How the Microsoft security suite delivers a Zero Trust model

The Zero Trust concept is industry-wide and isn’t specific to a particular security vendor or product. However, as Microsoft Office is the most widely used productivity tool in the world and organisations often align the rest of their technology stack to the Microsoft suite, we are going to look at the component Microsoft products that make up a Zero Trust framework.

Read the full series here:

• What is Zero Trust and why do you need it
• How to implement a Zero Trust model
• Zero Trust in action - a typical day in the life of an employee
• Common misconceptions about Zero Trust
• How the Microsoft security suite delivers a Zero Trust model
• Microsoft Defender vs Microsoft Sentinel vs Copilot for Security – which Zero Trust tool is right for you?

The attack surface for any company is vast, which means tools are required to protect four key components - the users, the devices, the data and the network. Additional tools are needed to manage and monitor all of these. We’ve broken the Microsoft stack down into the different types and show how they support a Zero Trust security model.

Identity and access management (IAM)

These tools are the foundation of a Zero Trust policy as they define each user including what they’re entitled to and where their access is managed from. Microsoft Identity and Access Management tools include:

• Microsoft Entra ID (Formerly Azure AD): This acts as the central identity and access management platform, controlling user access to various resources both on-premises and in the cloud. Azure AD ensures that only authenticated and authorised users can access resources, applying Conditional Access based on user, device, location, and risk level.
• Entra ID Conditional Access: As mentioned above, this enforces access policies based on various factors like user identity, device health, location, and application access request.
• Microsoft Defender for Identity: This provides advanced threat detection and identity protection capabilities. Together with Azure AD Application Proxy, Defender for Identity protects against identity-based threats and ensures secure, least privilege access to applications.

Device security

Unlike IAM tools that govern the user, endpoint management products protect the actual devices from threats, and include:

• Microsoft Intune: This enables mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM) to enforce security policies on devices accessing organisational resources.
• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: This provides comprehensive endpoint protection against malware, viruses, and other threats on user devices. Endpoint Manager and Defender for Endpoint secure and monitor devices, ensuring they meet security standards before accessing corporate resources.

Data protection

Data is the most valuable asset in any organisation. These tools are designed to protect corporate data from breaches, internally or externally:

• Microsoft Purview Information Protection: This classifies, labels, and encrypts data to safeguard sensitive information.
• Microsoft Defender for CloudApps: This provides cloud application security posture management (CASB) to monitor and control access to cloud apps.

Network security

A network can be a point of vulnerability as it connects internal systems to external environments. These solutions provide network protection:

• Azure Virtual Network (VNet): Creates isolated networks within Azure to segment your resources and control network traffic flow.
• Azure Firewall and Virtual WAN: Provides a managed firewall service for centralised control and protection of your Azure resources. It secures your network boundaries, providing safe connectivity and segmenting the network to minimise lateral movement.

Monitoring and analytics

Monitoring and analytics tools track and flag potential security issues, automating otherwise labor-intensive monitoring tasks and providing rich insights into areas of vulnerability:

• Microsoft Sentinel: Offers a cloud-native security information and event management (SIEM) solution for centralised logging, threat detection, and response across your environment. Microsoft Sentinel and Defender for Cloud Apps offer visibility into security events and potential threats across the environment, enabling quick detection and response to incidents.
• Azure Monitor: Provides comprehensive monitoring and logging capabilities for Azure resources.
• Microsoft Purview: is a unified data governance solution to help manage and govern your on-premises, multi-cloud, and software as a service (SaaS) data. It protects sensitive data wherever it's stored or shared, aligning with data-centric security models of Zero Trust.