Elly Yates-Roberts |
Microsoft has introduced a new product family called Microsoft Entra, which encompasses all of its identity and access capabilities.
Microsoft Entra includes the already established Azure Active Directory (Azure AD); the new Microsoft Entra Permissions Management, which is a cloud infrastructure entitlement management solution; and Microsoft Entra Verified ID, which is a decentralised identity product offering.
Microsoft Entra Permissions Management, which will be integrated within the Defender for Cloud dashboard, provides organisations with visibility into permission for all identities, actions and resources across multi-cloud infrastructures. This allows for excessive permissions to be detected so that companies can reduce the risk of data breaches. It will be available in July 2022.
Meanwhile, Microsoft Entra Verified ID will secure digital interactions whilst respecting users’ privacy, making portable, self-owned identity possible. The platform will allow individuals and organisations to decide what information they share, when they share it and with whom. This will be available in August 2022.
“We are seeing an increasing need for trust in a hyperconnected world,” said Joy Chik, corporate vice president at Microsoft Identity. “Through Microsoft Entra, we’re expanding our identity and access solutions so that they can serve as a trust fabric for the entire digital ecosystem – now and long into the future.”
Microsoft Entra is part of Microsoft’s expanded vision for identity and access, to combat the security challenges related to organisations migrating to cloud technology. The product family will verify all types of identities, as well as secure, manage and govern access to any resource, by protecting access to any app or resource of any user; securing and verifying every identity across hybrid and multi-cloud environments; discovering and governing permissions in multi-cloud environments; and simplifying the user experience with real-time intelligent access decisions.
The company’s existing cloud-based identity and access management service, Identity Governance in Azure AD, also simplifies the processes for onboarding and offboarding users.
“Microsoft Entra embodies our vision for what modern secure access should be,” said Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president of security, compliance, identity and management at Microsoft. “Identity should be an entryway into a world of new possibilities, not a blockade restricting access, creating friction, and holding back innovation. We want people to explore, to collaborate, to experiment—not because they are reckless, but because they are fearless.”