Microsoft Rolls Out Azure AD Verifiable Credentials Service to More Customers

Microsoft launched a new Azure Active Directory Verifiable Credentials (VC) solution in public preview last year. The company has now announced that it’s expanding this service to all Azure AD customers.

Azure AD’s Verifiable Credentials solution is a decentralized identity scheme that lets organizations to create cryptographically secure digital attestations to an individual’s identity without storing their personal information.

“In short, verifiable credentials are data objects consisting of claims made by the issuer attesting information about a subject. These claims are identified by schema and include the Decentralized ID (DID) issuer and subject. The issuer’s DID creates a digital signature as proof that they attest to this information,” the company explained in a support document.

According to Microsoft, more than 1,000 enterprise customers have used this solution within the past few months and it can benefit key business scenarios. These include securing the onboarding process of employees, accessing internal and external resources, and much more.

Azure Active Directory Verifiable Credentials service gets new capabilities

Microsoft has also introduced some new capabilities to its Verifiable Credentials service. First of all, the status check feature is getting World Wide Web Consortium’s status property support that lets customers revoke verifiable credentials. Secondly, the firm has added EU regional data processing support for Azure AD VCs. Microsoft also released a new Request Service API that helps customers to create solutions for entities responsible for issuing and verifying the credentials.

Going forward, Microsoft intends to provide its customers with a new “low-code, no-code experience” that will enable them to issue and verify credentials based on custom data sources and directory attributes.

The Verifiable Credentials solution is currently available for all customers with a free or premium Azure AD subscription. However, Microsoft recommends existing tenants (who have been using the service prior to May 4, 2022) to update the VC configuration to avoid any disruptions.