by Scott | Nov 20, 2025 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:05 — 20.7MB)
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Welcome to Episode 415 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. Ben and Scott discuss the major announcements from Microsoft Ignite 2025, focusing on the dominant themes of AI agents and security. The conversation centers on three key areas: Security Copilot updates, Agent 365 for governance, and the broader security and management implications for IT professionals.
Key Discussion Topics
- Security Copilot Expansion to E5 Customers
- 12 new Security Copilot agents coming to Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview
- 30+ partner agents being added to the ecosystem
- Major announcement: Security Copilot will now be available to all Microsoft 365 E5 customers
- Rollout begins with Frontier program (Microsoft’s insider ring for Copilot)
- Expanding in coming months to all E5 customers
- Security Copilot spans four pillars:
- Security Operations (Defender + Sentinel)
- Data Security (Purview)
- Identity & Access (Entra)
- Endpoint Management (Intune)
- Microsoft Agent 365 – The Control Plane for Agents
- Addresses the critical problem of agent sprawl and governance
- Think of it as “Entra ID for AI agents”
- Core capabilities:
- Registry: Complete inventory of all agents (registered, unregistered, and shadow agents
- Access Control: Conditional access policies and risk-based policies for agents
- Monitoring: Real-time visibility into agent behavior, performance, and organizational impact
- Security Integration: Defender protection, Purview data governance
- Key governance features:
- Approve pending agent requests
- Identify ownerless agents
- Apply DLP policies to agents
- Conditional access for agents
- Secure score for agents
- Available now through Frontier program in Microsoft 365 admin center
- Overarching Themes
- Agent security is the new frontier: All major product announcements (Purview, Entra, Defender) are focused on agent governance
- 100 trillion daily signals inform Microsoft’s threat intelligence
- Ignite’s evolution: Less about big product launches, more about storytelling and connecting features released throughout the year
- IT Pro focus: Understanding, managing, and securing AI agents is becoming a core competency
- Key Observations
- Ignite 2025 is heavily focused on AI and security – limited announcements for traditional products like SharePoint, Teams, or Loop
- The shift reflects Microsoft’s rapid release cadence in the cloud era
- Agent sprawl is real and Microsoft is proactively addressing governance needs
- IT professionals need to embrace this change: “The only way out is through”
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by Scott | May 8, 2025 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:09 — 26.9MB)
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Welcome to Episode 401 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben Stegink and Scott Hoag dive into the intricacies of implementing Zero Trust principles within Microsoft 365 environments. They explore the foundational aspects of Zero Trust, starting with identity management and the importance of Entra ID. They also cover:
- Identity Management: The critical role of identity in Zero Trust, including MFA, password policies, and least privilege access.
- Endpoint Security: Strategies for verifying and managing devices, including compliance checks and the balance between corporate and BYOD devices.
- Networking: The complexities of securing network traffic in a SaaS environment, including conditional access policies and the emerging Global Secure Access feature.
- Application Management: The role of Defender for Cloud in monitoring shadow IT and ensuring data security across various applications.
- Data Protection: Techniques for safeguarding sensitive information, including DLP policies and the upcoming network-level DLP capabilities.
- Join us as we unpack these topics and provide practical insights for enhancing your organization’s security posture with Zero Trust.
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by Scott | Aug 15, 2024 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:32 — 22.4MB)
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Welcome to Episode 382 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we dive into three essential tools for safeguarding your organization in the cloud-first world: Security Defaults in Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access Policies, and Microsoft Secure Score. Join us as we talk through and rationalize each solution, including when and why you might want to use each depending on your maturity with the Microsoft Cloud.
Whether you’re an IT administrator, security professional, or just someone keen on understanding how to secure your digital workspace, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical tips to help you leverage these security tools. Tune in to stay ahead of the curve and ensure your organization is protected against the evolving threat landscape!
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by Scott | May 23, 2024 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:57 — 26.8MB)
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Welcome to Episode 377 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben and Scott talk about a recent incident at Google Cloud where one of their customer accounts was completely wiped out without notice. Then they dive into Microsoft Copilot for Security. Ben has been getting hands on with it and it is expensive. They discuss pricing for Copilot for Security, how to think about approaching the multiple embedded experiences in it, and how to think about building a corpus of knowledge and truly leveraging it as an assistant and accelerator for upping your security game in your Microsoft cloud.
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by Scott | Apr 25, 2024 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:54 — 26.1MB)
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Welcome to Episode 375 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, where we discuss Microsoft’s Global Secure Access offering. We explain how Global Secure Access brings identity, network, and endpoint access together under one service and how it combines with Defender for Cloud Apps and is built around the capacity of the Microsoft WAN. Join us as we take a deep dive into the world of digital security and learn how Global Secure Access can help you secure your digital world.
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