Page 145 of the DSE Cybersecurity knowledge center, with source-backed guidance and practical next steps.
Source-backed guidance for identity, vulnerability reduction, ransomware readiness, detection, response, and recovery.
Defender for Identity activities derived from network traffic, Windows events, and ETW commonly contain IP data. Network Name Resolution correlates raw IP activities with computers so Defender for Identity can profile entities and generate alerts for suspicious activity.
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The alert story presents a chronological view of what happened, when it happened, and which entities appeared before and after the triggering event. The alert graph maps users, devices, and domain controllers and shows their interactions for relationship and pattern analysis.
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Available remediation actions depend on the connector managing the account and can span Active Directory, Entra ID, non-Microsoft identity providers, and connected SaaS applications.
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Microsoft recommends role groups that segregate security-team responsibilities and grant only the access needed for each job. New Defender for Identity tenants from March 2, 2025 can configure permissions only through Microsoft Defender XDR Unified RBAC, while earlier role assignments are retained.
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One person can have personal, privileged, legacy, cloud, or orphaned accounts across Active Directory, Entra ID, and non-Microsoft identity providers. Microsoft supports manually linking or unlinking related accounts to address fragmented identity views.
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The Health Issues page lists deployment and sensor problems that can result from configuration or environmental factors.
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Defender for Identity reports can be generated on demand or configured for periodic email delivery. Available report subjects include system activity summaries, sensitive-group changes, and passwords exposed in cleartext.
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The Sensors experience covers sensor status and health, sensor details, updates for v2.x and v3.x, and proxy configuration. A sensor details pane exposes health information and provides paths to manage configuration or reopen closed health issues.
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Defender for Identity supports excluding specific IP addresses, computers, domains, or users from a number of detections. Microsoft recommends Defender XDR alert-tuning rules instead of exclusions because tuning supports more granular conditions and lets analysts review tuned alerts.
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The Defender for Identity About page reports the workspace ID and name, latest available sensor version, assigned license count, and identities active during the preceding 28 days.
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