Microsoft security isn't a product. It's a program.

Generative AI has created a new class of attacks that traditional defenses don't detect: hyper-personalized LLM phishing, vishing with a cloned CEO voice, modern AiTM kits (EvilProxy, Tycoon, Mamba2FA) that bypass MFA in seconds. io4 SOC combines behavioral ITDR detection (AiTM kit signatures, session anomalies, malicious OAuth), Microsoft Defender for Office 365 P2 (AI anti-phishing, Safe Links/Attachments) and continuous training with quarterly AI-aware simulations for your employees.

Compare it to the cost of the alternative: a ransomware attack costs a Canadian SMB an average of $270,000 (IBM, 2024), not counting the soaring cyber premium or coverage being refused. Our tiers are designed to make a defensible posture accessible even to small teams, with volume-based pricing. Let's talk: we calibrate the offer to your size and budget.

Defender installed is an excellent tool. But it's a sensor, not a defense. Without a team watching alerts 24/7, without detection rules adapted to your environment, without automatic containment of compromised accounts, most modern attacks (BEC, session theft, malicious OAuth, AI AiTM) slip under the radar. That's exactly what the FBI says and what cyber insurers now require: managed detection AND response 24/7.

A generalist MSP does many things well: helpdesk, deployment, user support. Modern Microsoft cybersecurity requires specific expertise: ITDR, BEC, Purview, CIS, Law 25, defense against AI attacks — it's a full-time job. We complement them: your MSP runs your day-to-day, while io4 operates your security program. Most of our SMB clients keep their existing MSP and entrust only their Microsoft security to us.

Yes. We provide a monthly attestation to the main Canadian insurers (Beazley, Chubb, Northbridge, Intact). The report includes MTTR, phishing rate, Secure Score, CIS Microsoft 365 compliance and ITDR events — exactly the KPIs requested in 2026 renewals. Several of our clients have obtained a premium reduction or avoided a coverage refusal thanks to this structured reporting.

Your Microsoft 365 data (emails, files, identities) stays in the Microsoft Canada tenant you configured. Our MDR (SaaS) platform processes security telemetry (EDR/ITDR) on a SOC 2 Type II certified cloud infrastructure: a recognized, documented trade-off that delivers worldwide 24/7 human coverage. io4 precisely documents this data flow in your Law 25 PIA and provides the contractual clauses required for compliance. No client data (email content, SharePoint files, etc.) passes through our platform — only security metadata.

io4 operates your SOC on your Microsoft tenant, 24/7. Our team of analysts (150+ global specialists) receives, qualifies and triages alerts in under 15 minutes, with a false-positive rate below 1%. io4 configures and maintains the enterprise MDR platform on your tenant: our Montreal-based Microsoft engineers receive alerts in parallel with the global SOC analysts, act on your incidents, and add Microsoft hardening (Secure Score, Conditional Access, Defender XDR, Purview), documented Law 25 compliance, support for your client audits (SOC 2, ISO 27001), threat hunting tailored to your Quebec sector, and human support in French. You don't have a black-box vendor: you have a local operator who knows your tenant, backed by a global 24/7 SOC team for continuous coverage.

io4 operates your SOC on an enterprise MDR platform recognized by Gartner and G2 Crowd, designed specifically for the Microsoft 365 identity and endpoint layer. We work with a Fortune-500-grade vendor for the EDR and ITDR detection layer. The exact stack is documented in our technical appendix, provided under NDA to qualified prospects. Staying independent of the backend vendor lets us optimize your service continuously: if a better platform emerges, we adapt the operation without disruption to you.

Yes, and it's a path we encourage. Many clients start with io4 Watch to quickly reach a defensible posture, then move up to io4 Managed SOC when they're ready to invest in 24/7 monitoring. The transition is seamless, with no additional setup, and we document your Secure Score progression at each step.

For io4 Watch: 4 to 6 weeks to reach the target posture. For io4 Managed SOC: 6 to 8 weeks including SOC go-live, detection rule calibration and the first simulated phishing campaign. You're operational and compliant quickly, with no disruption to user service.