Microsoft Teams PowerShell 7.9 Adds WAM Authentication and New Governance Controls
New release brings federated chat restrictions, synthetic media controls, and voice phishing protections.
Key Takeaways:
- Microsoft Teams PowerShell 7.9 now uses Web Account Manager (WAM) authentication by default.
- Administrators gain new controls for shared channels, federated chats, and external collaboration.
- This update adds AI management, synthetic media detection, and voice phishing protection settings.
Microsoft has released version 7.9 of the Teams PowerShell module. This release strengthens authentication and introduces new governance controls for Microsoft Teams collaboration and meetings.
The biggest platform change is that Connect-MicrosoftTeams now uses Web Account Manager (WAM) by default for authentication. Web Account Manager (WAM) is a built-in authentication broker for Windows that securely manages user sign-ins and access tokens across Microsoft apps and services.
Microsoft is aligning Teams PowerShell with other Microsoft 365 management modules to improve token protection and overall security. The latest update introduces a temporary -DisableWAM switch for organizations experiencing compatibility issues, though it will be removed in a future release.
Enhanced external collaboration and shared channel governance
Microsoft has added several new parameters to CsTeamsChannelsPolicy to give administrators more granular control over channel creation, private channels, shared channels, external participation, and cross-team sharing behavior. These settings help administrators better govern how teams collaborate internally and with external users.
New federated chat controls
The latest Teams PowerShell module brings new controls for managing federated group chats more securely. Administrators can use the Set-CsTenantFederationConfiguration cmdlet to enforce stricter rules about who can participate in conversations involving users from external organizations.
The EnableExternalAccessRestrictionsForChatParticipants control is designed to ensure that users who are restricted from external federation by policy cannot be added to federated group chats and may even be removed from existing chats with external participants. Moreover, the EnableMutualFederationForChatParticipants control requires a valid federation relationship between all participating tenants. It requires Microsoft Teams to verify that communication is permitted between organizations before allowing a user to join a federated chat.
Previously, users with restricted federation settings could still end up participating in federated group chats under certain circumstances. These new controls help IT admins align chat behavior with tenant-level external access policies.
AI, security and compliance enhancements
The Get-CsAiAgents cmdlet is getting a Channel parameter, which makes it easier to filter or manage AI agents across Microsoft Teams environments. Moreover, the new Teams meeting Policy settings include synthetic media detection, synthetic media detection App ID, conditional Access attendee verification, and pre-meeting consent controls.
Lastly, Microsoft has rolled out new Teams calling policy settings, including knowledge generation controls and voice phishing detection. This move is a part of Microsoft’s broader effort to expand AI-powered protections against social engineering and voice-based attacks.
Rabia has a master's degree in Software Engineering and she has years of experience writing professionally about Microsoft products and other technologies. Rabia has also written for OnMSFT.com as well as Windows Report. She is always up to date on t...
