Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Today, we are announcing Microsoft Security Insider: one destination where you can find Microsoft’s unique perspective on trending issues across the threat landscape.

This site will host research, insights, and intelligence produced by our team in order to keep you informed on the latest security topics.

• Threat Watch
• Behind the scenes
• Perspectives
• CISO Insider
• IoT Signals Report
• Microsoft Digital Defense Report
• Security Podcasts:
• Developing Influential Security Leaders
• Inside Microsoft’s Security Response Center
• Microsoft Security Blogs

Explore the new Security Insider site today!

• Cybersecurity + Threat Intelligence | Microsoft Security Insider
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/security-insider/

We are pleased to announce the enterprise-ready release of the security baseline for Microsoft Edge version 98!

We have reviewed the settings in Microsoft Edge version 98 and updated our guidance with the addition of one setting. We’re also highlighting another new setting we would like you to consider testing, and one new setting you should consider based on your support needs. A new Microsoft Edge security baseline package was just released to the Download Center. You can download the version 98 package from the Security Compliance Toolkit.

Microsoft Edge version 98 introduced 10 new computer settings and 10 new user settings. We have included a spreadsheet listing the new settings in the release to make it easier for you to find them.

As a friendly reminder, all available settings for Microsoft Edge are documented here, and all available settings for Microsoft Edge Update are documented here.

Please continue to give us feedback through the Security Baseline Community.

Read the full announcement here:

• Security baseline for Microsoft Edge v98
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-security-baselines/security-baseline-for-microsoft-edge-v98/ba-p/3165443

Implementing a Zero Trust security strategy is a significant undertaking that requires in-depth planning, cross-company collaboration, and resources. Organizations need solutions that simplify and accelerate the adoption of Zero Trust by offering flexibility, integration, and a meaningful return on investment.

In the commissioned study The Total Economic Impact^TM of Zero Trust solutions from Microsoft, Forrester Consulting reports that adoption of Microsoft solutions to implement a Zero Trust security strategy delivers:

• A three-year 92 percent return on investment (ROI) with a payback period of fewer than six months. 
• A 50 percent lower chance of a data breach.
• Numerous efficiency gains of 50 percent or higher across security processes.

Read the announcement & download the full report here:

• DOWNLOAD: Microsoft Zero Trust solutions deliver 92 percent return on investment, says new Forrester study
  https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2022/01/12/microsoft-zero-trust-solutions-deliver-92-percent-return-on-investment-says-new-forrester-study/

We recommend that you harden your Azure AD Connect server to decrease the security attack surface for this critical component of your IT environment.

Following these recommendations will help to mitigate some security risks to your organization.

• DOCS: Harden your Azure AD Connect Server
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/hybrid/how-to-connect-install-prerequisites#harden-your-azure-ad-connect-server

Looking for a comprehensive guide on how to address all considerations of adoption of Power BI in your organization?

The goal of this series of articles is to provide a roadmap. The roadmap presents a series of strategic and tactical considerations and action items that directly lead to successful Power BI adoption, and help build a data culture in your organization.

Advancing adoption and cultivating a data culture is about more than implementing technology features. Technology can assist an organization in making the greatest impact, but a healthy data culture involves a lot of considerations across the spectrum of people, processes, and technology.

Use the Power BI Implementation Planning guide online to compliment the Power BI adoption roadmpa.

Read the roadmap here:

• DOCS: Power BI adoption roadmap
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/powerbi-adoption-roadmap-overview

Calling all Mixed Reality folks and HoloLens power users! In fact, join us even if you’re just interested in dipping your toes into the world of mixed reality.

Register for the upcoming Microsoft HoloLens Industry Summit 2.0 on Jan 26 starting at 8am PT.

• Date/Time:
  Jan 26 – 8:00AM PT
• Registration:
  North America HoloLens Industry Summit
  https://hopin.com/events/microsoft-hololens-summit/registration

Coming Microsoft HoloLens Industry Forums:

• Manufacturing – March 30, 2022
• Education – April 20, 2022
• Healthcare – June 7, 2022

Teams Nation Community Conference is a 100% free, 100% community driven conference dedicated to Microsoft Teams. It aims to bring together exceptional technical talent and thought leaders to democratize Teams knowledge, encourage participation in the Teams community and give those who are struggling financially an opportunity to attend a first-class Teams conference.

After registration you will receive an email with all the information necessary as well as an attached calendar invitation file (ICS) to block out your calendar on the day of the event. It also includes all room URL’s you’ll need in order to attend the event.

• EVENT: Teams Nation Community Conference 2022 – March 23, 2022
  https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=PJM06Yd3J0CxqMKmBRQJdmF4whCICqxItRjbjRsV-a5URVFKWUhLTDhHSzNQSERRMloyRlFEVDBFUyQlQCN0PWcu

Top reasons to attend the “What’s Next in Security from Microsoft” digital event:

1. Discover the latest security innovations
2. Hear new market trends
3. Learn strategies to eliminate blind spots

Be fearless about turning your vision into reality with the latest in comprehensive security and Zero Trust. Attend this digital event to learn about new innovations that work together and across platforms and clouds to safeguard your entire organization.

Join us to explore how to:

• Update your security strategy with the latest market trends.
• Protect your identities, apps, clouds, and endpoints with comprehensive solutions.
• Eliminate blind spots with proactive threat hunting and extended detection and response (XDR).
• Enforce least privilege access across your clouds.
• Identify security gaps and protect your multicloud environments against threats.

Plus, ask Microsoft security experts all your questions in a live Q&A chat.

Register now:

• Date/Time:
  Thursday, February 24, 2022 | 9:00 AM–10:30 AM Pacific Time (UTC-8)
• Registration:
  “What’s Next in Security from Microsoft?” – February 24, 2022
  https://mssecurityinnovationevent.eventcore.com/

Do you work in Operational Tech (OT) Security?

We are currently working on expanding Sentinel to address the needs of the OT/ ICS (Industrial Control System) security environment.

Our first goal is to understand the needs and challenges of SIEM users for OT security (ICS environments include manufacturing plants, chemical processing plants, food production plants, SCADA systems eg: oil and gas industry pipelines, water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, power plants, transport industry control systems etc.)

This would work in conjunction with D4IoT sensors which only analyze east-west network traffic. We would ideally like to expand this coverage to include, north – south traffic, firewall information, badge in badge out information, Application data from servers, log in-out info from workstations and more to gauge a more holistic look into the environment.

If you work in this space and would be willing to share more about your needs, please use our form at:

• Help us Understand Challenges of SIEM users for OT (Operational Tech) Security In ICS
  https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=v4j5cvGGr0GRqy180BHbR9bwacli-s5PpITonWQsE35UQldZRVE1RkRXSzRKNDBKMThIV0dJMlpPNy4u

Check out this Microsoft webinar in partnership with the SANS Institute recorded on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. This session was led by Microsoft experts, Dana Baril, Senior Security Research Lead, Roberto Rodriguez, Principal Threat Researcher, and Mor Rubin, Senior Security Researcher. We provide insights and recommendations to protect your organization against AD FS attacks in hybrid cloud environments. In this session we cover:

• How defenders can analyze an AD FS attack once compromise is suspected
• Walk through a demo of common AD FS attacks such as the forging of SAML tokens
• Guidance on how to perform forensics and develop detections

Register to watch the webinar: Defending your cloud against AD FS attacks here!

• Webinar: Defending your cloud against AD FS attacks
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/security-compliance-and-identity/webinar-defending-your-cloud-against-ad-fs-attacks/ba-p/2998853