Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access: A Modern Security Service Edge (SSE) Solution

The way people work has changed. Instead of working in traditional offices, people now work from nearly anywhere. With applications and data moving to the cloud, an identity-aware, cloud-delivered network perimeter for the modern workforce is needed. This new network security category is called Security Service Edge (SSE). Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Microsoft Entra Private Access comprise Microsoft’s SSE solution.

🔥 Microsoft Entra Internet Access

Microsoft Entra Internet Access secures access to all internet and SaaS apps and resources while protecting your organization against internet threats, malicious network traffic, and unsafe or noncompliant content with an identity-centric Secure Web Gateway (SWG).

Key Features:

User-aware traffic forwarding – Acquire network traffic using the user-aware internet traffic forwarding profile, either from the desktop client or from a remote network.
Detailed traffic logs & dashboards – Monitor relationship maps between users, devices, and endpoints, cross-tenant access, and top network destinations.
Rich context-aware policies – Leverage user, device, location, risk, and compliance policy integration with Conditional Access.
Web content filtering – Regulate access to internet destinations based on web-content categories or FQDN-domain names.
Universal Conditional Access – Apply policies for all internet destinations, even those not federated with Microsoft Entra ID.

🔥 Microsoft Entra Private Access

Microsoft Entra Private Access provides secured access to private corporate resources—whether in an office or remote—without requiring a legacy VPN.

Key Features:

Zero Trust-based access – Secure access to IP ranges and FQDNs without VPN (Quick Access feature).
Per-app access for TCP/UDP – Granular control over application access.
Modernize legacy app authentication – Deep integration with Conditional Access.
Seamless user experience – Deploy alongside non-Microsoft SSE solutions.

🔗 Entra Global Secure Access: https://lnkd.in/eFPsYt94

You Should Know:

Practical Implementation & Commands

1. Setting Up Conditional Access Policies (Azure CLI)

az login 
az account set --subscription "Your-Subscription-ID" 
az ad conditional-access policy create --name "Block-Unsafe-Apps" --display-name "Block Unsafe SaaS Apps" --state enabled --conditions "{\"applications\":{\"includeApplications\":[\"All\"]},\"users\":{\"includeUsers\":[\"All\"]}}" --grant-controls "{\"operator\":\"OR\",\"builtInControls\":[\"block\"]}"

2. Enabling Web Content Filtering (PowerShell)

Connect-AzureAD 
New-AzureADMSConditionalAccessPolicy -DisplayName "Restrict-High-Risk-Sites" -State "enabled" -Conditions @{ Applications = @{ IncludeApplications = "All" }; Users = @{ IncludeUsers = "All" } } -GrantControls @{ _Operator = "OR"; BuiltInControls = "Block" }

3. Deploying Entra Private Access (Linux Networking)

 Configure Zero Trust access via IPTables (Linux) 
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT -m comment --comment "Allow Entra Private Access" 
sudo iptables -A OUTPUT -p udp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT -m comment --comment "Allow DNS for FQDN resolution"

Monitoring Traffic Logs (KQL Query for Azure Sentinel)

NetworkAccessTrafficLogs 
| where TimeGenerated > ago(7d) 
| summarize count() by UserPrincipalName, DestinationIP 
| render piechart

What Undercode Say:

Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access redefines perimeter security by integrating identity-aware policies, Zero Trust access, and cloud-delivered threat protection. By leveraging Conditional Access, SWG, and VPN-less private access, organizations can secure hybrid workforces efficiently.

Key Linux & Windows Commands to Enhance Security:

Linux (Network Security):

Check active connections 
ss -tuln 
Monitor real-time traffic 
sudo tcpdump -i eth0 -n 'port 443'

Windows (PowerShell for Entra):

Verify Entra connectivity 
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName "login.microsoftonline.com" -Port 443 
List Conditional Access policies 
Get-AzureADMSConditionalAccessPolicy | Select-Object DisplayName, State

Expected Output:

A secure, identity-driven network architecture that eliminates legacy VPN dependencies while enforcing granular access controls across internet, SaaS, and private apps with real-time threat analytics.

🔗 Reference: Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access