Unlocking the Full Potential of Microsoft Entra ID Protection

Secure Identities with Entra ID Plans, Tools, and Zero Trust Strategies

In today’s world cyber threats are constantly evolving.  With a cloud first strategy, identity protection is the first line of defense.   Effectively protecting identities is crucial for both individuals and enterprises and encompasses a number of different facets and dynamic policies to be effective in a Zero Trust Architecture.  The Microsoft Entra ID platform provides a comprehensive strategy and a range of capabilities to secure identities across on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments. It offers a holistic solution to effectively protect organizations in a secure and compliant manner.

This blog explores the various identity protection solutions offered by Microsoft, like Entra Plan 1 and 2, ID Governance and Entra Suite, and how they enhance security for different identity types and organizational requirements. We will focus on how you can fully utilize the capabilities in your licensing and take a sneak peek at the new Entra Suite and what it provides.

Overview of Microsoft Identity Protection Capabilities

For all Organizations looking to implement best practice identity baseline protections, Entra ID Plan 1 is the start of your Identity Protection.

Entra ID Plan 1 serves as the fundamental layer of identity protection, offering essential security capabilities suitable for all organizations. By implementing best practices such as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Conditional Access, and Self-Service Password Reset, it ensures that all employees can achieve robust identity security. This plan is ideal for companies looking to secure their cloud identities without extensive management needs, focusing primarily on identity governance and administration.

Entra ID Plan 1 includes:

• Entra Plan 1: Provides basic mandatory security capabilities, including MFA, Conditional Access, and Identity Protection.
• Single Sign-On (SSO): Simplifies access to multiple applications by allowing users to authenticate once and gain access to all integrated services.
• Self-Service Password Reset: Empowers users to reset their passwords without administrative intervention, enhancing security and productivity.
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Requires multiple forms of verification to access sensitive resources, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
• Basic Conditional Access: Implements access policies that react to detected risks, allowing or denying access based on the context of a user’s sign-in, such as location or device.

For Organizations pushing towards a true zero trust architecture, we find Entra Plan ID Plan 2

This plan is designed for organizations with higher security requirements and complex identity environments, enhancing the security measures with dynamic and automated risk based and zero trust protection against potential threats. These capabilities offer transparency for answering auditors’ questions regarding how access is granted, for how long, and when it is revoked. Additionally, access reviews offer automated review processes for admins and users to automate periodic checking of access to sensitive sites and privileges. Access reviews can be very helpful in planning for copilot rollout and answering cyber insurance questions.

Entra Plan 2 offers advanced identity protection capabilities and a robust set of dynamic identity protection policies. Entra ID Plan 2 builds upon the core capabilities of Entra ID Plan 1 by adding:

• Advanced Risk-Based Conditional Access: Utilizes advanced data analytics to assess the risk level of login attempts and dynamically adjusts access controls, accordingly, ensuring that only verified users gain access, thereby enabling a zero-trust approach to identity management.
• Entra ID Identity Protection: Includes continuous monitoring and automated responses to potential threats, offering proactive defense against identity compromises.
• Azure AD Identity Protection: Provides detailed insights and reporting on user behavior, enabling quick identification and mitigation of suspicious activities.
• Access Review: Facilitates periodic evaluations of user access rights to ensure they remain appropriate, aiding in identifying and revoking unnecessary permissions. This capability supports both zero trust initiatives and readiness for Copilot.
• PIM Privileged Identity Management: Grants temporary access to critical admin resources only when needed, minimizing exposure to sensitive data. This feature is key for maintaining stringent access control policies and complying with audit requirements.
• Entitlement Management: Entitlement management automates access request workflows, assignments, reviews, and expirations, making it easier for organizations to manage identity and access lifecycle at scale. This feature helps manage access to groups, applications, and SharePoint Online sites for both internal users and external collaborators. Basic capabilities are included in this license, but more advanced capabilities are included in ID Governance which is part of Entra ID Suite.

For organizations that want to protect on premises enterprise hybrid environments, Microsoft Defender for Identity is needed.

• Microsoft Defender for Identity is a cloud service designed to protect enterprise hybrid environments from advanced targeted cyber-attacks and insider threats. It integrates with Microsoft Defender XDR, leveraging signals from both on-premises Active Directory and cloud identities to help identify, detect, and investigate threats. This solution is a core element of Microsoft’s identity threat detection and response (ITDR) strategy, enabling organizations to prevent, detect, and respond to identity-based cyberattacks. Additionally, it is part of the Microsoft Defender portal, which provides a centralized platform for managing security across various Microsoft services.

For large complex and possibly muti-forest organizations that want to automate identities using lifecycle automation, management and workflows, choose Entra ID Suite

Microsoft Entra Suite is a new Entra ID offering and is a cloud-based solution that helps organizations securely manage workforce access to applications and resources both in the cloud and on-premises. It focuses on enforcing least-privileged access and improving the employee experience. Entra Suite includes all the identity capabilities mentioned earlier in Entra Plan 1 and 2. Entra Plan 1 and 2 organizations can upgrade to Entra ID Suite by purchasing a step-up license for Entra ID Governance.

Key Capabilities of Microsoft Entra ID Suite

• Microsoft Entra Private Access: Secures access to private applications and resources, replacing old VPNs.
• Microsoft Entra Internet Access: Protects against internet threats, monitors SaaS applications and web traffic.
• Microsoft Entra ID Governance: Automates managing who has access to what applications and services.
• Microsoft Entra ID Protection: Prevents identity theft in real-time using advanced authentication and machine learning.
• Microsoft Entra Verified ID: Verifies identities using secure, privacy-respecting methods like Face Check.

Key Benefits of Entra Suite

• Unify Conditional Access policies for identities and networks

Manages access controls for both identities and networks in one place. Unify Conditional Access evaluates all access requests in real-time to prevent unauthorized access.

• Ensures least privileged access for all users by accessing all resources and apps

Automates the access lifecycle from onboarding to role changes and exists, ensuring employees only have access to what they need. This prevents lateral movement during a breach.

• Improves the user experience for both in-office and remote workers

Offers easy workflow-based templates for onboarding and offboarding users, secure password-less sign-ins, and single sign-on for all applications. Employees can manage access requests and approvals through a self-service portal. Real-time identity verification streamlines remote onboarding and account recovery.

• Reduces the complexity and cost of managing security tools from multiple vendors

Customers may want to take a deeper look to possibly switch to Microsoft Entra Suite to replace multiple on-premises security tools. This reduces complexity and costs while providing efficient cloud-based identity management.

Your Identity Secured: Microsoft Solutions for All Requirements

Microsoft provides a comprehensive suite of Identity tools designed to protect identities for both individuals and enterprises. Whether you are securing on-premises systems, cloud identities, hybrid solutions, or identities connected through third-party services, Entra ID solutions offer tailored solutions to meet your needs. By leveraging features like real-time access, privileged identity management, access review, and Defender for Identity, organizations can ensure secure and efficient identity management.

No matter which Microsoft Identity Protection license you own, there is immense value to be gained from these solutions. They streamline and enhance security processes, ensuring that your digital presence is safeguarded effectively. Choosing the right plan will meet your security needs and maximize the value of your investment.

No matter which Microsoft Identity Protection license you own, there is immense value to be gained from these solutions. They streamline and enhance security processes, ensuring that your digital presence is safeguarded effectively. When all these solutions work together, they provide a comprehensive and cohesive view of security telemetry that cannot be achieved by piecing together individual best-of-breed products. Choosing the right plan will meet your security needs and maximize the value of your investment.

If you have any questions or need assistance in maximizing the value of your Microsoft licenses, consider reaching out to Planet. Our expertise can help you navigate and optimize your use of these powerful tools.