced and schools that receive this service through our Education Digital Services Broadband and Online Services Bundle will need to transition to Microsoft Defender Antivirus by 13 March 2026. This is to allow sufficient time before the service ends on 31 March 2026. Sophos Central and Intercept X will cease on 1 April 2026 and will no longer be supported as part of our Broadband and Online Service Bundle.

What are the benefits? 

• Real-time protection against viruses, malware, spyware, and other threats.
• Cloud-delivered protection for faster detection of emerging threats.
• Behaviour-based, heuristic detection to identify suspicious activity.
• Automatic updates for threat definitions and engine improvements.
• Ransomware protection for your most valuable folders

How do we migrate to Microsoft Defender Antivirus?

We have prepared a comprehensive migration guide to support you, along with pre-configured settings templates that can be easily imported. These can be accessed via the Microsoft Defender Antivirus Onboarding Documentation section on the right hand side of this page or via the Education Digital Hub.

This guide and templates should be shared with your Technical Support team to facilitate a smooth transition by 13 March 2026.

Contact us

If you have any questions regarding this project or would like to request a quotation to migrate to Microsoft Defender Antivirus, please don’t hesitate to contact us by emailing: educationprojects@lancashire.gov.uk with the Subject: Anti-Virus and Threat Protection Service Transition.

Alternatively, please call 0300 123 6797 (Option2) and a member of the project team will provide support.