In an effort to secure the partner ecosystem, several important updates have been made to improve security posture and protect customer tenants. These updates are particularly relevant to direct bill partners, indirect providers, and indirect resellers transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program and with advisors.
One significant change is in the assessment of refund eligibility for a one-time discretionary credit for fraudulent activity on individual Azure customer tenants on CSP new commerce. As part of the Secure Future Initiative, partners must now have enabled multifactor authentication (MFA) for all their administrative users on their CSP tenant at the time the fraudulent activity started to be eligible for review. This change underscores the shared responsibility of security and the importance of proactive steps to protect identities and accounts.
Starting October 2024, Microsoft will enforce MFA for all users signing into Azure portal. In addition, Microsoft will block and eventually delete unused Azure subscriptions starting November 2024. A subscription is considered unused when there's no activity or consumption for more than 12 months. Account owners and service admins will be notified 30 days before the block is applied and the subscription will be deleted 90 days after the block.
In May 2024, the Security workspace was introduced in Partner Center, empowering Admin Agents with tools to assess and improve security measures. Two new security roles were introduced in August: Security Administrator and Security Reader. These roles offer detailed access management, ensuring individuals have appropriate levels of permission without requiring Admin Agent status.
The upcoming release of the Security Requirements API will give partners direct access to essential security compliance data. Partners are encouraged to review the securing the channel journey map, strengthen their security posture with Microsoft cybersecurity tools and resources, sign up for dedicated CSP Technical Training, and find guidance and resources in securing the partner and customer ecosystems.
In other news, on September 16, 2024, Microsoft launched wave 2 of Microsoft 365 Copilot innovation. This wave brings value in three key ways: transforming workflows, supercharging daily work, and accelerating business value. To better align and differentiate with other Copilot products, Microsoft renamed Copilot for Microsoft 365 to Microsoft 365 Copilot, with an associated update to its description and logo. These changes are effective as of September 16, 2024 and will be reflected in Partner Center between September 20 and the end of the month.
Partners are encouraged to review key resources for Microsoft 365 Copilot wave 2, rebrand all consumer Copilot offerings in their systems to Microsoft 365 Copilot, review Microsoft 365 Copilot naming and branding guidance, share this information with all appropriate contacts in their organization, and leverage new resources in the Copilot Sell through CSP page.
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