Microsoft and Veeam partner on AI for data management

In a world where 20% of security breaches happen as a result of weak or stolen credentials, a strengthened security posture is a must. Read this study to see how @Microsoft Entra helps organizations protect access to any app or resource for any user or workload, verify and secure every identity and every access request, discover permissions and govern access, and simplify user experience with intelligent real-time access controls all in one place. #IAM #ZeroTrust

While reviewing Azure resources during the final week of September, i observed that around 18–20 customer environments were still using the Basic Public IP SKU, even though Microsoft had announced September 30th as the cutoff for migration to the Standard SKU. It appeared that some customers might not have received any email or advisory notification regarding this change. Given how crucial Microsoft advisories and recommendations are for ensuring compliance, security, and uninterrupted service, the team proactively reached out to those customers, explained the potential impact, and coordinated the upgrade of all Basic Public IPs to Standard SKU. This proactive action ensured adherence to Microsoft’s policy and prevented any possible network disruption. #azureskills #azure Microsoft Azure #sku

𝐀𝐳𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜 – 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐳𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 In today’s hybrid IT world, organizations run workloads across 𝐨𝐧-𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐬. Managing and securing such diverse environments can be a real challenge. This is where 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐀𝐳𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜 comes in. Key Benefits of Azure Arc 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 – Bring on-premises and multi-cloud servers into a single Azure control plane. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 – Apply Azure Policies, RBAC, and security baselines across all resources. 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 & 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 – Extend Azure services like SQL, Kubernetes, and AI models anywhere. 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐳𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐜 Arc-enabled servers can be onboarded into Azure Update Management Center (UMC). This allows centralized scheduling and deployment of Windows & Linux patches across hybrid and multi-cloud servers. IT teams gain visibility into compliance status, pending updates, and patch installation history. 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 & 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Integrated with Microsoft Defender for Cloud for security recommendations. Backed by Microsoft Premier/Unified support, ensuring enterprise-grade reliability. Continuous updates and enhancements from Microsoft’s product engineering teams. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲: Azure Arc bridges the gap between on-premises and cloud, providing centralized governance, streamlined patching, and enterprise-grade support – enabling organizations to stay secure, compliant, and future-ready. #AzureArc #HybridCloud #MicrosoftAzure #WindowsAdmin #CloudComputing #PatchManagement #CyberSecurity

Generally Available: Azure Firewall Updates - IP Group limit increased to 600 per Firewall Policy Azure Firewall Policy now allows up to 600 IP Groups per policy, an increase from the previous limit of 200. This improvement provides several key benefits: Simplified rule management: You can replace long, complex IP address lists with structured IP Groups, making policies easier to organize, maintain, and audit. Better scalability: The higher limit supports large enterprise environments with extensive network segmentation and multiple application tiers. Easier troubleshooting: Using clearly named IP Groups (e.g., HR-Network, IT-Network) improves visibility into rule intent when reviewing logs or diagnosing issues. https://lnkd.in/exPrNdUp https://lnkd.in/egfiksdk #AzureFirewall #AzureNetworking #CloudSecurity #mvpbuzzz #NetworkSecurity #MicrosoftAzure #DevSecOps

Heathrow Scientific cut order processing by 20% and reduced data fixes from 3 days to 2 hours. With Dynamics 365 Business Central and Western Computer, they modernized operations, boosted security, and improved global visibility. 👉 See how the cloud drives efficiency: http://msft.it/6040svflo

Strengthening Azure File Sync security with Managed Identities. Hello Folks, As IT pros, we’re always looking for ways to reduce complexity and improve security in our infrastructure. One area that’s often overlooked is how our services authenticate with each other.  Especially when it comes to Azure File Sync. In this post, I’ll walk you through how Managed Identities can simplify and secure your Azure File Sync deployments, based on my recent conversation with Grace Kim, Program Manager on the Azure Files and File Sync team.   Why Managed Identities Matter Traditionally, Azure File Sync servers authenticate to the Storage Sync service using server certificates or shared access keys. While functional, these methods introduce operational overhead and potential security risks. Certificates expire, keys get misplaced, and rotating credentials can be a pain. Managed Identities solve this by allowing your server to authenticate... #techcommunity #azure #microsoft https://lnkd.in/gK5Rpnqh

[Microsoft Security Blog] New Microsoft Secure Future Initiative (SFI) patterns and practices: Practical guides to strengthen security. Microsoft Secure Future Initiative (SFI) patterns and practices are practical, actionable, insights from practitioners for practitioners based on Microsoft’s implementation of Zero Trust through the Microsoft Secure Future Initiatives. By adopting these patterns, organizations can accelerate their security maturity, reduce implementation friction, and build systems that are more secure by design, default, and in operation.   The post New Microsoft Secure Future Initiative (SFI) patterns and practices: Practical guides to strengthen security appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog. https://lnkd.in/gzs2mUjF #azure #azuresecurity #cloudsecurity

Happy Tuesday!!! 🚨 Convenience Has a Cost: Rethinking Microsoft 365 and Azure Risk Concentration We’ve all been sold on the promise of unified ecosystems — seamless integration across Microsoft 365, Azure, Teams, OneDrive, and Entra ID. From an operational standpoint, it’s brilliant. From a risk perspective, it’s dangerous. When your entire digital infrastructure is centralized under one provider, you’ve effectively created a single point of systemic failure. This isn’t theoretical anymore — the recent Azure compromise highlighted just how wide the blast radius can be when a single cloud misconfiguration or credential exposure occurs. Anyone using the Microsoft 365 suite was potentially vulnerable, because the same identity fabric that powers collaboration also powers access across the enterprise. --- Why this Should Concern Leadership Cyber risk is no longer a back-office problem. For modern organizations, especially those operating under compliance or fiduciary accountability, cloud dependency is now a governance issue. When one breach can cascade across every service — from email to data storage to authentication — resilience becomes a board-level KPI, not an IT metric. The Azure incident reinforced that integration equals exposure. If your entire workflow, identity layer, and data governance run through one vendor, your organization’s resilience depends on the security hygiene of that vendor’s ecosystem — not just your own. --- Strategic Takeaways for Leadership Adopt Zero Trust Architecture: Treat every access attempt as untrusted — internal or external. Segment Cloud Dependencies: Avoid vendor monocultures; diversify critical services where possible. Enhance Visibility and Governance: Demand continuous monitoring, incident simulation, and independent audits. Prioritize Cyber Resilience Over Convenience: Downtime is recoverable — loss of trust is not. --- Closing Thought Integration is efficient — until it isn’t. Executives must now ask not just “Are we secure?” but “Are we overexposed?” Microsoft’s recent incident should serve as a wake-up call: In the cloud era, convenience without segmentation isn’t modernization — it’s consolidation of risk. Wired. “This Microsoft Entra ID Vulnerability Could Have Been Catastrophic.” wired.com DarkReading. “Critical Azure Entra ID Flaw Highlights Microsoft IAM Issues.” darkreading.com #CyberSecurity #Microsoft365 #AzureSecurity #EntraID #CloudSecurity #ZeroTrust #CISO #DataProtection #RiskManagement #Infosec #TechLeadership #DigitalTransformation #MSP #BusinessContinuity #CyberResilience https://lnkd.in/eWCe23Fz

Integrating Microsoft Security Copilot with our Azure Logic Apps enables security teams to automate investigations, orchestrate fast incident response, and unify workflows across the modern enterprise. By leveraging the unique strengths of both platforms, organizations can achieve scalable, efficient, and actionable security automation. https://msft.it/6049shh8z

Step-by-Step Guide: Using GUI to Create Role-Assignable Security Groups in Microsoft Entra Efficient role management is a key part of secure identity governance. This document provides a clear, hands-on walkthrough for creating role-assignable security groups in Microsoft Entra (Azure AD) - entirely through the GUI. It covers: Creating a security group with Entra roles enabled Setting ownership and membership types Assigning roles to groups via the portal Verifying assignments through the interface A great practical reference for IT administrators, cloud engineers, and anyone working with Azure AD roles and permissions. Have you adopted GUI-based or automation-based workflows for Entra role assignments in your organization? Share your experience below. #MicrosoftEntra #AzureAD #IAM #CloudSecurity #AzureAdministration #smenode #smenodelabs #smenodeacademy