Cyber incidents don’t wait—and effective response can’t either. In the age of AI where cyber incidents unfold at machine speed, having the right partnerships in place becomes paramount. While AI is expanding what’s possible, navigating this transformation can be challenging to do alone. That’s why our collaboration with AXA XL is so important—bringing Microsoft Defender Experts Cybersecurity Incident Response services directly to cyber insurance policyholders at the moment it matters most, helping organizations coordinate technical, business, and insurance decisions in parallel rather than in sequence.

This collaboration reflects Microsoft’s continued investment in building an incident response model designed for real-world conditions, where speed, trust, and alignment matter as much as technology.

In a live incident, security, executive, legal, and insurance teams are all acting at once. Without pre-established coordination, those parallel efforts can slow containment and increase risk. Our approach to incident response—and our work with AXA XL—starts by aligning those paths before a crisis begins.

For example, during a ransomware incident, security teams may be actively containing lateral movement while leadership evaluates operational impact, legal teams assess disclosure requirements, and insurers determine coverage pathways—all within the same window of time. When those decisions aren’t aligned, response slows and risk compounds.

Decades of supporting customers through high-stakes cyber incidents have reinforced a clear truth: effective incident response extends beyond technical execution. It requires coordination across teams and partners before the crisis hits. That experience continues to shape how we design Defender Experts Cybersecurity Incident Response—and how we work with partners like AXA XL.

Incident response must extend beyond technology

As a global insurance provider, AXA XL plays a critical role in helping organizations navigate cyber risk and response. Through this collaboration, AXA XL policyholders gain coordinated access to Microsoft’s dedicated incident response teams—combining threat containment, restoration, and recovery with insurance, legal, and regulatory workflows. By aligning AXA XL’s cyber insurance capabilities with Defender Experts Cybersecurity Incident Response, organizations benefit from a more integrated response model while gaining access to incident response teams informed by Microsoft Threat Intelligence and two decades of experience responding to some of the world’s most complex and consequential cyber incidents.

Previously, organizations often brought incident responders and insurers together in the middle of a crisis. With this collaboration, that relationship is already in place, reducing friction, delays, and uncertainty when time is most critical. AXA XL policyholders and Microsoft customers can now bring Defender Experts Cybersecurity Incident Response to the table the moment it matters—creating a clearer, more predictable path from detection to recovery. The outcome is not simply faster response, but confidence: knowing who to call, how response engages, and how recovery is operationalized before the next decision becomes urgent.

The threat of a cybersecurity incident has long been ‘not if, but when,’ and in the wake of AI, the ‘when’ may quickly become ‘how often.’ The risks organizations are tasked with preventing and overcoming relative to cybersecurity and data privacy are growing exponentially. Partnering with experts can make all the difference where resilience in the face of adversity may be your only saving grace. AXA XL’s strategic partnerships with  cyber incident response providers underscore our commitment to expertise, preparedness, and resilience. By drawing on a deep knowledge of internal expertise and external cyber specialists, we empower our insureds to respond swiftly and effectively to prevail when your number is up.”

—Gwenn Cujdik, Incident Response and Cyber Services Lead for North America, AXA XL

This collaboration reflects Microsoft’s continued investment in building an incident response model designed for real-world conditions, where speed, trust, and coordination matter as much as technology.

Incident response engineered for high-stakes moments—and the readiness behind them

What differentiates Microsoft Defender Experts Cybersecurity Incident Response is not only its deep technical expertise, but its direct connection to Microsoft engineering teams and Microsoft Threat Intelligence. Responders bring first-party insight into identity-based attacks, cloud intrusions, and enterprise compromise—insight informed directly by Microsoft’s global telemetry and security engineering teams. This connection enables responders to move quickly—from identifying the root cause of an attack to deploying mitigations informed by global threat signals. When combined with pre-aligned partners like AXA XL, that technical strength becomes even more impactful, allowing organizations to act decisively without navigating uncertainty during a crisis.

That same expertise extends beyond the moment of crisis. Delivered by the same frontline experts, Microsoft Defender Experts Cybersecurity Incident Response proactive services—incident response planning, assessments, simulations, and advisory engagements—help organizations build resilience, strengthening their ability to prevent, withstand, and recover from an incident.

These proactive engagements also help align internal teams and external partners before an incident occurs—clarifying roles, escalation paths, and decision-making processes. This preparation ensures that when an incident does occur, organizations are not starting from zero but executing against a coordinated plan. Resilience can mean the difference between containing an incident with minimal disruption and becoming the next headline.

Raising the bar for trusted incident response

The collaboration reinforces Microsoft’s long-standing commitment to delivering trusted cyber incident response services. It also underscores Microsoft’s intent to integrate directly into the cyber risk insurance ecosystem—working alongside insurers rather than operating adjacent to them during critical response moments. It reflects a shared belief that organizations deserve response capabilities that are proven, accessible, and designed to work together when it matters most.

As cyberthreats continue to evolve, Microsoft remains focused on strengthening this ecosystem—working with global insurance leaders like AXA XL to help organizations prepare for disruption, respond with confidence, and recover with resilience.

Learn more

To learn more about how our teams are working together, and how our collaboration with cyber insurance providers like AXA XL can help you strengthen your cyber resilience, visit the Microsoft Defender Experts Cybersecurity Incident Response webpage. 

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us on LinkedIn (Microsoft Security) and X (@MSFTSecurity) for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.