Tech news for the week of May 13th, 2024
Topics in this week’s Tech Newsletter
What’s New Updates
Training
Copilot and AI
Microsoft 365
Microsoft Defender and Sentinel
Azure
Server
Identity Protection and Management
Information Protection and Management
Intune
Device Management
Scripting and Automation
Security Tools and Guides
Microsoft News
Security News
Industry Specific News
?
What’s New Updates
What's new in Microsoft Intune (1st party)
On Apple devices, you can use Microsoft Intune and the Microsoft Enterprise SSO plug-in to configure single sign-on (SSO) on for apps and websites that support Microsoft Entra authentication, including Microsoft 365. On macOS devices, Platform SSO is available in public preview. Platform SSO expands the SSO app extension by allowing you to configure different authentication methods, simplify the sign-in process for users, and reduce the number of passwords they need to remember.
?
Training
Microsoft Purview - Sensitivity Labels in a daily collaboration (1st party) [FREE]
May 16: When we talk about Sensitivity Labels several challenges start appearing to implement this technology in the end users daily work. In this session I′ll focus, sharing experience from the field, on data classification policy vs digital information treatment policy, sensitivity Labels design, sensitivity Labels configuration in deep labels and policies, and advanced configuration. You’re welcome to participate on this session that will try to cover several points during this live session.
How GitHub builds GitHub on GitHub (1st party) [FREE]
May 22: GitHub is the home for all developers. This is no different inside GitHub, where our own passionate group of engineers use our services to build and deliver secure software that the next 100M developers will love. Join us to explore how GitHub builds GitHub using the full range of capabilities: from GitHub Copilot, to Projects, to CodeQL. You will also learn how we roll out new tech to GitHub's development teams so everyone can take advantage of the powerful new productivity tools.
Become a Microsoft Defender for Cloud Ninja (1st party) [FREE]
This blog post has a curation of many Microsoft Defender for Cloud (formerly known as Azure Security Center and Azure Defender) resources, organized in a format that can help you to go from absolutely no knowledge in Microsoft Defender for Cloud, to design and implement different scenarios. You can use this blog post as a training roadmap to learn more about Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Every month we are adding new updates to this article, and you can track it by checking the red date besides the topic. If you already study all the modules and you are ready for the knowledge check, follow the procedures below.
?
Copilot and AI
A Copilot on every desk, every device and across every role is core to Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. By bolstering the services customers know and love with our Copilot capabilities across the Microsoft Cloud, we are enabling zero-shot innovation — the ability to effectively gain value out of the box — for their businesses to increase productivity, creativity and inclusive collaboration. ISVs, digital natives, startups and the rest of our partner ecosystem are leveraging our Copilot stack to build AI solutions that are reshaping business processes across industries. We continue co-innovating directly with customers on our open cloud platform to bend the curve on innovation by identifying AI design patterns; then integrating and applying data to solve their most pressing challenges faster and more efficiently than ever before. Underpinning it all is the need for a strong cybersecurity foundation, and the work we are doing to ensure this critical imperative is met. No one is immune from bad actors, and we remain committed to transparency and trust in our approach to protecting customer and partner data.
In an era where digital innovation is king, the integration of Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service is cutting through the static of the telecommunications sector. Industry leaders like Windstream, AudioCodes, AT&T, and Vodafone are leveraging AI to better engage with their customers and streamline their operations. These companies are pioneering the use of AI to not only enhance the quality of customer interactions but also to optimize their internal processes—demonstrating a unified vision for a future where digital and human interactions blend seamlessly.
Copilot Use Cases for PMO – Copilot for Microsoft 365 Starter Series (1st party) [VIDEO]
This Microsoft 365 Copilot video showcases a comprehensive guide for project management offices (PMOs), detailing the capabilities of Copilot as an AI assistant within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The presenters, Helen and Jasmine, along with guest speakers Danielle and Bua, demonstrate how Copilot integrates with various Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams to enhance productivity. They emphasize that while Copilot provides valuable suggestions and automates certain tasks, it does not replace human judgment or handle sensitive information. The video highlights Copilot’s ability to assist with brainstorming, communication, project planning, and summarizing meetings, ensuring that PMOs can work smarter and faster. It also addresses questions from the audience, clarifying Copilot’s functionalities and limitations.
The purpose of this solution is to enable applications to incorporate AI capabilities. In the upcoming demo, I will showcase how to transcribe and speech (Azure AI Speech), translate (Azure AI Translator) and summarize (Azure AI Language) conversations between customers and businesses without significantly modifying your existing apps. This application can be helpful in various scenarios where two parties speak different languages and require simultaneous translation. For instance, it can be employed in call centers where the representative and the customer do not speak the same language, by bank tellers dealing with foreign clients, by doctors communicating with elderly patients who do not speak the native language well, and in other similar situations where both parties need to converse in their respective native languages.
In the rapidly evolving world of education technology, EdTech customers are increasingly turning to Generative AI platforms to revolutionize the way they approach course content. Leveraging the power of Azure OpenAI models, these innovative platforms are transforming personalized content generation, course design, development, and even grading assessments. PowerSchool is a leading Education Technology provider of cloud-based K-12 software, with its award-winning software solutions. Recognizing the transformative potential of Generative AI in education, PowerSchool's New Solutions division has been dedicatedly exploring avenues to harness the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) to drive positive change.? The Azure OpenAI Service, with its advanced AI models such as GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-4, and Vision, has become a cornerstone for these EdTech initiatives. Power School has been rigorously testing these models in various use cases, discovering the immense value they bring. The performance of the platform, the ability to scale API requests across different regions, the security of the end-to-end platform, and compliance with enterprise-wide organizational standards are just a few of the benefits that have been recognized.
7 reasons I use Copilot instead of ChatGPT (3rd party)
OpenAI launching ChatGPT not only kicked off the generative AI craze, but the tool has remained the most popular AI chatbot. Yet Microsoft Copilot boasts features that make it, dare I say, better than ChatGPT. After using ChatGPT and Copilot for over a year, I keep coming to the same conclusion -- Microsoft's Copilot is the better option and doesn't get the credit it deserves. Don't believe me? I rounded up the best features that make Copilot a staple in my daily life and might convert you, too.
?
Microsoft 365
Mind maps can be a powerful tool to help you brainstorm and capture ideas in one place. Using a mind map, you can start with a single central node or idea, then expand it by adding additional nodes as you explore different aspects and details. As you continue to brainstorm, you can easily modify the mind map by adding new nodes or removing redundant ones—without disrupting the visual fidelity of the diagram. In summary, mind maps can help you organize your thoughts and find clarity. Mind maps have been a widely requested diagram type in Visio, which is why we’re so excited to announce that they are currently rolling out to Visio for the web users with a Visio Plan 1 or Visio Plan 2 license. In the coming weeks, users will be able to create mind maps in Visio for the web using the newly released Mind Map template. Learn more about how to create a mind map in Visio for the web.
SharePoint Roadmap Pitstop: April 2024 (1st party)
April 2024 brought some great new offerings: SharePoint brand center (Preview) with custom fonts support, Search from Viva Connections in Teams mobile, SharePoint: New feedback button, New Planner (GA), SharePoint eSignature + Approvals, SharePoint pages: New heading support, Clipchamp: Silence Removal, Microsoft Loop: Guest Sharing, and more. Details and screenshots below, including our audible companion: The Intrazone Roadmap Pitstop: April 2024 podcast episode – all to help answer, "What's rolling out now for SharePoint and related technologies into Microsoft 365?" In the podcast episode, we share some audio from the recent New Planner events on April 3rd and 4th - their launch event and AMA. You'll hear Howard Crow (Partner GPM) talking about how the Planner team approaches infusing AI into your planning cycles, plus a great Planner + Copilot question from the AMA audience, answered by Holly Pollock (Principal Product manager).
We are excited to announce the rollout of Planner Premium plan task syncing with Planner and To Do. With this, users will be able to view their Premium plan tasks seamlessly integrated within the “Assigned to me” view in To Do, Planner web as well as the new Planner app. The feature is being rolled out in phases and would be available across geographies in coming weeks.
OneDrive: Annotate PDFs with Text (1st party)
This feature allows you to annotate and save PDF files with text boxes, when those files are stored in OneDrive and SharePoint. Users can access the annotation feature by opening the PDF in file viewer and selecting “edit”. This feature will begin rolling out in May.
We’re thrilled to announce the public preview of High Volume Email (HVE) for Microsoft 365. HVE is a new service designed primarily for line of business applications and other high-volume SMTP Auth submissions that enables you to send internal messages beyond the current limits of Exchange Online. Customers using on-premises servers in an Exchange hybrid configuration to send a large volume of internal messages can use this service instead and decommission their on-premises servers. We’re rolling out HVE to all WW customers starting April 1 and we expect rollout to be complete by the end of April. The initial HVE end point is located in the North America region. We plan to launch more regions in the coming months. Our goals with HVE are to enable customers to send higher volumes of email than a typical user mailbox to recipients who are predominately internal without a recipient rate limit, limit the volume to external recipients, as Azure Communication Services provides the solution for high volumes of external email, and allow admins to set their own limits on a per-account basis and provide them with a consumption-based billing model, usage metrics and tracking.
You can record a video clip with your phone camera and switch your background to any picture you want or make it blurry. With this feature, you can record yourself anywhere and share it with coworkers in your Teams chat or channel. The feature will begin rolling out in May 2024.
Microsoft rolls out offline support for OneDrive on the web for work and school customers (3rd party)
If you use Microsoft 365 for your work or with an education plan, there's a new feature in OneDrive that should be of interest. Microsoft has revealed it is rolling out offline support for OneDrive on the web so that users can access their files on the cloud storage service without an internet connection. The new features work with your local onboard storage on your PC to store info like file names, sizes, the authors of the files, and more. To access the new mode, your Windows or Mac PC will need to have the OneDrive Sync app installed. Then all you have to do is log into the OneDrive web app and there should be a one-time setup to get it ready for the offline mode.
The SharePoint Brand Center - Creating and Applying Font Packages (3rd party) [VIDEO]
This tutorial video provides a comprehensive guide on using the SharePoint Brand Center to create and apply custom font packages to SharePoint sites. The presenter, Daniel Anderson, demonstrates the process of setting up an organizational assets library, uploading fonts, creating a font package with different styles for display, content, titles, headlines, body, and interactive elements, and then applying this package to a SharePoint site to enhance its visual branding. The video emphasizes the importance of choosing fonts that represent the brand uniquely and ensure consistency and legibility across the site.
?
Microsoft Defender and Sentinel
AI security posture management (1st party)
The Defender Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) plan in Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides AI security posture management capabilities that secure enterprise-built, multi, or hybrid cloud (currently Azure and AWS) generative AI applications, throughout the entire application lifecycle. Defender for Cloud reduces risk to cross cloud AI workloads by discovering generative AI Bill of Materials (AI BOM), which includes application components, data, and AI artifacts from code to cloud, strengthening generative AI application security posture with built-in recommendations and by exploring and remediating security risks, and using the attack path analysis to identify and remediate risks.
Understanding Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (1st party) [AUDIO]
Giulio Astori, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, joins Erica Toelle and guest host Yuri Diogenes on this week's episode of Uncovering Hidden Risks. Giulio Astori works as a Principal Program Manager for Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Yuri has been at Microsoft for the past 18 years and manages a Product Management team for the Defender for Cloud Product. In this discussion, Giulio delves into the world of Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs), explaining their significance and utility in enhancing cloud security and protecting workloads. He explores the distinction between CNAPPs and Cloud Security Posture Management, shedding light on their roles in bolstering organizational security.
Have you read all the docs only to find yourself overwhelmed by all the features and agents available and need help deciding which to onboard? Do you need help with the nuances of setting up Private Link for Azure Arc? Are you using SCOM to onboard MMA to your servers still and unsure of the path forward to AMA? Then look no further! With this multi-part series, we will guide you through the decision process to find the best path on your monitoring and endpoint protection journey with the end goal being successfully deployment of Defender for Servers.
In this guide, you'll learn how to enable Microsoft Defender for Cloud on your Azure subscription. Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) with a set of security measures and practices designed to protect your cloud-based applications end-to-end by combining a set of powerful capabilities. Defender for Cloud includes Foundational CSPM capabilities and access to Microsoft Defender XDR for free.
Introducing our CNAPP mastery e-book! (1st party)
Have you completed all of the Microsoft security ninja training? Now we have a new CNAPP mastery e-book for you to enjoy! Today we released an e-book all about CNAPP (Cloud Native Application Protection Platform) that has been written by some of the leading experts out there. If you don’t already know, CNAPP is a framework for securing cloud-native applications and infrastructure. The book is packed with valuable information on how to create a unified, proactive, and holistic strategy that covers all aspects of cloud security. From threat detection and scaling to governance and compliance, this book has got you covered.
Offline Security Intelligence Update is now GA (1st party)
We are extremely excited to share that Offline Security Intelligence Update is now GA! Organizations can now update security intelligence (also referred to as “signatures”) on Linux endpoints with limited or no exposure to the internet using a local hosting server. Exercise better control over the download and deployment of signatures on their Linux servers running critical workloads.
Vulnerability Management Dashboard: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint - Updated Release 2405 (1st party)
As Microsoft Cloud Solution Architects, we get asked by Businesses, IT Managers and Cybersecurity Experts to accurately report on the Vulnerabilities and CVEs in our environments. This could be as easy as just deploying Endpoint Protection updates or as advanced as deploying every category and 3rd Party Updates using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. This Spring release involves implementing a cloud-based reporting and visualization solution that brings exposure to active threats into sharp focus. It is intended to provide value to IT Leaders, Stakeholders, Security & Compliance teams, and Operations Teams that are responsible for mitigating CVE documented risks. The reports provide rich drill throughs that enable full understanding of an organization's current data and trends. The data is sourced from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint using API calls, stored in a small serverless Azure SQL instance, and can be accessed from anywhere on any device.
Your organization has recently onboarded Microsoft Copilot for Security into their tenant, and as a Security Analyst, you have been asked to investigate a Defender XDR incident. In this article, we will see how Microsoft Copilot for Security accelerates investigation workflow, helping you understand the threats your organization is facing.
Monitoring Data Collection Rules (DCRs) in Azure significantly influences the operation of Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft’s cloud-native SIEM system. While commonly associated with Azure-based resources, DCRs are critical for managing data across various environments, including on-premises data centers and other cloud platforms. This expanded capability enables Sentinel to gather and analyze data from a diverse array of sources, ensuring robust security management across an organization’s entire digital landscape, not just within Azure. By integrating data from both Azure and non-Azure environments, Sentinel can provide a more unified security posture, critical for detecting and responding to threats wherever they may occur.
With the retirement of Legacy Log analytics, this will go over the new way on how to send logs into Sentinel using Linux using Azure Arc and DCR. This gives additional flexibility and control over our endpoints and which logs we want to send in to Sentinel.
?
Azure
In the ever-evolving landscape of digital infrastructure, transparency in resource and application performance is imperative. Success hinges on visibility, and that’s true whether you’re operating on Azure, on-premise, or at the edge. As organizations scale their infrastructures and applications, the volume of observability data naturally increases. This surge can complicate the management of networking, data storage and ingestion, often forcing a trade-off between cost management and observability. The complexity doesn’t end there. The very tools designed to ingest, process, and route this data can be both costly and complex, adding layers of operational challenges. Moreover, edge infrastructure is deployed near IoT devices for optimal data processing, high availability, and reduced latency. This adds its own set of challenges when it comes to collecting telemetry from such constrained environments. Recognizing these challenges, our team has been focused on providing a robust, highly scalable, and secure data ingestion solution through Azure Monitor. We are thrilled to announce the preview of the Azure Monitor pipeline at edge.
I’ve come across a scenario where one of my customer using Azure SQL DB wanted to share their Database with other customer who was also hosted on Azure. They were struggling to establish site-to-site connectivity so that Customer B could access Customer A’s network, enabling them to connect to the Azure SQL DB via the site-to-site tunnel. Though this can be achieved, there are better ways to connect to Azure SQL DB, or any PaaS instance for that matter, with another customer who is using Azure. This can also be used by customers who have multiple Azure AD tenants.
Centralized private resolver architecture implementation using Azure private DNS resolver (1st party)
This article walks you through the steps to setup a centralized architecture to resolve DNS names, including private DNS zones across your Azure network and on-premises DNS using an Azure DNS private Resolver in a hub and spoke VNet topology.
Intelligent FinOps in Azure (3rd party)
Leverage FinOps in Azure to optimize your cloud spend and drive accountability across your organization. With Microsoft Cost Management, gain complete visibility into your cloud costs, track spending by department or project, and forecast future expenses. Utilize management groups, subscriptions, and tags to organize costs and allocate resources efficiently, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities. Make informed decisions with proactive cost reduction recommendations from Azure Advisor and architectural best practices like Azure Landing Zones. Operationalize FinOps practices with centralized management focus and continuous evaluation through the FinOps Review assessment. Azure expert, Matt McSpirit, shows how to improve your organization's capability and operational agility with FinOps on Azure.
FinOps and Azure! Understanding what FinOps is and why we care (3rd party) [VIDEO]
This video provides an in-depth explanation of FinOps and its significance in managing cloud expenditures, particularly focusing on the shift from capital expenditure (CapEx) to operational expenditure (OpEx) in cloud environments. It emphasizes the importance of accountability and visibility in cloud spending, highlighting the transition from traditional IT procurement to a decentralized model where business units can directly provision resources, leading to variable costs. The presenter discusses the role of financial operations (FinOps) in bringing insight and control to cloud expenses by establishing governance through policies, tagging for resource attribution, and utilizing Azure’s cost management tools. The video also covers the use of budgets, alerts, and Azure Advisor for cost optimization and waste reduction, ultimately aiming to ensure that every dollar spent drives business growth and delivers value.
?
Server
Exchange Server Roadmap Update (1st party)
Today, we are providing an update on our product roadmap for Microsoft Exchange Server, and our next milestones in the Exchange Server journey to support the specific needs of our on-premises customers, hosted services providers, and other partners. We will release one final Cumulative Update (CU) for Exchange Server 2019—the 2024 H2 CU aka CU15—later this year. We will release Exchange Server Subscription Edition (Exchange Server SE) early in the third quarter of calendar year 2025. We will release the first CU for Exchange Server SE—CU1—in late 2025.
Remote event log tailer (3rd party)
This script can be used to watch events being written in the logs on several machines in real-time. For example, if a user logs on to a remote session the events recorded for this on several machines such as the RDS/VDA machine, Storefront and Delivery Controller can all be displayed as they are being written. Run the script with an account or Shared Credential with sufficient privileges on all targeted machines to read the event logs.
?
Identity Protection and Management
领英推荐
We're thrilled to announce a robust set of multi-tenant organization (MTO) capabilities within Microsoft 365, now generally available to enhance your organization's collaboration, communication, and administration across multiple tenants. These capabilities span Microsoft 365 People Search, Microsoft Teams, Viva Engage and Microsoft Defender XDR, which can be enabled via the Microsoft 365 admin center or Microsoft Entra admin center. A tenant is a digital representation of your organization, which provides a reliable architectural foundation that allows for security, reliability, productivity, collaboration, and compliance at scale, that protects data by default. While many organizations start their journey with a single tenant, factors including organic growth, regulatory compliance, mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures can all contribute to how many tenants an organization will own and manage, and how users are segmented in those tenants. This segmentation can cause frustration when users need to communicate and collaborate across tenant boundaries, whilst IT admins need to perform the same set of administrative tasks per tenant to maintain their organization.
In Microsoft Entra ID, there's a password policy that defines settings like the password complexity, length, or age. There's also a policy that defines acceptable characters and length for usernames. When self-service password reset (SSPR) is used to change or reset a password in Microsoft Entra ID, the password policy is checked. If the password doesn't meet the policy requirements, the user is prompted to try again. Azure administrators have some restrictions on using SSPR that are different to regular user accounts, and there are minor exceptions for trial and free versions of Microsoft Entra ID. This article describes the password policy settings and complexity requirements associated with user accounts. It also covers how to use PowerShell to check or set password expiration settings.
When working with Microsoft Entra there are many log sources you can use to detect usage and changes to the environment and the assets within it. Most of them can be forwarded using the diagnostic settings to different targets for better analysis capabilities or long-term storage. In many cases a Microsoft Sentinel or Log Analytics workspace is the target of choice, but also other SIEM solutions can benefit from this stream of log data.
Lateral movement and on-prem NT hash dumping with Microsoft Entra Temporary Access Passes (3rd party)
Temporary Access Passes are a method for Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) administrators to configure a temporary password for user accounts, which will also satisfy Multi Factor Authentication controls. They can be a useful tool in setting up passwordless authentication methods such as FIDO keys and Windows Hello. In this blog, we take a closer look at the options attackers have to abuse Temporary Access Passes for lateral movement, showing how they can be used for passwordless persistence and even to recover on-premises Active Directory passwords in certain hybrid configurations. Temporary access passes are not enabled by default. However, many tenants that primarily use passwordless forms of authentication have them enabled to allow users to configure passwordless authentication methods for the first time, or for account recovery in the case these users need to reset their authentication methods.
PASSKEYS - What they are, why we want them and how to use them! (3rd party) [VIDEO]
This video provides an in-depth explanation of passkeys, a revolutionary authentication method poised to replace traditional passwords. John Savill discusses the evolution of authentication, from passwords to one-time passcodes and multifactor authentication, leading to the development of passkeys. Passkeys offer a secure, phishing-resistant alternative that leverages public key infrastructure (PKI) for single-step, strong multi-factor authentication. The video delves into the technical workings of passkeys, including their reliance on PKI, the role of the WebAuthn client, and the importance of user presence and intent verification. It also covers the practical aspects of using passkeys across different devices and platforms, highlighting their ease of use and potential to significantly enhance online security.
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) in Entra ID (formerly known as Azure Active Directory) is a fantastic solution for helping reduce overuse of administrative rights by IT admins in the course of administering Microsoft 365 environments. All too often, IT admins will perform functions using their admin account using the Global Administrator because, quite frankly, it’s easier. However in this day and age we should be using the principle of least privilege – where effectively IT admins should only be selecting the relevant admin roles they need to perform the task.
How To Restrict Non-Admin Users from Creating Tenants in Microsoft Entra ID: A Step-by-Step Guide (3rd party)
Non-privileged users can create tenants in Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) and the Entra administration portal under Manage tenants. You may want to restrict non-admin users from creating tenants so the organization can prevent any unauthorized or uncontrolled deployment of resources. This, in turn, helps maintain the organization’s control over its infrastructure. This article will guide you through the process of restricting non-admin users from creating tenants in Microsoft Entra ID, ensuring your organization retains control over its resources and infrastructure.
Entra ID stands as a central component in Azure's security infrastructure, serving as a fundamental identifier for users, groups, and applications within the platform. Its role is critical in enabling robust authentication and authorization processes, ensuring seamless access control and permission management across Azure services. Integration with various security features such as Conditional Access and Multi-Factor Authentication enhances Azure's ability to defend against cyber threats effectively. Entra ID Password Protection (EIPP) contributes to the overall security posture by providing additional security mechanisms around password-based authentication. One of them called "Banned Password Lists" (BPL) and introduced in October 2021, has been designed to prevent users from using weak passwords by enforcing both a global and a custom list of words to ban. The global BPL is maintained by Microsoft and kept secret, while the custom BPL is available in licensed tenants to configure more relevant words for the specific entity.
After 4 years since Microsoft’s original notification that a new solution for external identity providers would be released, enabling them to integrate into Conditional Access, Microsoft has announced External Authentication methods for Microsoft Entra ID! This new solution brings a huge range of benefits to third-party identity providers and the organizations that use them to integrate more directly into Microsoft backbone identity systems. In this article, I will explain what the new External Authentication methods feature is, how it works and why it will be beneficial for organizations.
Microsoft has announced the general availability of the new multi-tenant organization (MTO) capabilities for Entra ID customers. The new feature is designed to enhance the cross-tenant collaboration experience in Microsoft Teams and Viva Engage. A multi-tenant organization is a group of up to five Entra ID tenants that are linked together by cross-tenant access policies to let users collaborate and share resources. This solution could be useful for organizations that span multiple Microsoft 365 tenants and need to share information. Microsoft first announced released of the new Entra ID multi-tenant organization feature in public preview in mid-2023. It allows users to share applications and engage across tenants with Microsoft Teams and Viva Engage.
?
Information Protection and Management
Prioritize Security Incidents Based on Data Importance | Microsoft Defender with Microsoft Purview (1st party) [VIDEO]
Prioritize incidents based on data significance, detect insider risks, and adapt protections in real-time with Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Purview. Customize thresholds and risk indicators to detect anomalous behavior and prevent potential breaches with Adaptive Protection. Receive real-time DLP alerts triggered by policy matches, ensuring immediate action to safeguard sensitive data. Gain comprehensive visibility into threats and enforce policies across all devices and applications. Sravan Kumar Mera, Principal Product Manager for Microsoft Purview shares how to stay ahead of evolving threats and maintain data integrity.
Maximize data protection & minimize business disruption with Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (1st party)
Protecting your business-critical data is of the utmost importance in today’s digital landscape. Within the last 12 months, 74% of organizations have had business data exposed during a data security incident, 65% saw operational data compromised, and 58% experienced personal data being made vulnerable. However, protecting that data can seem like a daunting charter for many security teams. Between the boundless volumes of data created and transformed daily by modern organizations and the difficulty of scaling legacy data loss prevention (DLP) strategies, proper prevention, investigation, and remediation of data security incidents can be an uphill climb. Simultaneously, the breakneck adoption of Generative AI is not only an exponential multiplier of organizational data, but also a new frontier of risk that we must learn to secure. Now is the time for organizations to take a comprehensive approach to data security that supports the pace of work today and adapts as your business transforms for the future.
“Ubisoft: Custom search supports game development” – The Intrazone podcast (1st party) [AUDIO]
Game on! That’s what you want everyone to think and feel when they set out to search, discover, find, and use content and knowledge across your organization. And sometimes that leads to refining and customizing the overall search experience – especially when you’re in, or have recently moved to, the Cloud. Don’t let a lesser-than Search experience halt progress. AKA, avoid any notion of “Game over.” On today's episode we chat with Mihaela Nita, Franck Cornu, and Stephanie Daigle - all from the gaming company Ubisoft (Microsoft customer). From blockbuster brands to new IPs, Ubisoft has a 35-year track record of creating a varied line-up of games – such as Assassin’s Creed, Brawlhalla, For Honor, Far Cry, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, Just Dance, and more. Thus, we dug into numerous topics, centering around their journey to update their old global search application – originally built on SharePoint Server 2013 on-premises, now fully leveraging SharePoint in Microsoft 365. I like to think of it as SharePoint being a solid gaming-collaboration platform.
?
Intune
Enhancing admin capabilities with Microsoft Intune’s remote Microsoft 365 application diagnostics (1st party)
Have you ever had to troubleshoot an issue with a Microsoft 365 application on iOS or Android for a colleague or executive? It can be a time-consuming and difficult process, especially when the user has to manually collect the application diagnostics. But what if there was an easier way? Enter remote diagnostics for Microsoft 365 applications. With this feature, admins can gather Intune app protection and Microsoft 365 application diagnostics on iOS and Android applications directly from the Microsoft Intune admin center. This means that instead of asking the user to collect diagnostics manually, admins can request diagnostics through the Troubleshooting pane. When the user opens their app, they’ll be prompted to upload diagnostics, which can then be accessed by Microsoft support for troubleshooting.
Helping IT teams provide more secure and productive endpoints requires continuous innovation. Bad actors search for new ways to compromise systems while business users want to be free to work with either personal or corporate-owned devices. The Microsoft Intune team works hard to help endpoint administrators do their part to help secure data and devices. One common way attackers gain access to networks is supply-chain attacks impersonating authorized devices or installing malicious code on devices at the hardware level, which can’t be detected by anti-virus or anti-malware software. To help protect against these kinds of threats, you can leverage Microsoft Intune to enable hardware-backed device attestation on many common device platforms. These local checks take place on the device itself, without requiring an external service for attestation. These checks prove devices are genuine and haven’t been tampered with. This information is then passed into risk evaluation systems, which can help you ensure that company resources can only be accessed by devices proven to be uncompromised.
Platform SSO for macOS now in public preview (1st party)
Today we’re announcing that Platform SSO for macOS is available in public preview with Microsoft Entra ID. Platform SSO is an enhancement to the Microsoft Enterprise SSO plug-in for Apple devices that makes usage and management of Mac devices more seamless and secure. At the start of public preview, Platform SSO will work with Microsoft Intune. Additional mobile device management (MDM) providers will be added during the public preview. Please contact your MDM provider for more information on support and availability. As part of this release, we’re introducing Microsoft Entra Join for macOS. This feature uses the Enterprise SSO plug-in to create a hardware-bound device record in Entra ID. Entra Join requires the use of an Entra ID organizational account.
How to Improve the Autopilot User Experience with Toast Notifications (3rd party) [VIDEO]
I'm often asked about how to make the Autopilot end-user experience better.? Most of the time organizations just want better communication so users know what to expect when they provision their new PC. In today's episode, I'm going to show you how to customize your own toast notification that will run once Autopilot places the user at the desktop, giving them a welcome message and a quick way to launch the Company Portal.
New tweak added to Autopilot Branding (3rd party)
It’s something that always annoyed me: Why does the Start menu pop up when you first log in to Windows, both on a new install and on an upgrade? It’s not really necessary and can get in the way if you’ve got any auto-launching apps; they end up behind the Start menu, so you have to click Start to get the menu to go away. Fortunately, it’s pretty simple to stop that. You just need to set a registry key in the default user profile that tells Start that it has already done this.
How to enable Entra ID Single Sign-on on macOS (3rd party)
By default, on macOS, you always have a local account. There’s no option to natively sign-in to Microsoft Entra ID like on Windows. There’s not even any option to natively sign-in to Apple ID. The account is always local with a local password, just linked to your Apple ID. This behavior should change with the release of Platform SSO, where the Microsoft Entra ID account logs directly into macOS, the equivalent of Microsoft Entra Join. No local account needed.
?
Device Management
Step-by-Step SCCM 2403 Upgrade Guide (3rd party)
Microsoft has released the first SCCM version for 2024 as the release cadence is now reduced to 2 releases per year. SCCM 2403 was released on April 23rd, 2024. This post is a complete step-by-step SCCM 2403 upgrade guide, meaning that if you want to upgrade your existing SCCM installation to the latest SCCM updates, this post is for you.
Always On VPN administrators may find that their device tunnel connections no longer connect automatically after applying the April 2024 security updates. The device tunnel connection is optional and only required under specific conditions, so end users may not be immediately impacted. However, administrators should be aware of this issue.
It's an open secret that Microsoft is gearing up to supercharge Windows 11 this summer with next-gen AI capabilities that will enable the OS to be context aware across any apps and interfaces, as well as remember everything you do on your PC to enhance user productivity and search. These new capabilities are set to ship as part of a new app internally called "AI Explorer," which I'm told will be unveiled during Microsoft's special Windows event on May 20. AI Explorer will utilize next-gen neural processing unit (NPU) hardware to process these machine learning and generative AI experiences locally on the device with low latency.
?
Scripting and Automation
Open sourcing MS-DOS 4.0 (1st party)
Ten years ago, Microsoft released the source for MS-DOS 1.25 and 2.0 to the Computer History Museum, and then later republished them for reference purposes. This code holds an important place in history and is a fascinating read of an operating system that was written entirely in 8086 assembly code nearly 45 years ago. Today, in partnership with IBM and in the spirit of open innovation, we’re releasing the source code to MS-DOS 4.00 under the MIT license. There’s a somewhat complex and fascinating history behind the 4.0 versions of DOS, as Microsoft partnered with IBM for portions of the code but also created a branch of DOS called Multitasking DOS that did not see a wide release.
Tips and Tricks for Developing Elegant UI/UX in Canvas Apps (1st party) [VIDEO]
This video features Ryan Johnston presenting valuable tips and tricks for designing elegant UI/UX in canvas apps. He emphasizes the importance of aesthetics in app design, arguing that a power app should not look like a typical power app. Ryan shares his expertise as a full-stack web developer and his passion for both function and form. He provides practical advice on using HTML text control with custom CSS for a glass morphism effect, theming and color consistency across apps using external data sources, and customizing input controls for a modern look. Additionally, he discusses utilizing resources like CIS function Metro Studio for icons and Envato Elements for UI kits, underscoring the significance of leveraging professional designs for inspiration. The video is a comprehensive guide for non-graphic designers to elevate their app designs, making it a valuable resource for developers looking to enhance the visual appeal of their canvas apps.
In this article, we will look at Microsoft Power Platform and specifically Canvas apps. We will at Power Platform in a specific way namely debugging. So, what do we mean by debugging? When you code, you need to figure out that the code does what it should. For example, you are fetching data from somewhere and you want to transform it in such a way that you're able to get the data you need from it and can display it. As a developer, you have a few different approaches you use for "debugging".
In the world of managing infrastructure, things are always changing. People really want solutions that work, can handle big tasks, and won't let them down. Now, as more companies switch to using cloud-based systems and start using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), the job of folks who handle infrastructure is getting even more important. They're facing new problems in setting up and keeping everything running smoothly. In response to these challenges, Leveraging GitHub Copilot to generate infra code specifically for infrastructure professionals is helping to revolutionize the way infrastructure is written, addressing the pain points experienced by professionals in the field.
The Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK is made up of a set of modules that enable you to interact with the Microsoft Graph API using PowerShell commands. The modules consist of commands that act as wrappers for the API, allowing you to access all the features and functionality of the API through PowerShell. Microsoft Graph PowerShell module is published on PowerShell Gallery. Installing is as simple as: Install-Module Microsoft.Graph.
Step up your Azure Bicep game! Learn how to leverage modules to organize and simplify your Bicep templates. This guide covers everything from basic to advanced module techniques, making your Infrastructure as Code more robust and easier to manage. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about Azure Bicep modules. We’ll start by understanding what modules are and why they’re so valuable in the world of infrastructure as code. Then, we’ll roll up our sleeves and get hands-on with creating and referencing modules in your Bicep files.
Usually, when you want to connect a GitHub workflow to Azure, in order to manage resources, you use an Entra ID application (Azure AD). The main problem with using an App is that you need to manage a secret or a certificate. Most of the time people use a secret, it needs to be stored as a secret in GitHub, and it transits through the Internet when connecting to Azure. But if instead of using a secret you can use a federated identity credential. It is a trust relationship between two entities, one entity can request a token and use this token to authenticate to Azure. In this case, no secret is exchanged.
In the past two years, generative AI has foundationally changed the developer landscape largely as a tool embedded inside the developer environment. In 2022, we launched GitHub Copilot as an autocomplete pair programmer in the editor, boosting developer productivity by up to 55%. Copilot is now the most widely adopted AI developer tool. In 2023, we released GitHub Copilot Chat—unlocking the power of natural language in coding, debugging, and testing—allowing developers to converse with their code in real time. After sharing an early glimpse at GitHub Universe last year, today, we are reimagining the nature of the developer experience itself with the technical preview of GitHub Copilot Workspace: the Copilot-native developer environment. Within Copilot Workspace, developers can now brainstorm, plan, build, test, and run code in natural language. This new task-centric experience leverages different Copilot-powered agents from start to finish, while giving developers full control over every step of the process.
?
Security Tools and Guides
Operationalizing Attack Path Insights (1st party)
In the face of today's complex cybersecurity challenges, the ability to proactively manage and mitigate potential attack vectors has never been more crucial. Identifying, understanding, and countering attack paths effectively are essential steps in safeguarding an organization's digital assets. This Azure Workbook Attack Path Dashboard has been designed for monitoring attack paths over time—ranging from days to a month or more. This tool empowers organizations to leverage deep insights into their cybersecurity posture, enabling them to evaluate and enhance their processes for mitigating threats proactively. This blog article explores the dashboard’s layout, its detailed insights, and how it supports organizations in enhancing their security posture.
?
Microsoft News
Cloud Cultures, Part 7: Creating balance in a digital world through precision and mindfulness in Japan (1st party)
‘Mottainai,’ an idea deeply rooted in Japanese culture, is a call to respect resources and avoid waste. It goes beyond mere frugality; it’s an inherent recognition of the value of each item. I saw this ideology reflected everywhere during my trip to Japan for this episode of Cloud Cultures—in the transportation system, in my interactions with shop owners, even in the movements of a master sushi chef (or itamae) that I watched over the bar at an Omakase restaurant. The same approach is applied to Japan’s technological innovations. While innovation is often associated with monumental breakthroughs or flashy advancements, I found that in Japan, innovation thrives in the simplest forms. It’s a philosophy woven into the Japanese way of life—a reverence for simplicity, mindfulness, and the intrinsic value of everything around us. Using the principles of precision and mindfulness, we can bridge the gaps between technology, design, and craftmanship.
While multiple elements play a part in AI success, the most powerful factor—by far—is that leadership consistently communicates a clear vision and commitment to AI. In fact, according to The AI Strategy Roadmap, 100% of organizations at the most advanced stage of AI readiness report strong vision and commitment from senior leaders, compared to 1% of organizations at the earliest stage. To learn more about his role and the emerging best practices for AI leadership, I sat down with Florin Rotar, Chief AI Officer (CAIO) at Avanade. Rotar is the company’s first-ever CAIO and has been tasked with leading the company to deliver sustainable AI value both for clients and for Avanade itself.
Last year saw huge advances in generative AI, as people experienced the ability to generate lifelike visuals with words and Microsoft Copilot tools that can summarize missed meetings, help write business proposals or suggest a dinner menu based on what’s in your fridge. While Microsoft has long established principles and processes for building AI applications in ways that seek to minimize unexpected harm and give people the experiences they’re looking for, deploying generative AI products on such a large scale has introduced new challenges and opportunities. That’s why Microsoft recently released its first annual Responsible AI Transparency Report to help people understand how we approach responsible AI (RAI). The company has also rolled out new tools available in Azure AI for enterprise customers and developers to help safeguard the quality of their AI outputs and protect against malicious or unexpected uses of the systems.
Cloud Cultures, Part 8: Recapturing the entrepreneurial spirit in the American Rust Belt (1st party)
Once known for its dominance in the coal, steel, and manufacturing industries, the American Rust Belt is entering a new era of innovation. Thousands of startups, a focus on homegrown talent, and a rich culture of resilience are sparking an unmistakable resurgence in the region. Excited to explore this industrious spirit and a cloud culture closer to home, I ventured to the Northeastern and Midwestern states—the famed Rust Belt—to learn how entrepreneurial adaptability is energizing both people and businesses in the area.
?
Security News
A new campaign tracked as “Dev Popper” is targeting software developers with fake job interviews in an attempt to trick them into installing a Python remote access trojan (RAT). The developers are asked to perform tasks supposedly related to the interview, like downloading and running code from GitHub, in an effort to make the entire process appear legitimate. However, the threat actor's goal is make their targets download malicious software that gathers system information and enables remote access to the host.
Okta warns of an "unprecedented" spike in credential stuffing attacks targeting its identity and access management solutions, with some customer accounts breached in the attacks. Threat actors use credential stuffing to compromise user accounts by trying out in an automated manner lists of usernames and passwords typically purchased from cybercriminals. In an advisory today, Okta says the attacks seem to originate from the same infrastructure used in the brute-force and password-spraying attacks previously reported by Cisco Talos.
?
Industry Specific News
Advertising - Unlocking the power and potential of generative AI for advertisers and publishers (1st party)
Over the last year, we’ve seen how Microsoft Copilot is transforming how people interact with the web. It’s influencing behavioral shifts that are reshaping how businesses of all sizes connect with their audiences. People are making purchase decisions faster, reducing the journey from nearly 30 days to just over 20 when using Microsoft Copilot. In addition, one of our unique ad formats in chat, multimedia ads, has seen triple the click-through rates compared to traditional search engine results pages. The broader momentum we’re seeing for advertising across Microsoft is also being driven, in part, by increased volume and engagement on Microsoft Bing and Edge, and Copilot is playing an integral role. As we just reported in earnings, Bing reached over 140 million daily active users and we once again took share across Bing and Edge. Through innovation and partnerships, we’re putting all our assets to work to deliver a meaningful alternative and real monetization opportunity for advertisers and publishers in this new era of AI. Microsoft Advertising is continuing to make strides in empowering businesses of all sizes to unlock the power and potential of this technology. We’re excited to share an update on our progress.
Energy - Maximize machine learning and data management in Azure Data Manager for Energy (1st party)
Within the energy industry, legacy assets and on-premises data storage can make integrating with the OSDU? Data Platform a challenge. In particular, the specialized disciplines within the subsurface domain often lead to the creation of data silos. While these silos serve a purpose by enabling specialists to combine data with their expertise, they also pose challenges for broader data integration efforts. The OSDU Data Platform offers a robust set of data schemas, but the most valuable data often resides within these specialist silos, necessitating complex data synchronization workflows.
Finance - The Future of Banking in the Era of AI (1st party) [E-BOOK]
The future of banking is AI-powered. Start using generative AI today to help empower your employees, transform your operations, and deepen customer relationships. Read the e-book, The Future of Banking in the Era of AI, to find out how AI solutions can enhance contact center services, empower financial advisors, accelerate content generation, and assist developers with code modernization. Plus, learn how the Microsoft Cloud makes it easier to build intelligent banking solutions quickly while protecting important data.
Government - 3 ways to solve the skilling challenge for an AI-empowered government workforce (1st party)
Government organizations are as eager as any business sector to harness the power of generative AI to transform their operations and improve service delivery. But as more and more of them initiate early exploration, experimentation, and eventual implementation, the unique challenges of successful adoption in governments are emerging. And—no surprise—it’s not just about the technology. This is of particular interest to our Microsoft for Government team, where our mission is to help governments solve society’s biggest challenges. With the accelerated pace of innovation surrounding generative AI in the past 18 months, we’ve taken a special interest in understanding the full range of factors that either promote or hinder adoption in government organizations. One concern we invariably hear is about skilling—that is, how to provide the training and support required to help employees not just understand the technology but embrace it. Without this, even the best implementations are at risk of failure.
Government - Streamline controls with Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty (1st party)
In today’s complex global environment, public sector organizations are seeking to modernize their operations by tapping into the power of the hyperscale public cloud and cutting-edge technologies such as large language models (LLM). Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty provides the guidance, tools, and controls to help public sector organizations plan, adopt, and manage the public cloud faster and easier, while also helping meet security and compliance requirements.?It supports the digital transformation of government services through the innovation and scalability offered with Microsoft public cloud solutions. We are excited to announce the latest release of Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty.
Insurance - How Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 is redefining insurance, one role at a time (1st party)
Insurers are facing greater challenges today than at any time in recent memory. Between economic and geo-political factors, climate change impacts, and the new social and competitive realities of a post-COVID-19 world, the insurance landscape is perilous—but also rich with opportunities. In response, innovative companies are exploring new business models and rethinking employee engagement, with technology at the core of new approaches. It is no wonder then that AI is so appealing to leading insurers. Its amazing ability to glean insights from data, create documents, and enable people to build powerful solutions using natural language promises to help insurers meet the unprecedented demands of the moment.
Manufacturing - Industrial transformation: Scaling AI across the manufacturing value chain (1st party)
The manufacturing industry stands on the brink of a transformative era, propelled by the advent of generative AI. AI is not just a tool for automation; it’s a catalyst for innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. AI can significantly enhance product and process innovation, reduce cycle times, and improve maintenance and security while also reducing carbon emissions. But there are some challenges to overcome before we can enjoy these advantages. ?Against this background, Microsoft commissioned a research report in collaboration with MIT Technology Review Insights to uncover the state of AI adoption, expectations, and challenges to scaling AI in the manufacturing industry.