Microsoft Announces Key Security Updates and Enhancements for Partners and Customers

December 18, 2023 Microsoft Partner News

As we approach the end of the year, Microsoft has announced several important updates and capabilities aimed at enhancing the security posture of its partners and protecting customer tenants. These updates are particularly relevant for direct bill partners, indirect providers, and indirect resellers transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program and with advisors.

One of the key announcements is the emphasis on multifactor authentication (MFA). MFA has proven to be a significant deterrent to account takeovers, and Microsoft is aiming for 100% MFA implementation. To this end, Microsoft has introduced security defaults that help protect organizations from identity-related attacks such as password spray, replay, and phishing. These preconfigured security settings, which include mandatory MFA for all users and administrators, are available to everyone at no extra cost.

Starting from March 2024, Microsoft will enable these security defaults on all CSP partner tenants that haven't already enabled security defaults, conditional access, or a third-party MFA solution. We strongly recommend that partners activate these security defaults as soon as possible.

Microsoft has also introduced the Compliance admin role in Partner Center. This role is designed to help partners authorize a point of contact for Microsoft to engage with on compliance-related matters. It is important to ensure that this role is assigned to someone in your company and that the point of contact is updated as changes occur within your company.

To help partners better understand their security status and identify areas that require action, Microsoft has created an MFA reporting page. The article "Security at your organization - Multifactor authentication (MFA) statistics" provides valuable insights that can help you take timely action to enable MFA for all your users, thereby ensuring maximum security for your environment.

Starting from January 31, 2024, device management will require GDAP relationships. Microsoft recommends the Directory Reader as the least privileged role for this action. Partners are advised to review the process of uploading devices to a new batch, updating devices with a policy, and uploading devices to an existing batch for more details.

Please note that the bulk migration tool is no longer available. However, you can continue to create and apply GDAP templates in Microsoft 365 Lighthouse, and a consent link will be generated for customers.

To access and manage a customer tenant, a partner's app service principal must be consented in their customer tenant.

Looking ahead, partners are encouraged to review the "securing the channel journey map" to navigate the transformational journey to Zero Trust. Microsoft's cybersecurity tools and resources can help strengthen your security posture and navigate the evolving threat landscape. Partners can also sign up for dedicated CSP Security Q&A sessions to have their queries answered by subject matter experts.

Finally, partners can find additional guidance and resources in securing the partner and customer ecosystems in the partner readiness gallery.

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