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Automate Stale Access Cleanup with Entra ID Access Reviews
What Entra ID Access Reviews Automate
Entra ID Access Reviews simplifies the process of identifying and removing unnecessary or outdated access rights from users within your organization. By automating this process, you can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches caused by stale access and maintain compliance with industry regulations.
Setting Up Access Reviews for Groups, Apps, and Privileged Roles
To set up access reviews, navigate to the Entra portal and follow these steps:
1. Navigate to Entra admin center > User > Access Reviews.
2. Click on Create access review and select either a custom or preconfigured template based on your needs.
3. Choose the scope of the access review (e.g., groups, applications, privileged roles).
4. Configure review settings such as review duration, reviewers, and notifications.
5. Save and start the access review.
Configuring Auto-Apply Results to Remove Stale Access
To ensure that stale access is automatically removed when detected during an access review:
1. Navigate to the access review you want to configure in the Entra admin center.
2. Go to the Results tab and select the relevant result type (e.g., denied access).
3. Enable the Auto-apply results option.
4. Configure any necessary settings, such as approval workflows or review frequency, and save your changes.
Reviewing Access Review Results and Audit Logs
Regularly reviewing access review results and audit logs is essential to ensure that unnecessary access rights are being effectively removed. You can access these reports in the Entra admin center under User > Access Reviews. From here, you can view details about each access review, including its status, progress, and results.
Running Access Reviews for Guest Users Quarterly
To maintain a secure environment, it’s recommended to run access reviews for guest users quarterly. This helps to ensure that temporary or one-time access rights are regularly reviewed and removed when no longer needed.
By automating stale access cleanup with Entra ID Access Reviews, you can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches and maintain a strong security posture. If you’re looking to bolster your skills in this area, consider checking out our Microsoft Cloud Security Training courses.
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Written by Mohammed Akhter
Founder of ITP Training. 50,000+ students trained across 30+ countries in Microsoft endpoint and cloud security. Learn more →