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PODCAST

Entra.Chat

Merill Fernando

Entra Chat is a weekly podcast hosted by Merill Fernando and delivers practical insights for Microsoft administrators and security professionals through conversations with identity experts who"ve been in the trenches. Episodes feature seasoned Entra practitioners sharing real-world deployment experiences and Microsoft Entra team members who build the features you use daily. Get the inside track on best practices, implementation strategies, and upcoming capabilities directly from those who design

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All Episodes

61:54

Finding Every MFA Gap: Testing 250 Million...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/03/28

Emilien Socchi, Cloud Security Research Engineer at Storebrand, joins us to discuss CA Insight and AZTier.Two open-source tools Emilien built to find gaps in Conditional Access policies and categorize Azure/Entra roles based on attack paths. Learn how CA Insight evaluates 250 million sign-in combinations offline in minutes instead of days, why the What If API doesn't scale, and how AZTier helps defenders and pen testers understand privilege escalation risks across Entra ID, Azure, and Microsoft

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55:17

From FIM/MIM to Cloud Sync: Complete Identity Journey...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/03/21

Darren Robinson, Identity and Zero Trust Strategy and Architecture Capability Lead at Increment, shares his extensive experience in identity governance and administration.In this episode Merill sits down with Darren “Doc” Robinson – Microsoft MVP since 2017, former SailPoint Ambassador and one of Australia’s most experienced identity architects.Darren takes us on a 25+ year journey from Novell networks to modern Microsoft Entra ID, reveals why he’s building custom ECMA2 connectors, and shares the

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42:53

How to Migrate from Legacy VPNs to Entra Private...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/03/14

Richard Hicks wrote the book on DirectAccess. Then he wrote the one on Always On VPN. Now he’s here to tell you it’s time to move on from both (and other legacy VPNs). Over the last two years, Richard has helped numerous enterprise customers navigate the shift from legacy VPN to Microsoft Entra Private Access, and he’s collected some hard-learnt lessons along the way that most migration guides won’t tell you.In this episode, Richard - enterprise security consultant and early Entra Private Access

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69:23

Passkeys, Conditional Access, Hard-match updates, GSA...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/03/07

I am back home in Melbourne today, and joining me are Nathan McNulty from Alaska and Daniel Bradley from the UK as we dive into all the massive Entra updates that dropped last month. We are breaking down the controversial shift to syncable passkeys , why your Conditional Access policies might suddenly start blocking apps , and the absolute necessity of moving privileged accounts away from on-prem AD. We’re also geeking out over some incredible new Global Secure Access (GSA) features and how AI is

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38:35

We Gave Away Our Microsoft Entra Masterclass Labs →...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/02/28

Hey folks, I have to start with a massive shout-out to Morten Knudsen and his entire team at Experts Live Denmark where I’m just returning from. Organizing an event for over 1,200+ attendees is no small feat, and they pulled it off with incredible energy and precision. It was easily one of the most impressive community gatherings I’ve been a part of.Amidst that massive crowd, I had the privilege of co-leading a deep-dive Identity Masterclass alongside four exceptional Microsoft MVPs: Jan Vidar

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61:44

They migrated 40,000 devices to Entra Join in 9 months

Entra.Chat ·

2026/02/21

What does it take to migrate 40,000 devices to a cloud-native environment in a massive, complex enterprise? For most IT leaders, the prospect of moving away from 20 years of legacy infrastructure is enough to cause a sleepless night.In our latest episode of Entra Chat, we sat down with enterprise veterans Michael Brunker and Prem Kothandapani to deconstruct their recent, massive rollout. They successfully converted nearly 40,000 devices from on-premises Active Directory to Entra Joined in just nine

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52:17

Microsoft Is Auto-Enabling Passkeys in March 2026

Entra.Chat ·

2026/02/14

March 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most important months for Microsoft Entra ID administrators in recent memory.Microsoft is automatically enabling passkey profiles in Entra ID, and if you don’t configure them yourself, your tenant will be migrated with default settings.In this episode of Entra Chat, I sat down with Microsoft Security MVPs Daniel Bradley and Ewelina Paskowska to break down what this really means for Microsoft 365 administrators.But passkeys aren’t the only story this

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47:03

Automating Governance: The New Standard for Microsoft...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/02/07

Governance in Microsoft 365 has always been hard. Not because the tools didn’t exist, but because scale, complexity, and change made consistency almost impossible. As tenants grow, so do the challenges of configuration drift, manual admin changes, and inconsistent environments.For years, admins have relied on scripts, tribal knowledge, and community-led solutions like Microsoft 365 Desired State Configuration (M365DSC) to manage this “policy sprawl”. While M365DSC was a groundbreaking open-source

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45:47

Mastering Microsoft Entra ID: Real-World Passkey...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/01/31

In this episode, we sit down with Eric Woodruff, Chief Identity Architect at Semperis, to discuss the reality of achieving a 100% phishing-resistant environment. Over the course of just three months, Eric led a 600-person organization through a complete rollout of passkeys, Windows Hello for Business, and Platform SSO. This conversation moves beyond the technical “knobs and dials” to explore why organizational change management and C-suite buy-in are the true foundations of a successful identity

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50:31

Entra Agent Registry: The Corporate Yellow Pages for...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/01/16

Service principals worked for static apps, but AI agents are different—they make autonomous decisions using LLMs and require a new approach to identity and security.In this episode of Entra Chat, Padma Parthasarathy, Product Manager for Microsoft Entra Agent Registry, explains why Microsoft created Entra Agent Registry and Agent ID, and how they provide identity, governance, and security for AI agents.We cover agent collections, discovery policies, integration with identity protection, and how

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55:21

Global Secure Access Explained: Real-World Rollouts,...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/01/10

In this episode, I’m joined by Christopher Brumm from glueckkanja to discuss real-world experiences deploying Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access (GSA).We go beyond the docs to talk about actual customer rollouts, scaling challenges, retiring VPNs, and what teams often underestimate when moving to Zero Trust Network Access.Subscribe with your favorite podcast player or watch on YouTube 👇About Christopher BrummChristopher Brumm is a Cyber Security Architect at glueckkanja AG in Germany. With more

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44:12

Cybersecurity First Principles: Lessons from a...

Entra.Chat ·

2026/01/04

Nicolas Blank, Founder of NBConsult and a 20-year Microsoft MVP, joins the show to dismantle the complexity around Zero Trust.Most Zero Trust conversations fail because they start with technology. Nicolas flips the script by using powerful everyday analogies (locking your car, protecting your newborn) to land the three core principles with executives.Essential watching for anyone implementing Zero Trust, securing Microsoft 365/Entra ID, or needing leadership support in 2026.Subscribe with your

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57:03

Identity-Centric Network Security: Entra Global...

Entra.Chat ·

2025/12/28

Is the traditional VPN dead? In the latest episode of Entra Chat, we dive deep Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access (GSA).Joined by Karen Simmel from the GSA product team and Thomas from the Entra CXE Architecture team, we explore how Microsoft is bridging the gap between identity and network security.The Shift from VPN to SASEThe "good old days" of spinning up firewalls and DMZs are fading. Traditional controls are often too coarse-grained and lack identity awareness. As Thomas explains, the

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52:15

How to Kill SMS MFA in Entra ID Without a Single Script

Entra.Chat ·

2025/12/20

Louis Mastelinck, a Microsoft MVP and Security Consultant at Proximus NXT, joins me to discuss the critical journey of moving organizations away from SMS-based MFA.We deep dive into a practical strategy for migrating users to the Authenticator app, starting with “stopping the bleed” and managing user groups. We also explore a significant security blind spot regarding Email OTP for SharePoint guest access and how to resolve it. Finally, we debate the future of authentication with device-bound versus

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50:34

Extending Microsoft Entra: Logic Apps, Power Apps,...

Entra.Chat ·

2025/12/13

In this week’s episode Jan Bakker, Microsoft MVP and solution architect from the Netherlands, joins us for a masterclass in extending Microsoft Entra ID beyond out-of-the-box capabilities. This episode is your complete guide to building custom identity governance and lifecycle management using Power Apps, Logic Apps, and Azure automation.You’ll learn the fundamental building blocks of automation in the Microsoft ecosystem and how to combine them creatively.Jan’s approach: treat Entra as a platform,

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52:30

Inside Microsoft’s Entra Tenant: The Internal App...

Entra.Chat ·

2025/12/06

Khurram, a key member of the internal App Governance assessment team at Microsoft, joins the show to pull back the curtain on how Microsoft manages application security at a massive corporate scale and the rigorous internal security measures Microsoft employs to protect its corporate Entra ID tenant from risky applications.In this deep dive, Khurram reveals Microsoft’s custom-built App Governance blueprint. He details the process for reviewing and consenting to the hundreds of new application

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55:13

The "Secret Sauce" Behind Microsoft's New MCP Server

Entra.Chat ·

2025/11/29

Luca Spolidoro from the Microsoft Entra AI Innovations team joins us to unveil the new Microsoft MCP Server for Enterprise. We discuss how this innovation allows admins and AI agents to interface with their tenant using natural language, bridging the gap between LLMs and the complexity of Microsoft Graph.We also talk about the technical challenges of token limits, the patented “three-tool” solution that optimizes queries, and the roadmap for write operations and PowerShell script

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76:43

Entra Ignite Recap: Synced Passkeys, Agent ID & The...

Entra.Chat ·

2025/11/23

This week, I’m joined by a stellar panel of Nathan McNulty, Ru Campbell, Martin Sandren, and Thomas Naunheim to break down the firehose of news from Microsoft Ignite related to Entra. We dive straight into the hot debate over synced passkeys versus device-bound credentials and why consumer adoption might force our hand in the enterprise. We also explore the new Account Recovery features that could save companies thousands in helpdesk costs and unpack the massive shift toward “Agentic AI” with the

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44:09

Zero Trust Assessment: Secure your tenant

Entra.Chat ·

2025/11/15

This week, I’m so excited to share the inside story of a project I’ve been working on for over a year: the new Zero Trust assessment. I’m joined by some of the key folks from the team: Tarek, who’s leading the charge; Sarah and John, who are crushing docs; and Ravi, who’s owning Intune.We unpack the wild breach that sparked it all, geek out over those Sankey charts that spotlight sneaky unmanaged devices and privileged access landmines, and tease why even “expired” app creds could be your silent

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52:28

Hacking Entra ID: Bypassing AppLocks & Creating...

Entra.Chat ·

2025/11/08

In this episode, I sit down with security researcher Katie Knowles to unpack the hidden layers of identity systems inside Microsoft Entra. We get into real-world attack paths like backdooring service principals, restricted administrative units that can accidentally create unstoppable accounts, and OAuth phishing in Copilot Studio. Katie also shares how she approaches deep technical research, what defenders often overlook, and why identity security is only becoming more complex. This is one of those

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54 results

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