Blog

Microsoft is strengthening identity protection by integrating Okta with its Defender for Identity solution, creating a more unified and proactive defense against identity-based threats. This integration enables security teams to detect and respond more quickly by leveraging Okta’s rich identity signals within Microsoft Defender for Identity. Microsoft Defender for Identity is a cloud-based security solution…

Learn how Microsoft Entra ID Groups (formerly Azure Active Directory Groups) work and their relationship to Entra ID Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). What is a Microsoft Entra ID group? There are two types of Entra ID group: – Entra ID Groups allow enterprises to manage and assign specific permissions to multiple users at once, simplifying…

Azure Arc Gateway is a hidden champion in your Azure Hybrid box of tricks. How to deploy Azure Arc Gateway There are several ways to deploy Azure Arc Gateway, including command-line interface (CLI) and PowerShell but the simplest way is using the Azure Portal. To complete the deployment, your account requires the following permissions. Let’s…

Microsoft has added new features to its Entra Conditional Access solution that make it easier for IT admins to plan, monitor, and optimize policy rollouts within their organizations. The updates include detailed policy reporting, a simulation API for safe testing, and stricter sign-in controls to help improve security and reduce configuration errors. Microsoft Entra Conditional…

Microsoft has released the June 2025 Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 and Windows 10 PCs. On the security front, the company has addressed over 60 vulnerabilities in Windows and Windows Components, Office, and other components. On the quality and experiences update front, Microsoft has fixed an issue that was previously preventing users from signing…

Microsoft is retiring its outdated one-time passcode (OTP) sharing method and replacing it with the more secure Microsoft Entra B2B Collaboration. According to the Microsoft 365 admin center, all previously shared links using OTP authentication will soon stop working. Microsoft Entra B2B Collaboration is a secure way for organizations to work with external partners by…

Cisco has released patches for three critical vulnerabilities affecting its Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Customer Collaboration Platform (CCP), including one high-risk flaw with a publicly available proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit. Tracked as CVE-2025-20286, CVE-2025-20130, and CVE-2025-20129, these vulnerabilities pose significant threats to cloud-based deployments and user data security. Shared credentials put multiple deployments at risk…

In this episode of First Ring Daily, Brad Sams and Paul Thurrott discuss OpenAI’s Codex software engineering agent and what it’s like to write code with the help of AI.

Microsoft is giving IT admins more control than ever with new Role-based access control (RBAC) enhancements in Windows Autopatch, designed to simplify update management across distributed teams. These new capabilities are set to become generally available for commercial customers later this month. Windows Autopatch is a cloud-based service that automates the processing of keeping Windows…

This guide breaks down how to use the PowerShell replace operator effectively, how it differs from the .Replace() method, and how to apply it to real-world automation tasks. We’ll also cover how PowerShell replace returns transformed strings based on regex patterns. What is the PowerShell replace operator? The PowerShell replace operator is a regex-powered tool…

Microsoft has rolled out several new Identity Secure Score Recommendations in public preview within Microsoft Entra Recommendations. These recommendations are designed to help organizations more effectively detect and mitigate identity-based cyberattacks. The Microsoft Entra Recommendations feature helps administrators enhance security by providing tailored suggestions based on an analysis of their identity environment. It continuously reviews…

Microsoft will begin rolling out the new Message Trace experience for Exchange Online later this month, with full availability expected by July. The update brings improvements IT admins will appreciate, including better filtering, timezone-aware timestamps, and more detailed delivery statuses. In Exchange Online, Message Trace is a tool that allows administrators to track the journey…