Security, compliance and identity updates from Microsoft Ignite 2021
Thank you to everyone who participated in Microsoft Ignite 2021, our annual conference for developers and IT professionals. It was incredible getting to virtually engage with you and to have an opportunity to learn together.
Once again, cybersecurity was a hot topic during Ignite. We continue to see cybersecurity threats evolve and the widespread shift to remote work over the past year has stretched teams and opened new vectors, amplifying the need for airtight cyber defenses.
As Microsoft CVP Vasu Jakkal said during her Ignite session, the potential toll of a data breach “is not just in the financial cost to governments, organizations, and individuals, but it’s that very human cost in time, in peace of mind, and a loss of the sense of control over one’s environment.” As our customers become increasingly aware of this ever-mounting risk, they’re turning to our partner network for the solutions and guidance they need to stay protected. This opens a major opportunity to help them adopt a Zero Trust framework, build cyber resilience, and manage their organizational risk.
To help you meet the ever-evolving needs of your customers, we’re constantly investing to improve the security tools and guidance we provide. Below, I’ve compiled a roundup of notable security, compliance and identity-related announcements that were released during Microsoft Ignite 2021.
Within Security, we highlighted new integrated and modernized capabilities across Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Azure Sentinel, including:
- Azure Sentinel and Microsoft 365 Defender now share incidents, schema, and user experiences to simplify investigations end-to-end.
- Customers of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 can now investigate and remediate threats directly inside the Microsoft 365 Defender portal.
- There are new Threat Analytics experience previews available inside Microsoft 365 Defender, which deliver expert guidance from Microsoft security researchers to help security teams understand, prevent, and mitigate active threats.
- We are bringing Secured-core to Windows Server and Edge devices to help minimize risk from firmware vulnerabilities and advanced malware in IoT and hybrid cloud environments.
For Compliance, we unveiled new capabilities in Microsoft Information Protection, including:
- Co-authoring protected documents.
- Microsoft 365 Insider Risk Management Analytics, which offers greater insight into insider risks.
- New data loss prevention (DLP) support for Chrome browsers and on-premises file repositories.
- Increased visibility in Azure Purview so organizations can scan and classify sensitive data in AWS Simple Storage Services (S3), SAP ECC, SAP S4/HANA, and Oracle Database.
In Identity, we announced:
- The general availability of passwordless authentication with Microsoft Azure Active Directory, which provides new ways to help customers strengthen their Zero Trust defenses in the era of hybrid work.
- Public preview of Conditional Access authentication context.
- The upcoming public preview of Azure Active Directory verifiable credentials.
The cyber landscape will continue to evolve, and it’s never been more important for organizations—of all shapes, sizes, and industries—to be ready to fight off attackers. We’re committed to working with you to help protect our customers and the full Microsoft ecosystem.
You can read more about all our latest announcements in the 2021 Microsoft Ignite Book of News, which documents all news items announced during the event including security updates, other product news, and the latest on our sustainability initiatives.
