Error: "Protection definitions are out of date" in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Mac


Symptoms

You receive the following message in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on your Mac:

Protection definitions are out of date.

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Cause

The protection definitions on your system are outdated.

Resolution

You can manually update the definitions or simply wait for the scheduled update to process.

OUTCOME

The software will indicate that the protection definitions are up to date.

example screenshot