Zero Trust in Microsoft 365: What It Means in Practice
Zero Trust means no user, device, or network is trusted by default — every access request is verified on identity, device health, location, and risk, every time. In Microsoft 365, that's not a product you buy; it's a configuration you build: Conditional Access as the policy engine, Entra ID Protection supplying risk signals, Intune compliance defining what a healthy device is, and least-privilege access limiting what any single compromised account can reach.
- Verify explicitly: Conditional Access evaluates every sign-in — identity + device + location + risk
- Least privilege: users get minimum access; admins get time-boxed elevation via PIM, not standing rights
- Assume breach: design so one compromised account can't reach everything; monitor for lateral movement
- Device trust: Intune compliance policies make device health a condition of access
- The "network perimeter" is gone by design — which is why VPNs retire in cloud-only architectures
The full article translates each Zero Trust principle into its specific Microsoft 365 configuration set, shows the maturity progression from baseline to advanced, and explains why most of it is already in the Business Premium license you may already own.
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