Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Advanced data security for SQL Servers on Azure Virtual Machines is a unified package for advanced SQL security capabilities.

It currently (in Public Preview) includes functionality for surfacing and mitigating potential database vulnerabilities and detecting anomalous activities that could indicate a threat to your database.

This security offering for Azure VMs SQL servers is based on the same fundamental technology used in the Azure SQL Database Advanced Data Security package.

For more information, visit:

• PREVIEW: Advanced data security for SQL servers on Azure Virtual Machines
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security-center/security-center-iaas-advanced-data

This document explains the following aspects of Azure Active Directory:

• Azure AD Components: What are the different components of Azure AD. This will help you to understand the later sections of the document.
• Core Data and Location: What customer data is used by Azure AD and where is it located.
• Data Protection: How is the directory data protected at transit and at rest.
• Data Flow: How data from various sources such as on premises directories and applications flows to and from Azure AD.
• Data and Operations: What data and operational procedures are used by the Azure AD engineering team to manage the service.

The target audience of this document is enterprise security evaluators, identity, and access management (IAM) architects, policy makers and regulators, as well as customers with compliance requirements or regulated environments.

• DOWNLOAD: eBook, “Azure Active Directory Data Security Considerations”
  http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/A/4/AA48DC38-DBC8-4C5E-AF07-D1433B55363D/Azure-AD-Data-Security-Considerations.pdf

If you have DFARS, ITAR, FedRAMP, CJIS, IRS and other regulatory requirements, and are trying to understand what Microsoft 365 service fits your company, this article is for you.

This article is the second of a series in the Microsoft Tech Community Public Sector Blog and touches on several  key principles for compliance, including data residency versus data sovereignty.  For the first article in the series, please refer to History of Microsoft Cloud Service Offerings leading to the US Sovereign Cloud for Government.

We will focus on each of the US-based cloud offerings from Microsoft and compare the differences in compliance. 

• Understanding Compliance Between Microsoft 365 Commercial, GCC, GCC-High and DoD Offerings
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Public-Sector-Blog/Understanding-Compliance-Between-Microsoft-365-Commercial-GCC/ba-p/718445

Corporations with 100,000+ users can operate with just 3 Global Admins.

One of the best documents Microsoft has shows the minimum permissions needed to perform a task in Azure Active Directory.

Here’s some interesting roles & their permissions requirements:

• Multi-factor authentication
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/users-groups-roles/roles-delegate-by-task#multi-factor-authentication
• Authentication Administrator permissions
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/users-groups-roles/directory-assign-admin-roles#authentication-administrator-permissions
• Compliance Administrator
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/users-groups-roles/directory-assign-admin-roles#compliance-administrator
• Conditional Access Administrator
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/users-groups-roles/directory-assign-admin-roles#conditional-access-administrator
• Desktop Analytics Administrator
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/users-groups-roles/directory-assign-admin-roles#desktop-analytics-administrator
• Emergency Options
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/concept-resilient-controls#emergency-options

Learn how to take advantage of Azure virtual machines (VMs) to better manage your infrastructure and DevOps tools and pipelines.

Download this white paper by International Data Corporation (IDC) to determine which factors you should consider when choosing virtual machines for your cloud computing needs.

This resource gives an overview of Azure VMs, which are available for every workload and use case, from entry-level test environments to high performance computing (HPC).

Discover how Azure not only offers competitive pricing, but also provides industry-leading security and hybrid capabilities. 

Download the whitepaper from the link below:

• WHITEPAPER: Enabling Cloud for All Compute Needs: Azure’s Compute Portfolio
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/idc-enabling-cloud-for-all-compute-needs/

AUTOMATICALLY BLOCKING NOTIFICATIONS
Did you know that there’s an Edge Chromium setting to automatically block all website requests from sending notifications?

1. Click “…” in the upper right hand corner
2. Go to Settings
3. Select Site Permissions
4. Click Notifications
5. Turn OFF the switch for “ask before sending”

STOP VIDEO AUTOPLAY
There is a plug in you can install on Edge Chromium through the Chrome web store that will automatically stop video for auto-playing.

1. Click “…” in the upper right hand corner
2. Click "Extensions
3. Turn ON the switch for “Allow extensions from other stores”
4. Go to:
   https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/autoplaystopper/ejddcgojdblidajhngkogefpkknnebdh
5. Click the Add to Chrome button

AUTO-DISMISS COOKIE WARNINGS
There is a similar plug in that works on Edge Chromium that dismisses Cookie Warnings.

1. Follow the above steps 1-3 for STOP VIDEO AUTOPLAY
2. Go to:
   https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/i-dont-care-about-cookies/fihnjjcciajhdojfnbdddfaoknhalnja
3. Click the Add to Chrome button

From the event site:

The SharePoint Conference returns to Las Vegas: the world’s biggest and most comprehensive event empowering you to achieve more in the modern workplace with Microsoft 365.

SPC is where business leaders, IT pros, developers, consultants come together to learn how technology can power teamwork, employee engagement and communications, and organizational effectiveness.

CONNECT with industry gurus, thought leaders and Microsoft’s product groups
COLLABORATE with peers to share best practices and insights
CREATE solutions to your business challenges
CELEBRATE the launch of Microsoft’s latest innovations and our diverse and vibrant community

SPC is packed with over 200 sessions, panels and workshops for everyone who works with SharePoint and Microsoft 365, presented by Microsoft’s leaders and experts from around the world.

For the first time, Microsoft is hand-picking sessions for people who are new to Microsoft 365.

For seasoned veterans, you’ll learn what’s coming to the suite, and dive deep into practical guidance to help you plan, architect, deploy, support, and extend Microsoft technologies to address your business objectives.

SPC embraces all of Microsoft 365: SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, Yammer, Microsoft Stream, Outlook, Office applications, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow and more.

SPC is an immersive, "actual reality" experience that brings the community together, from around the world. Don’t miss your chance to experience it! Register today.

Date/Location:
MAY 19 – 21, 2020
MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV

Registration:

• EVENT: SharePoint Conference 2020 – May 19-21, 2020 – MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV
  https://www.sharepointna.com/#!/

Wow.  New acquisition.  Here’s the post from Jeff Teper, CVP of SharePoint & OneDrive:

I’m excited to announce that Microsoft has acquired Mover, a leading provider of cloud file migration, including admin-led and self-service offerings. As customer demand to move content to the cloud continues to grow, Mover will help make it easier than ever for customers to migrate files to Microsoft 365.

…

Read more here:

• MICROSOFT ANNOUNCEMENT: Microsoft acquires Mover to simplify and speed file migration to Microsoft 365
  https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2019/10/21/microsoft-acquires-mover-to-simplify-and-speed-file-migration-to-microsoft-365/
• MOVER ANNOUNCEMENT: Mover acquired by Microsoft
  https://mover.io/blog/2019/10/21/mover-acquired-by-microsoft/

UPDATE 10/31/19:
Major update to the this self-service purchase announcement – as documented in the Self-Service FAQ:

Over the past week, we’ve been listening to customer feedback regarding the rollout of our self-service purchase capabilities for Power Platform products. Based on the feedback, we’re making the following changes to our plan:

• On November 19th, we will provide IT admins a way to turn off self-service purchasing on a per product basis via PowerShell. More details will be forthcoming.
• To provide more time to prepare for this change, we are updating the launch for self-service purchase capabilities for Power Platform products to start with Power BI on January 14th for all commercial cloud customers.

Beginning January 14, 2020, self-service purchase, subscription, and license management capabilities for Power Platform products (Power BI, PowerApps, and Flow) will be available for commercial cloud customers in the United States. Self-service purchase gives users a chance to try out new technologies and enables them to develop solutions that will ultimately benefit their larger organizations. This capability will not be available to tenants in the US that are government, nonprofit, or education, at this time. Central procurement and IT teams will have visibility to all users buying and deploying self-service purchase solutions through the Microsoft 365 admin center and will be able to turn off self-service purchasing on a per product basis via PowerShell.

The FAQ update is located at:

• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/commerce/subscriptions/self-service-purchase-faq

ORIGINAL POST:

According to a recent notification from the Office Message Center, Microsoft will soon be enabling self-service purchase and license management capabilities, which will allow users within your organization to purchase products directly, starting with the Power Platform family of products: Power BI, PowerApps, and Flow. 

Power BI will be available in the US starting November 19, followed by PowerApps and Flow and additional geographies beginning December 4.

Further details about announcement are available here:

• DOCS: Self-service purchase FAQ
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/commerce/subscriptions/self-service-purchase-faq

USERVOICE FEEDBACK
If you’d like to provide Uservoice feedback on this upcoming change, you may do so here: https://office365.uservoice.com/forums/273493-office-365-admin/suggestions/38878723-ability-to-block-self-service-purchase-capabilitie 

PROVIDING WRITTEN FEEDBACK
If you’d like to provide written feedback on this matter, follow these steps:

1. Go to the notification in Message Center (MC193609)
2. Hit ‘Dislike’/Thumbs Down.
3. Provide written feedback.
   (You can specify whether you want to be contacted directly to further discuss this.)

MICROSOFT IGNITE 2019 SESSION
A customer of mine pointed out that if you’re going to Microsoft Ignite next week, you might want to check out the following session:

• TK04: Unleashing your organization’s creativity and innovation with a deep dive into the Microsoft Power Platform
  https://myignite.techcommunity.microsoft.com/sessions/79783?source=sessions

I recently discovered a really awesome Office 365 podcast called “O365eh!”  Yes, it’s basically a 15min episode podcast that discusses new information re: Office 365 & Microsoft Teams/Skype for Business Online.

But with a Canadian twist.

Here’s the cast.  It’s a veritable who’s who of the Office 365/Microsoft Teams world, and all of them are Office Apps & Services MVPs/Most Valuable Professionals.

• Curtis Johnstone (MVP)
• Dino Caputo (MVP)
• Habib Mankal (MVP)
• Michael Lamontagne (MVP)

Self-description:

O365Eh! is a regular short podcast on the latest and greatest developments in the Microsoft Cloud from four MVP’s north of the 49th parallel.

They have both video playback from YouTube & audio subscription availability for podcast listeners – like me.

• PODCAST: “O365eh!” – an Office 365 podcast from Canada
  http://o365eh.com/

(I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed listening to this thing… it’s surprisingly good.  Most Office 365 podcasts aren’t very good, but this crew’s not just very deep technically – again, they’re all Microsoft MVPs – but they’re also kinda fun. Highly recommend subscribing.)