{"id":89377,"date":"2019-05-08T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/\/?p=89377"},"modified":"2023-05-15T22:57:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T05:57:19","slug":"3-investments-improve-identity-management-microsoft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/2019\/05\/08\/3-investments-improve-identity-management-microsoft\/","title":{"rendered":"3 investments Microsoft is making to improve identity management"},"content":{"rendered":"
As a large enterprise with global reach, Microsoft has the same security risks as its customers. We have a distributed, mobile workforce who access corporate resources from external networks. Many individuals struggle to remember complex passwords or reuse one password across many accounts, which makes them vulnerable to attackers. As Microsoft has embraced digital transformation for our own business, we shifted to a security strategy that places strong employee identities at the center. Many of our customers are on a similar journey and may find value in our current identity management approach.<\/p>\n
Our goal is to reduce the risk of compromised identity and empower people to be efficient and agile whether they\u2019re on our network or not.<\/p>\n
Our identity management solutions focus on three key areas:<\/p>\n
Read on for more details for each of these investment areas, advice on scaling your investment to meet your budget, and a wrap-up of some key insights that can help you smoothly implement new policies.<\/p>\n
Our administrators have access to Microsoft\u2019s most sensitive data and systems, which makes them a target of attackers. To improve protection of our organization, it\u2019s important to limit the number of people who have privileged access and implement elevated controls for when, how, and where administrator accounts can be used. This helps reduce the odds that a malicious actor will gain access.<\/p>\n
There are three practices that we advise:<\/p>\n
Budget allocations may limit the amount that you can invest in these three areas; however, we still recommend that you do all three at the level that makes sense for your organization. Calibrate the level of security controls on the secure device to meet your risk profile.<\/p>\n
The security community has recognized for several years that passwords are not safe. Users struggle to create and remember dozens of complex passwords, and attackers excel at acquiring passwords through methods like password spray attacks and phishing. When Microsoft first explored the use of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for our workforce, we issued smartcards to each employee. This was a very secure authentication method; however, it was cumbersome for employees. They found workarounds, such as forwarding work email to a personal account, that made us less safe.<\/p>\n
Eventually we realized that eliminating passwords was a much better solution. This drove home an important lesson: as you institute policies to improve security, always remember that a great user experience is critical for adoption.<\/p>\n
Here are steps you can take to prepare for a password-less world:<\/p>\n
We believe the most underrated identity management step you can take is to simplify identity provisioning. Set up your identities with access to exactly the right systems and tools. If you provide too much access, you put the organization at risk if the identity becomes compromised. However, under-provisioning may encourage people to request access for more than they need in order to avoid requesting permission again.<\/p>\n
We take these two approaches:<\/p>\n
Establishing the right access for each role is so important that if you are only able to follow one of our recommendations focus on identity provisioning and lifecycle management.<\/p>\n
As you take steps to improve your identity management, keep in mind the following lessons Microsoft has learned along the way:<\/p>\n
For more details on how identity management fits within the overall Microsoft security framework and our roadmap forward, watch the Speaking of security: Identity management<\/a> webinar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Learn how Microsoft approaches identity management with tips you can apply to your own organization\u2014no matter your budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":89438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"content-type":[3659],"topic":[3673,3678],"products":[3702,3703],"threat-intelligence":[],"tags":[3809],"coauthors":[1916],"class_list":["post-89377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","content-type-best-practices","topic-identity-and-access-management","topic-multifactor-authentication","products-microsoft-entra","products-microsoft-entra-id","tag-security-strategies"],"yoast_head":"\n