What Is Microsoft Entra ID (Formerly Azure Active Directory)?
The identity service behind every Microsoft 365 login, and why it is your security core.
Microsoft Entra ID, formerly called Azure Active Directory, is the cloud identity service that handles every sign-in to Microsoft 365, Azure and thousands of connected applications. It stores your users and groups, checks passwords and MFA, and enforces the policies that decide who can access what, from where, on which devices.
What Entra ID controls
- Users and groups. Every employee account, and the groups that grant access to email, Teams, SharePoint and apps.
- Authentication. Passwords, multi-factor authentication, passwordless sign-in and security keys. See what is MFA.
- Conditional Access. Rules such as "require MFA for everyone," "block sign-ins from outside the US," or "only allow managed devices." See what is conditional access.
- Single sign-on. One login for Microsoft 365 plus connected SaaS applications, so offboarding one account removes access everywhere.
- Device registration. Knows which devices belong to the company and whether they are compliant.
- Sign-in logs and risk detection. Where and how people are logging in, and which attempts look suspicious.
Entra ID vs on-premises Active Directory
Traditional Active Directory runs on a domain controller in your office and manages computers on your network. Entra ID runs in the cloud and manages identities for cloud services. Many businesses run both, synchronized, during a transition; cloud-first businesses run Entra ID alone with devices joined directly to it. The two are related but not the same product, despite the old name.
Why it is your security core
Almost every modern attack on a business starts with an identity: a phished password, a token stolen from a browser, an MFA prompt someone approved by mistake. The controls that stop those attacks live in Entra ID. Getting it configured correctly (MFA enforced, Conditional Access in place, admin accounts separated, sign-in risk monitored) does more for security than most tools you could buy.
Entra ID configuration and identity security are part of Mentis Group's Microsoft 365 support and Azure consulting services, and identity hardening is a standard step in our onboarding. See what is identity and access management for the broader discipline.
Have a question about your own environment? Schedule a consultation with Mentis Group or call (866) 901-7808.