Identity Governance & ProtectionIdentity Protection & Risk Management

Identity Protection & Risk Management

30 mins

Understanding the Concept

Microsoft Entra ID Protection uses machine learning and Microsoft's vast signal intelligence to detect identity-based threats. It analyzes billions of authentications daily to identify anomalous sign-in patterns, leaked credentials, and suspicious user behavior.

Risk detections include sign-in risk events (anonymous IP, atypical travel, impossible travel, malware-linked IP) and user risk events (leaked credentials from the dark web, anomalous user behavior). Each detection contributes to an overall risk score.

The Identity Protection dashboard provides visibility into risky users, risky sign-ins, and risk detections. Administrators can investigate individual events, confirm compromises, dismiss false positives, and configure automated remediation through Conditional Access risk-based policies.

Key Points

  • Sign-in risk detections: Anonymous IP, atypical travel, malware IP, token anomaly
  • User risk detections: Leaked credentials, anomalous activity patterns
  • Risk reports: Risky users, risky sign-ins, risk detections dashboard
  • Investigation: Drill into individual users and sign-in events
  • Remediation: Automated via CA policies or manual admin intervention

Identity Protection Pipeline

Step 1

Signal Ingestion

Billions of authentication signals analyzed in real-time

Step 2

ML Detection

Machine learning identifies anomalies and known threats

Step 3

Risk Scoring

User and sign-in risk levels calculated (None to High)

Step 4

Policy Response

CA policies enforce MFA, password change, or block

Step 5

Investigation

Admin reviews, confirms, or dismisses risk in dashboard

Why This Matters in Real Organizations

Traditional security monitoring is reactive - investigating incidents after they happen. Identity Protection provides proactive, automated defense by detecting and responding to threats in real-time. With over 300 trillion signals analyzed daily by Microsoft, Individual organizations benefit from collective intelligence across the entire Microsoft ecosystem.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Deploying Identity Protection without integrating it into Conditional Access policies
Ignoring the risk reports dashboard and not investigating flagged users
Not configuring automated remediation, relying solely on manual investigation
Dismissing all risk detections as false positives without investigation

Interview Tips

  • Explain the types of risk detections and what triggers them
  • Discuss the investigation and remediation workflow
  • Mention the scale of Microsoft's threat intelligence (trillions of signals)

Exam Tips (SC-300)

  • Know all major risk detection types and categories
  • Understand the investigation workflow in the Identity Protection dashboard
  • Know that Identity Protection requires Entra ID P2

Course Complete!

You've finished all lessons

←Previous|→Next|HHome