August 20, 2024 at 06:42AM
Microsoft will make multi-factor authentication (MFA) mandatory for all Azure customers starting in October. This measure aims to reduce the risk of account compromise and data breaches. Notifications will be sent out to customers to prepare for the enforcement date, and various MFA options will be available, with exceptions until 2025 for certain tools.
From the meeting notes, the key takeaways are:
– Starting in October, Microsoft Azure customers will be required to have multi-factor authentication (MFA) enabled on their accounts.
– Microsoft views this requirement as a crucial step in reducing the risk of account compromise and data breaches, with MFA being able to block more than 99.2% of account compromise attacks.
– Mandatory MFA will be turned on for Azure portal, Microsoft Entrata admin center, and Intune admin center, with notifications being sent to customers via email and Azure Service Health Notifications to allow time for preparation.
– The initiative to mandate MFA for Azure is part of Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative, aiming to integrate key security features into its products and services in response to recent data breaches.
– Organizations have various MFA options to choose from, including Microsoft Authenticator, FIDO2 security keys, certificate-based authentication, passkeys, as well as SMS or voice forms of MFA. Organizations facing technical barriers can request additional time for compliance.
– Mandatory MFA will not be required for specific Azure tools until early 2025, including Azure Command Line Interface, Azure PowerShell, Azure mobile app, and Infrastructure-as-code tools.