{ "id": "58cd6142-57fb-413a-ba8c-fce8b1a1e114", "created_at": "2026-04-06T00:19:09.433864Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T13:11:35.496382Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "820331265677b7223dc8616bb673366a071edd89", "title": "Microsoft Entra Conditional Access: Zero Trust Policy Engine - Microsoft Entra ID", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 689497, "plain_text": "Microsoft Entra Conditional Access: Zero Trust Policy Engine -\r\nMicrosoft Entra ID\r\nBy kenwith\r\nArchived: 2026-04-05 12:37:49 UTC\r\nOverview\r\nModern security extends beyond an organization's network perimeter to include user and device identity.\r\nOrganizations now use identity-driven signals as part of their access control decisions. Microsoft Entra\r\nConditional Access brings signals together, to make decisions, and enforce organizational policies. Conditional\r\nAccess is Microsoft's Zero Trust policy engine taking signals from various sources into account when enforcing\r\npolicy decisions.\r\nConditional Access policies at their simplest are if-then statements: if a user wants to access a resource, then they\r\nmust complete an action. For example: If a user wants to access an application or service like Microsoft 365, then\r\nthey must perform multifactor authentication to gain access.\r\nAdmins are faced with two primary goals:\r\nEmpower users to be productive wherever and whenever\r\nProtect the organization's assets\r\nUse Conditional Access policies to apply the right access controls when needed to keep your organization secure\r\nand don't interfere with productivity.\r\nImportant\r\nConditional Access policies are enforced after first-factor authentication is completed. Conditional Access isn't\r\nintended to be an organization's frontline defense for scenarios like denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, but it can use\r\nsignals from these events to determine access.\r\nCommon signals\r\nhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/overview\r\nPage 1 of 6\n\nConditional Access uses signals from various sources to make access decisions.\r\nSome of these signals include:\r\nUser, group, or agent\r\nPolicies can be targeted to specific users, groups, and agents (Preview) giving admins fine-grained\r\ncontrol over access.\r\nSupport for agent identities and agent users extends Zero Trust principles to AI workloads.\r\nIP location information\r\nOrganizations can create IP address ranges that can be used when making policy decisions.\r\nAdmins can specify entire countries/regions IP ranges to block or allow traffic from.\r\nDevice\r\nUsers with devices of specific platforms or marked with a specific state can be used when enforcing\r\nConditional Access policies.\r\nUse filters for devices to target policies to specific devices like privileged access workstations.\r\nApplication\r\nTrigger different Conditional Access policies when users attempt to access specific applications.\r\nApply policies to traditional cloud apps, on-premises applications, and agent resources.\r\nReal-time and calculated risk detection\r\nIntegrates signals from Microsoft Entra ID Protection to identify and remediate risky users, sign-in\r\nbehavior, and agent activities.\r\nMicrosoft Defender for Cloud Apps\r\nMonitors and controls user application access and sessions in real time. This integration improves\r\nvisibility and control over access and activities in your cloud environment.\r\nCommon decisions\r\nhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/overview\r\nPage 2 of 6\n\nBlock access is the most restrictive decision.\r\nGrant access\r\nA less restrictive decision that might require one or more of the following options:\r\nRequire multifactor authentication\r\nRequire authentication strength\r\nRequire the device to be marked as compliant\r\nRequire a Microsoft Entra hybrid joined device\r\nRequire an approved client app\r\nRequire an app protection policy\r\nRequire a password change\r\nRequire terms of use\r\nCommonly applied policies\r\nMany organizations have common access concerns that Conditional Access policies can help with, such as:\r\nRequiring multifactor authentication for users with administrative roles\r\nRequiring multifactor authentication for Azure management tasks\r\nBlocking sign-ins for users who try to use legacy authentication protocols\r\nRequiring trusted locations for security information registration\r\nBlocking or granting access from specific locations\r\nBlocking risky sign-in behaviors\r\nRequiring organization-managed devices for specific applications\r\nAdmins can create policies from scratch or start with a template policy in the portal or by using the Microsoft\r\nGraph API.\r\nAdmin experience\r\nAdmins with at least the Security Reader role can find Conditional Access in the Microsoft Entra admin center\r\nunder Entra ID \u003e Conditional Access.\r\nThe Overview page shows a summary of recent activity that relates to Conditional Access policies. Here\r\nyou can see how many policies are enabled vs report-only, agent and user activity, applications, devices,\r\nhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/overview\r\nPage 3 of 6\n\nand general security alerts with suggestions.\r\nThe Coverage tab shows a summary of applications with and without Conditional Access policy coverage\r\nover the past seven days.\r\nhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/overview\r\nPage 4 of 6\n\nThe Policies page lists all of the polices in your tenant, including report-only policies and policies created\r\nby the Conditional Access Optimization Agent (if applicable). Options to filter, view \"What if\" scenarios,\r\nand create new policies are available here.\r\nConditional Access Optimization Agent\r\nThe Conditional Access Optimization Agent with Microsoft Security Copilot suggests new policies and changes to\r\nexisting ones based on Zero Trust principles and Microsoft best practices. With one click, apply the suggestion to\r\nautomatically update or create a Conditional Access policy. The agent needs at least the Microsoft Entra ID P1\r\nlicense and security compute units (SCU).\r\nhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/overview\r\nPage 5 of 6\n\nLicense requirements\r\nUsing this feature requires Microsoft Entra ID P1 licenses. To find the right license for your requirements, see\r\nCompare generally available features of Microsoft Entra ID.\r\nCustomers with Microsoft 365 Business Premium licenses can also use Conditional Access features.\r\nOther products and features that interact with Conditional Access policies require appropriate licensing for those\r\nproducts and features, including Microsoft Entra Workload ID, Microsoft Entra ID Protection, and Microsoft\r\nPurview.\r\nWhen the licenses required for Conditional Access expire, policies aren't automatically disabled or deleted. This\r\ngraceful state lets customers migrate away from Conditional Access policies without a sudden change in their\r\nsecurity posture. You can view and delete remaining policies, but you can't update them.\r\nSecurity defaults help protect against identity-related attacks and are available for all customers.\r\nThis feature helps organizations to align their identities with the three guiding principles of a Zero Trust\r\narchitecture:\r\nVerify explicitly\r\nUse least privilege\r\nAssume breach\r\nTo find out more about Zero Trust and other ways to align your organization to the guiding principles, see the\r\nZero Trust Guidance Center.\r\nNext steps\r\nPlan your Conditional Access deployment\r\nSource: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/overview\r\nhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/overview\r\nPage 6 of 6", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "MITRE" ], "origins": [ "web" ], "references": [ "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/overview" ], "report_names": [ "overview" ], "threat_actors": [], "ts_created_at": 1775434749, "ts_updated_at": 1775826695, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/820331265677b7223dc8616bb673366a071edd89.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/820331265677b7223dc8616bb673366a071edd89.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/820331265677b7223dc8616bb673366a071edd89.jpg" } }