Kurt Shintaku's Blog

The Microsoft Learning Campus for Unified Support customers provides live presentations from Unified Support Customer Engineers.

If you are a named contact for your organization’s Unified Support contract, log into https://mslearningcampus.com/pages/ms-learningcampus and you’ll be able to register for upcoming Webcasts & Tech Talks, only available to Unified Support customers.

Here’s a few coming up soon:

Microsoft Tech Talks – Azure Well-Architected Framework series:

• Cost Optimization MTT71500 
  Thursday, March 17, 2022
  12Noon-1:00PM PST
• Reliability MTT500ET
  Thursday, March 24, 2022
  12Noon-1:00PM PST
• Operational Excellence (MTT51500)
  Thursday, May 5, 2022
  12Noon-1:00PM PST

Are you using your security tooling effectively?

The old mentality of deploying security tooling and hoping that its default configuration provides enough protection is not only dangerous but misses on the benefits of next-generation tooling.

In today’s world of fast-evolving security threats, knowing how to optimize security tooling is a critical skill that most security teams must learn and implement to stay one step ahead of the wave of ever-changing attacks.

Join Samuel Soto, Chitresh Pandit, and Suprapat Dechanansub, experienced security consultants from the Microsoft Compromise Recovery Security Practice, as they discuss the ins and out of fine-tuning Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to protect your high-value assets.

• Date/Time:
  Wednesday, Mar 8th, 6:00 PM Los Angeles — or sign up to watch the replay at your convenience.
• Registration Link: https://mtt.eventbuilder.com/event/56912

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/