Security is one of the most important components of any architecture. The assurances it provides span the width of data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. However, the demands of today’s sprawling cloud architecture are making it increasingly difficult to keep safe from attacks and abuse. The increasing strain this places on security staff has visible effects not just on an overstretched workforce – but also on the integrity of customer data.

At the same time, attacks are only increasing in complexity and impact. As an identity provider, Azure sits at a critical point in your organization’s security offering. Best practices are no longer suggestions – they are vital tools for every cloud customer.

Identity is today’s security perimeter

Remote work has exploded the traditional network perimeter: identity represents today’s new true perimeter. Keeping a handle on end-user identity requires a new approach that highlights accessibility and clarity.

Centralize identity management

In hybrid setups, it is strongly advised to integrate your on-premises and cloud directories. This integration allows your IT team to efficiently manage user accounts from a centralized location, regardless of where the accounts are created. Moreover, integrating the directories enhances user productivity by offering a unified identity for accessing both cloud-based and on-premises resources.

This approach can be replicated across all architectures by using a single Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) instance. Azure AD extends on-premises Active Directory to the cloud, allowing users to utilize their primary work or school account for domain-joined devices, company resources, and various web and SaaS applications essential for their tasks.

By doing so, users are relieved from the burden of managing multiple sets of usernames and passwords. Furthermore, access can be provisioned or deprovisioned automatically, based on the user’s organization group memberships and employment status. This provides a consistent, sole authoritative source, helping reduce security risks stemming from human errors and configuration complexities.

Manage connected tenants

Production environments are busy, humdrum with innovation. Proper visibility is essential to addressing the fact that production environments are also the most vulnerable areas of any organization. In order to assess risk and ensure compliance with organizational policies and regulatory requirements, your security team needs visibility into all subscriptions associated with your production environment and network, regardless of whether they are connected via Azure ExpressRoute or site-to-site VPN.

To establish this visibility, Azure AD’s Global Admin User can elevate their access to the User Access Administrator role. This grants them the privileges to view every subscription and managed group that is currently linked to your environment. This elevated access enables security to monitor and oversee your enterprise’s entire infrastructure.

Turn on conditional access

In today’s dynamic work environment, users have the flexibility to access organizational resources using various devices and applications, regardless of their location. As an IT administrator, it’s essential to ensure that these devices meet the required security and compliance standards. Merely focusing on who accesses what resource is no longer sufficient.

To strike the right balance between security and productivity, consider how a resource is accessed before making decisions about access control. This is where Azure AD’s Conditional Access comes into play. With Conditional Access, you can automate access control decisions based on specific conditions for accessing your cloud applications. After you’ve defined user groups, locations, and application sensitivity for both Software as a Service (SaaS) applications and Azure AD-connected apps, access controls are granted on context.