Kurt Shintaku's Blog

We just published the following short “how to” videos for Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection.

• Onboarding: Get a quick overview of how easy it is to onboard your endpoints:
• Role-based access control: See how simple it is to specify granular access control with role-based access control (RBAC):
• Conditional access: Contain a threat by not letting risky devices access your corporate resources, and configure Microsoft Conditional Access:
• Automated investigation and remediation: Enhance your SOC by turning on automated investigation and remediation:
• APIs: Develop Microsoft Defender ATP connected solutions and workflows with a rich set of APIs.
• Advanced hunting: Use advanced hunting to create your own powerful queries and turn them easily into custom detections:
• Threat Analytics: Assess the impact of threats to your environment and identify actions that can contain them with Threat Analytics.
• Deep analysis: Use the built-in sandbox to detonate suspicious files with a single click and get a detailed & readable report back.

Watch the videos here:

• TRAINING: Short & sweet educational videos for Microsoft Defender ATP
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Defender-ATP/Short-amp-sweet-educational-videos-for-Microsoft-Defender-ATP/ba-p/1021978

Without the proper understanding of NIST compliance requirements, it is easy to misinterpret the need for ATP & EMS licensing.

The following post describes the tools necessary for NIST compliance and why.  If you are a government contractor, this is a must read:

In a 2018 report provided by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), researchers found companies “severely underestimate(d) the costs of becoming compliant by as much as a factor of 10”. The burden of compliance is significant yet important, and businesses are considering ways to secure their information systems without breaking the bank. One area of cost savings at first glance: email only users. These individuals will likely only need a corporate email, which would reasonably lead IT leadership to purchase an Exchange Only license and carry on.

However, we advise contractors purchase Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) and Enterprise Mobility + Security (EM+S) in addition to their Exchange license as a best practice for NIST 800-171 compliance. Without the proper understanding of NIST compliance requirements, it is easy to misinterpret the need for ATP & EM+S licensing. It is also reasonable to think consultants are trying to make a quick dollar by upselling.

…

Read the rest of the article at:

• Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) & ATP are Necessary for NIST Compliance
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Public-Sector-Blog/Why-Microsoft-Enterprise-Mobility-Security-EMS-amp-ATP-are/ba-p/917615

For the second year in a row, Microsoft is ranked as America’s most ethical public company according to non-profit research group Just Capital.

This adds to Microsoft’s list of honors & recognition associated with corporate responsibility.

For more on how Microsoft attained this rank, visit:

• https://justcapital.com/companies/microsoft-corporation

For the full rankings list, visit:

• https://justcapital.com/rankings/

For more on Microsoft’s commitment to ethics & integrity, visit:

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/compliance/integrity

UPDATE 12/9/19:
Looks like, despite the Azure twitter account publicizing this report, Microsoft’s licensing of this report has expired.  If you still want it, it’s $499 and available at https://www.forrester.com/report/Benchmark+Your+Enterprise+Cloud+Adoption/-/E-RES117042.

ORIGINAL POST:
Is your company leading or lagging in cloud adoption?

Transitioning to cloud computing has become a strategic requirement for companies to maintain their competitive edge. Read this report by Forrester Research to learn how your company’s cloud adoption priorities, concerns, and strategies compare to the broader market.

Download now to find out:

• If your company is leading or lagging in cloud adoption compared to other enterprises.
• How companies are addressing their security and compliance requirements.
• How to start planning your cloud migration.
• Trends in cloud computing platforms, including hybrid, multi-cloud, public, and private cloud environments.

Read the report from Forrester for more:

• WHITEPAPER: Benchmark Your Enterprise Cloud Adoption—a Forrester Research report
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/benchmark-your-enterprise-cloud-adoption/

Are you interested in Microsoft’s security strategy & the technologies that support it’s pillars?

Microsoft Security Architect, Matt Soseman, did a great 45min video that discusses the pillars of Microsoft cybersecurity.  It also showcases some amazing demos on some of Matt’s favorite Microsoft 365 security products and demonstrates the art of the possible.

Here’s a list of some of the quick demonstrations Matt shows in just 45min:

1. Compliance Manager (Regulatory Compliance)
2. Microsoft SecureScore
3. Multi-factor Authentication
4. Conditional Access – Blocking Non-Compliant PCs
5. Conditional Access – Blocking Malware
6. Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection
7. Azure Information Protection
8. Office 365 Data Loss Prevention
9. Intune Mobile Application Protection
10. Shadow IT Discovery using Cloud App Security
11. Controlling SaaS Applications
12. Windows Autopilot

See the presentation and download the deck below:

• VIDEO: Microsoft Cybersecurity Briefing w/ Matt Soseman
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fedIWHliBLY&feature=youtu.be
• DOWNLOAD: PowerPoint deck & Demo Videos
  https://ptdrv.linkedin.com/ulaku0g

For 12 consecutive years, Gartner has recognized Microsoft as a Leader in analytics and business intelligence.

In this report, you’ll learn about Gartner’s assessment of the features and capabilities that differentiate the various products in this market.

Learn how a comprehensive product vision, positive sales experience, and intuitive user experience contributed to high levels of customer satisfaction and helped position Microsoft as a Magic Quadrant Leader among analytics and business intelligence platforms.

Read the report here:

• DOWNLOAD: 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms
  https://info.microsoft.com/ww-landing-gartner-mq-bi-analytics-2019.html?LCID=EN-US

At Ignite 2019, Microsoft announced the general availability of Azure Bastion, a fully managed platform as a service (PaaS) service that provides more secure and seamless RDP and SSH access to virtual machines directly through the Azure portal. Azure Bastion is provisioned directly in a customer’s virtual network (VNet) and supports all VMs in their virtual network (VNet) using SSL without any exposure through public IP addresses. 

Previously available in preview, Azure Bastion is now generally available in six Azure regions—West U.S., East U.S., West Europe, South Central U.S., Australia East, and Japan East. 

It’s easy to initiate a remote Azure Bastion session directly from Azure portal. Azure Bastion then brokers a more secure RDP/SSH session to the target virtual machines in the virtual network. Azure Bastion always connects to the target VM in the virtual network over its private IP.

• Azure Bastion documentation is here:
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/
• Azure Bastion “How to Guide” is here:
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-create-host-portal
• Azure Bastion FAQ is here:
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/bastion/bastion-faq

Azure Bastion videos are here:

• Azure Friday – “How to use Azure Bastion to connect securely to your Azure VMs”
  Using a bastion host can help limit threats such as port scanning and other types of malware targeting your VMs. Ashish Jain joins Scott Hanselman to show how Azure Bastion gives you secure and seamless RDP and SSH access to your virtual machines. Now you can securely access your VMs over SSL from the Azure portal and without exposing public IP addresses.
  • Azure Bastion overview – https://aka.ms/azfr/583/01
  • Azure Bastion docs – https://aka.ms/azfr/583/02
  • Deploy Azure Bastion in an Azure Virtual Network (sample ARM template) – https://aka.ms/azfr/583/03
  • Create a free account (Azure) – https://aka.ms/azfr/583/free
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WElUQm02BTU
• Azure Power Lunch – “Azure Bastion” (37min)
  Azure Bastion (Preview) is a fully managed PaaS service that provides secure and seamless RDP and SSH access to your virtual machines directly through the Azure Portal. Azure Bastion is provisioned directly in your Virtual Network (VNet) and supports all VMs in your Virtual Network (VNet) using SSL without any exposure through public IP addresses.
• Slide deck URL:
  https://nzpowerlunchfiles.blob.core.windows.net/data/azure-bastion-2019-08-09.pdf
• Video:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkyuCu0vius&feature=youtu.be

Registration:

• Azure webinar series
  Extend Azure Management Anywhere with Azure Arc
  https://info.microsoft.com/ww-registration-azure-webinar-series-extend-azure-management-anywhere-with-azure-arc.html

We’re thrilled to announce the general availability of Desktop Analytics—the cloud-connected service that integrates with System Center Configuration Manager to help IT professionals take a data-driven approach to their management of Windows endpoints.

Since announcing public preview in July, thousands of organizations have already benefited from the intelligence and insights generated by millions of enrolled endpoints. We’ve been hard at work delivering new features and improvements that address your feedback on the service.

Read the full announcement from CorpVP of Security & Management, Brad Anderson:

• ANNOUNCEMENT: Announcing the general availability of Desktop Analytics
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2019/10/16/announcing-general-availability-desktop-analytics/

Also taken from the Desktop Analytics blog:

As Brad announced this morning, Desktop Analytics is now generally available! Since our public preview release in July, we’ve seen over 3 million endpoints enrolled in Desktop Analytics. We can’t thank our public preview customers enough for trying out the service and providing valuable feedback.

Over the past few months, we’ve been hard at work delivering new features and addressing your feedback. Below is just a sample of what you can expect to find in the generally available Desktop Analytics solution:

• Auto-rationalization of low-risk apps such as system components published by Microsoft and apps delivered via the Microsoft Store
• Administrator data migration from Windows Analytics: Upgrade Readiness
• Deeper integration with ConfigMgr phased deployments
• Back-end improvements to performance, scale, and reliability

If you’ve been waiting to onboard to Desktop Analytics, the time is now! We encourage you to read up on what benefits Desktop Analytics can provide you, and get started with the service today. And as you onboard and use the tool, don’t forget to give us your feedback on UserVoice or directly in the Desktop Analytics portal—we look forward to reading it.

Read the original post here:

• BLOG: Desktop Analytics is now generally available
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Desktop-Analytics-Blog/Desktop-Analytics-is-now-generally-available/ba-p/916914

Additional resources:

• ANNOUNCEMENT: Use Desktop Analytics and machine learning to get current and stay current
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2019/07/08/desktop-analytics-machine-learning-get-current-stay-current/
• FORUM: Desktop Analytics – Microsoft Tech Community: The space to share experiences, engage and learn from experts.
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Desktop-Analytics/ct-p/Desktop-Analytics
• FAQ: Desktop Analytics
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sccm/desktop-analytics/faq
• RESOURCES: Overview of Desktop Analytics resources
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-Analytics-resources/Overview-of-Desktop-Analytics-resources/m-p/285426