Microsoft has announced a public preview of user delegation shared access signatures (SAS) for Azure Tables and Azure Files, extending identity-based access control to additional Azure Storage services. With the update, organizations can generate SAS tokens that are backed by Microsoft Entra ID rather than long-lived storage account keys, reducing the risk associated with key leakage and simplifying credential management. The feature is designed to help customers apply more granular, time-bound access controls for applications and users accessing table and file data.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 01/16/20260 comments
Microsoft has announced that read-only queries are now captured in the primary Query Store for Azure SQL, expanding visibility into database performance and workload behavior. Previously, Query Store focused primarily on read-write activity, leaving gaps for teams running analytics, reporting or replica-style read-only workloads. With the update, database administrators can analyze execution plans, runtime statistics and performance trends for read-only queries alongside transactional activity. Query Store can now record execution data from both primary and read-only replicas for new and existing databases, streamlining troubleshooting.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 01/14/20260 comments
Microsoft has announced the general availability of secure, unique default hostnames for Azure Functions and Logic Apps, addressing a long-standing security concern around predictable service endpoints. With the update, newly created apps are automatically assigned unique, non-enumerable hostnames, reducing the risk of reconnaissance, scanning and targeted attacks against commonly named function or workflow URLs. In this way, apps are inherently protected from risks involved with dangling DNS entries.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 01/13/20260 comments
Microsoft announced the indefinite cancellation of the mailbox external recipient rate limit in Exchange Online, removing the fixed cap that restricted how many external recipients a mailbox could email per day. The limit was originally introduced to reduce spam and account compromise risk, but given customer feedback, Microsoft says this no longer aligns with how organizations use email at scale. Instead, Microsoft will use smarter, less disruptive and adaptive approaches that aligns with business workflows.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 01/07/20260 comments
The Dynamic Threat Detection Agent, initially announced at Ignite 2025, is now available for public preview. The new capability runs in Defender with Copilot-sourced alerts to uncover threats that often bypass signature- and rule-based controls. The use of adaptive AI sets the Agent apart because of its ability to find things that rules often miss with a deep integration across the Microsoft security ecosystem. The approach analyzes behavioral signals across identities, endpoints, email and cloud workloads to detect suspicious activity that may not match known attack patterns. The agent continuously adapts detection logic based on observed behavior, helping security teams identify low-and-slow attacks, novel techniques and activity that blends into normal operations.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 01/07/20260 comments
Microsoft has announced the latest release of Azure CycleCloud Workspace for Slurm, a new capability designed to simplify how organizations deploy, manage and operate Slurm-based clusters. The update introduces a more integrated workspace experience that brings cluster lifecycle management, monitoring and configuration into a single interface, reducing the operational complexity traditionally associated with running Slurm at scale. Additional to the update includes integrated monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana, support for compute nodes (ARM64), Single Sign-On Entra ID and compatibility with Ubuntu and AlmaLinux. The release is aimed at strengthening performance, security and usability for HPC environments to reflect Microsoft's ongoing commitment towards flexible yet scalable and secure platforms.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 01/07/20260 comments
Microsoft has introduced the Metadata Security Protocol (MSP) for Azure virtual machines. MSP elevates access control for the Azure Instance Metadata Service (IMDS) and WireServer endpoints—long-used in bootstrapping and management but frequently targeted in attacks such as confused-deputy or internal privilege escalation. By deploying a Guest Proxy Agent in-guest and intercepting metadata requests via eBPF, MSP ensures only authorized processes can access metadata and securely endorses calls using HMAC signatures.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 11/20/20250 comments
Microsoft has announced the general availability of Azure Functions Durable Task Scheduler including the Dedicated SKU to support long-running, event-driven workflows, while the Consumption SKU enters Public Preview. The scheduler provides a managed runtime for task orchestrations, allowing developers to execute high-reliability background jobs—such as data processing, file movement, or batch coordination—without hosting their own worker infrastructure. The Dedicated SKU targets predictable enterprise workloads with reserved throughput and isolation, while the Consumption SKU offers flexibility and pay-per-use pricing.
The release reflects increased demand for resilient orchestration services as organizations modernize batch processes and integrate AI-driven workflows. The Durable Task Scheduler can serve as a backend for the Durable Function App, leveraging apps such as Azure Container Apps, Azure Kubernetes or Azure App Service. Its dedicated infrastructure, custom scaling, high availability in multi-CU deployments and data retention for up to 90 days are some of the main features of the Task Scheduler. The feature is available across all Function App SKUs.
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 11/20/20250 comments
Microsoft has announced the general availability of the Premium V2 tier of Azure API Management, designed to support enterprise-wide API ecosystems with high volume, performance and network isolation. The Premium V2 tier offers the option of either VNet Injection or VNet Integration and provides private endpoint connectivity, availability zones and custom CA certificates. This tier makes it easier for organizations to scale API management globally while maintaining security and monitoring standards essential for production workloads.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 11/20/20250 comments
On October 24, 2025, Azure DDoS Protection detected and neutralized a 15.72 Tbps Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack targeting a single endpoint in Australia—making it the largest DDoS event observed in the cloud to date. The attack, attributed to the Aisuru botnet (a Turbo Mirai-class IoT threat), dispatched nearly 3.64 billion packets per second from over 500,000 source IPs. Using its globally distributed defense infrastructure, Microsoft filtered and redirected malicious traffic in real time and maintained uninterrupted service availability for the affected tenant
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 11/18/20250 comments
Microsoft has announced the public preview of the Exchange Online Admin API, a modern REST API that gives IT teams scalable, service-account–friendly control over mailbox and recipient management. The Admin API is designed to assist users who rely on EWS (scheduled for deprecation in October 2026) for a subset of Exchange administrative tasks. Microsoft's new Admin API supports these functionalities: OrganizationConfig, AcceptedDomain, Mailbox, MailboxFolderPermission, DistributionGroupMember and DynamicDistributionGroupMember.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 11/17/20250 comments
Microsoft has launched the public preview of Azure Native Dell PowerScale, a fully managed service that integrates Dell’s OneFS product directly into Azure. Customers can now choose to use Dell PowerScale in Azure with the benefits of PowerScale's end-to-end data solution. Combining the richness of Azure ecosystems with AI and analytics offerings, along with Dell's efficient management systems, offers the best of both worlds: a managed service implemented through familiar portals like the Azure Portal and Azure Marketplace. Microsoft said the service is designed to provide predictable performance and simplify migrations from on-premises PowerScale systems to cloud-based architectures.
More
Posted by Redmondmag.com Editors on 11/17/20250 comments