Ford operates a large, global technology environment that supports everything from back-office systems to manufacturing lines. That scale made traditional, disconnected security tools hard to manage and left gaps in visibility.

Several factors pushed Ford to rethink its approach:

• Growing cyber risk: Threats such as ransomware can disrupt production lines and target corporate networks, supply chain partners, and customer data.
• Complex, hybrid environment: Ford runs hundreds of custom-built tools across cloud and on-premises infrastructure, which made it difficult to maintain consistent security policies.
• Need for modern, scalable protection: As Ford modernized its technology footprint, it needed security that could scale globally and keep pace with change.

To address these challenges, Ford moved from a patchwork of systems to a unified platform built on Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Purview, and Microsoft Entra. This helped the company embed security into its entire operation, including cloud infrastructure, and align with a Zero Trust model where every access request is continuously verified.

Ford adopted a unified, AI-powered Microsoft Security stack to secure its global operations and hybrid infrastructure. The key elements work together as follows:

• Microsoft Defender: Deployed across thousands of endpoints—from employee laptops to manufacturing systems—to provide real-time insights into vulnerabilities and attack patterns and to reduce enterprise endpoint risk.
• Microsoft Sentinel: Powers a centralized security operations center (SOC) that ingests data from across the enterprise, correlates signals, and automates responses. This gives Ford the telemetry to see the full picture and move faster against threats.
• Microsoft Purview: Strengthens data governance and protection by applying data loss prevention policies, automated classification, and encryption across cloud and on-premises environments, helping Ford meet regulatory requirements globally.
• Microsoft Entra: Supports identity and access management as part of a Zero Trust architecture, where every user, device, and application request is continuously verified.

These tools are grounded in responsible AI and Zero Trust principles. Threat signals now flow across platforms, policies are enforced consistently, and AI models learn from every interaction to improve detection and reduce false positives. This unified approach helps Ford simplify complexity, improve operational efficiency, and maintain a highly secure posture across its enterprise.

Ford’s security modernization has delivered measurable operational and business benefits:

• Reduced vulnerabilities: By deploying Microsoft Defender across the enterprise, Ford significantly reduced vulnerabilities on its endpoints, strengthening frontline defenses and minimizing exposure to threats.
• Faster, more precise incident response: With a unified SOC built on Microsoft Sentinel, Ford responds to incidents with greater speed and precision and can proactively hunt for threats instead of reacting in isolation.
• Stronger data governance and compliance: Microsoft Purview has helped Ford elevate its data governance posture, protect sensitive information consistently, and support compliance with regulations such as GDPR and standards like ISO 27001.
• Lower complexity and higher efficiency: Moving from disparate systems to a single security platform has reduced operational complexity and allowed security teams to focus on higher-value work.
• Security-first culture: Internal training, Microsoft learning modules, and game-based simulations have helped make security “everyone’s job,” from developers to executives, embedding secure development practices into engineering teams.
• Ongoing threat intelligence: The SOC now uses threat intelligence feeds from Defender XDR, which draws on trillions of global signals. This gives Ford real-time visibility into emerging threats and supports automated detection and response.

Overall, Ford’s leadership has greater assurance that security investments are delivering tangible value, while the company continues to reimagine how it scales securely into new regions and services with the support of Microsoft’s global datacenter footprint.