With more organizations pivoting to a Zero Trust first mindset, having the right solution for secure internet and application access is a critical component of the journey. As launch partners for Microsoft’s new Security Service Edge solution (SSE) we’re proud to help our clients realize the true value of becoming a Zero Trust first organization, through the power of the Microsoft Security platform.

The increasing risks of remote access
As businesses expand their digital footprint, the landscape of cybersecurity threats grows more complex. Nearly half of organizations anticipate a threefold increase in the total number of identities they manage. In the last year alone, 93% of organizations experienced two or more identity-related breaches, as seen by Microsoft’s visibility into 4000 password attacks per second, a ten-fold increase compared to 2022

This combination of identity growth has driven an increase of 35% in detected man-in-the-middle attacks between 2022 and 2023, where the target is the token, which is needed to bypass modern, stronger authentication methods. To mitigate these evolving risks, you need a Security Service Edge (SSE) solution that not only deeply understands the identity, but also the device posture and overall context and security needs of the application being accessed, whilst also continually verifying if all three meet the policy needs of the business.

The power of Microsoft SSE
Microsoft’s new Security Service Edge (SSE) capability enables secure, Zero Trust driven access to any resource from anywhere. It’s made up of two products – Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Microsoft Entra Private Access. This means that with Internet and Private Access solutions working together organizations won’t need to waste time deciding which tool would work better for each app or how to bridge policies created by separate identity and networking teams. They’ll be able to configure unified identity and network controls with conditional access, backed by Continual Access Evaluation (CAE) in Microsoft Entra, aligned on Zero Trust principles.

Through unique market integration with Entra capabilities such as conditional access, continuous access evaluation and identity protection, it:

• Is the only SSE product in the market that allows Entra-first organizations to perform per-application access evaluation. This evaluation is driven by factors such as user location, device posture, application sensitivity, identity posture and sign-in risk score.
• integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft network, ensuring the fastest path to Microsoft services and co-located services, thereby enhancing the user experience.
• enhances your security posture by being able to uniquely verify that the token used for authentication is being used from the device and by the specific user who requested the token, significantly reducing the risk of an adversary stealing a token and trying to abuse your identities remotely

The rising threat to authentication systems
It's clear that even modern forms of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) are now becoming the primary target with attacks targeting MFA and passwordless sign-ins on the rise of a new subtype of man in the middle attacks (MiTM) known as adversary in the middle attacks (AiTM).

With the AiTM approach, hackers have successfully shifted their focus from passwords to tokens, highlighting the need for even stricter Zero Trust principles in action, whereby the end-to-end authentication journey is secured from the device, to the identity and down to the trust of the token itself and how it is validated.

Microsoft's SSE solution is designed to mitigate the risk of token theft, offering organizations a powerful tool in their Zero Trust arsenal. It centers identity as the core control plane, leveraging passwordless technologies to enhance security and user convenience, ensuring only verified users and devices gain access to organizational assets, without traditional passwords.

Avanade: Your partner in Zero Trust transformation
As a two-time winner of the Microsoft Zero Trust Award, Avanade, a global leader in Identity and Access Management, is uniquely positioned to assist organizations on their Zero Trust journey.

As Microsoft’s SSE solution launch partners, Avanade offers a comprehensive SSE Quick Start pilot methodology. This approach allows organizations to rapidly enable Microsoft’s SSE, pilot its capabilities and experience the benefits firsthand before scaling across their entire organization.

Explore the power of Microsoft’s SSE and secure your organization's digital future with Avanade. Contact us here to learn more.