Active Directory Hardening Series – Part 1 – Disabling NTLMv1
Active Directory Hardening Series - Part 1 – Disabling NTLMv1 Hello everyone, Jerry Devore back again after to along break from blogging to talk about Active Directory hardening. In my role at Microsoft, I have found every organization has ... continue reading

Cloud storage security: What’s new in the threat matrix
Today, we announce the release of a second version of the threat matrix for storage services, a structured tool that assists in identifying and analyzing potential security threats on data stored in cloud storage services. The matrix, first released in ... continue reading
Microsoft Entra Private Access: An Identity-Centric Zero Trust Network Access Solution
On July 11, 2023, we introduced Microsoft’s identity-centric security service edge (SSE) solution and two new services: Microsoft Entra Private Access and Microsoft Entra Internet Access, which are now in public preview. In this blog, we take a deeper look ... continue reading
Microsoft Entra Expands into Security Service Edge with Two New Offerings
Flexible work arrangements and accelerating digital transformation changed the way we secure access. Traditional network security approaches just don’t scale to modern demands. They not only hurt end user experience but also grant each user excessive access to the entire ... continue reading
Check This Out! (CTO!) Guide (June 2023)
Hi everyone! Brandon Wilson here once again with this month’s “Check This Out!” (CTO!) guide. These posts are only intended to be your guide, to lead you to some content of interest, and are just a way we are ... continue reading
Measuring average download time
One of the most overlooked roles of a systems administrator is to be able to troubleshoot network issues. How many times had you been in a situation where your servers are problematic, and someone asked you to check the network ... continue reading
SMB Signing and Guest Authentication
Heya folks, Ned here again. We recently made SMB signing the default in Windows Insider Enterprise client builds. In doing so, we were quickly reminded of a consequence from an old unsafe SMB behavior that some folks still use: guest authentication ... continue reading
SMB signing required by default in Windows Insider
Heya folks, Ned here again. Beginning in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25381 (Canary, zn_release) Enterprise editions, SMB signing is now required by default for all connections. This changes legacy behavior, where Windows 10 and 11 required SMB signing by ... continue reading
Wired for Hybrid – What’s New in Azure Networking – April 2023
Hello Folks, Azure Networking is the foundation of your infrastructure in Azure. Each month we bring you an update on What’s new in Azure Networking. This month is a little late since we've been traveling to conferences. We Recorded this one ... continue reading
Windows Server Summit 2022: SMB Enhancements in Windows Server 2022 and Windows 11
Welcome to the “Director’s cut” of the 2022 Windows Server Summit. I am going through and posting each of the sessions (and my comments) that were part of the event that took place December 6th, 2022. You have probably come across ... continue reading