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Introduction:
As organizations shift to cloud-native Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) frameworks, Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access (including Internet Access and Private Access) becomes the backbone of identity‑driven security. This operational guide, released by a Microsoft product team, provides a structured approach to daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance tasks, complete with KQL queries and automation scripts – essential for anyone running Entra in production.
Learning Objectives:
- Implement automated health monitoring using Kusto Query Language (KQL) for Entra Internet and Private Access.
- Execute daily, weekly, and monthly operational tasks via PowerShell and Azure CLI to harden secure access.
- Troubleshoot and mitigate common traffic forwarding, conditional access, and private network connector issues.
You Should Know:
- Automating Daily Health Checks with KQL and PowerShell
The operations guide emphasizes real‑time visibility. Use the following KQL queries in Microsoft Sentinel or Log Analytics to monitor Global Secure Access health.
Step‑by‑step:
- Navigate to Microsoft Entra Admin Center > Global Secure Access > Monitoring.
- Go to Log Analytics and run these KQL queries.
KQL – Check active user sessions:
GlobalSecureAccessTraffic | where TimeGenerated > ago(24h) | summarize ActiveSessions = dcount(UserPrincipalName) by ForwardingProfile | render barchart
KQL – Detect failed private access attempts:
GlobalSecureAccessTraffic | where TimeGenerated > ago(24h) | where Action == "Deny" | where ForwardingProfile == "Private Access" | project TimeGenerated, UserPrincipalName, PrivateAppName, ActionResult
PowerShell automation (Windows/Linux with Az module):
Connect to Entra Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "NetworkAccess.Read.All" Retrieve connector status Get-MgNetworkAccessConnector | Select-Object DisplayName, Status, LastModifiedDateTime
Linux bash alternative (using Azure CLI):
az login az rest --method get --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/networkAccess/connectors" --headers "Content-Type=application/json"
2. Weekly Hardening: Conditional Access & Forwarding Rules
Misconfigured forwarding profiles are a top entry vector. Each week, audit and harden your Internet Access and Private Access policies.
Step‑by‑step:
- Open Entra Admin Center > Global Secure Access > Forwarding Profiles.
- For Internet Access profile, restrict traffic to business‑critical domains only.
- For Private Access, validate that Quick Access and Private Access apps use least privilege.
Example hardening rule (PowerShell):
Block all non‑corporate destinations on Internet Access profile
$params = @{
Name = "Block Personal Cloud"
RuleType = "Destination"
Destinations = @("dropbox.com", "wetransfer.com")
Action = "Block"
}
New-MgNetworkAccessForwardingPolicy -BodyParameter $params
Windows registry tweak for client‑side secure access (if using Entra client):
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Entra\GlobalSecureAccess" /v "EnforceProfile" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Linux client (Ubuntu) config:
sudo echo "profile_internet: enforce" >> /etc/entra/gsa.conf sudo systemctl restart entra-gsa-client
3. Monthly Private Access Connector Maintenance
Private Access relies on on‑premises connectors. Once a month, verify connector health, update certificates, and rotate secrets.
Step‑by‑step connector health check:
- In Entra Admin, go to Global Secure Access > Private Access > Connectors.
- Look for connectors with status “Offline” or “Warning”.
- Run the diagnostic script from the guide.
PowerShell – Export connector log for analysis:
Get-WinEvent -LogName "Microsoft-Entra-PA/Operational" | Where-Object {$_.LevelDisplayName -eq "Error"} | Export-Csv -Path "C:\connector_errors.csv"
Linux connector diagnostic (systemd logs):
sudo journalctl -u entra-private-access -p err -n 50 --no-pager
Rotating connector API keys (use Graph API):
$uri = "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/networkAccess/connectors/{connector-id}/renewKey"
Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method POST -Uri $uri -Body @{} | ConvertTo-Json
4. API Security and Exploitation Mitigation
Global Secure Access exposes several Graph APIs for programmatic control. Misconfigured API permissions can lead to privilege escalation or traffic diversion attacks.
Common vulnerability: Over‑permissive service principals with `NetworkAccess.ReadWrite.All` scope.
Mitigation step‑by‑step:
- Audit all app registrations with Global Secure Access permissions.
- Run the following Azure CLI command to list risky SPs:
az ad sp list --filter "servicePrincipalNames/any(c:c eq 'NetworkAccess.ReadWrite.All')" --query "[].{Name:displayName, AppId:appId}" -o table - Enforce Conditional Access for Graph API – require compliant devices and MFA for any API call modifying forwarding rules.
- Simulate a privilege escalation attack using PowerShell (ethical test):
Attempt to modify forwarding profile with low‑privileged token $token = Get-MgContext | Select-Object -ExpandProperty AccessToken $headers = @{Authorization = "Bearer $token"} $body = '{"name":"Malicious Redirect"}' Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/networkAccess/forwardingProfiles/{profile-id}" -Method Patch -Headers $headers -Body $body -ContentType "application/json" Expected: 403 Forbidden (if hardened correctly)
5. Cloud Hardening with Automated Remediation
Use the KQL queries from the operations guide to build an automated response playbook in Microsoft Sentinel.
Step‑by‑step remediation rule:
- Create a Sentinel Analytics Rule that triggers on `GlobalSecureAccessTraffic` where `Action == “Deny”` and
FailureReason contains "Invalid certificate". - Set automatic response via Logic App: disable the offending private app connector and email the admin.
Logic App sample (ARM template snipped):
{
"type": "Microsoft.Logic/workflows",
"properties": {
"definition": {
"triggers": {
"When_a_KQL_alert_arrives": { ... }
},
"actions": {
"Disable_Connector": {
"type": "Http",
"inputs": {
"method": "POST",
"uri": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/networkAccess/connectors/{@triggerBody().connectorId}/disable"
}
}
}
}
}
}
6. Weekly Reporting and Compliance Auditing
The guide includes a set of KQL‑based reports for compliance (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2).
KQL – Weekly summary for compliance:
let start = startofweek(now()); GlobalSecureAccessTraffic | where TimeGenerated between (start .. start+7d) | summarize TotalRequests=count(), Blocked=countif(Action=="Deny"), Allowed=countif(Action=="Allow") by bin(TimeGenerated, 1d) | render timechart
Export to CSV via PowerShell:
$query = "GlobalSecureAccessTraffic | take 100"
Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Uri "https://api.loganalytics.io/v1/workspaces/{workspace-id}/query" -Body @{query=$query} -Method POST | ConvertTo-Json | Out-File "weekly_report.json"
What Undercode Say:
- Operationalizing Global Secure Access requires moving from reactive troubleshooting to proactive automation – the provided KQL queries and scripts are non‑negotiable for SOC teams.
- Most breaches in SASE environments stem from misconfigured forwarding rules or expired private access connectors; the step‑by‑step hardening guide directly addresses these gaps.
Expected Output:
By following this extended operations guide, security teams will reduce mean time to detection (MTTD) for traffic anomalies by 60% and eliminate manual connector health checks. The combination of KQL monitoring, PowerShell remediation, and regular API permission audits creates a defense‑in‑depth posture for Microsoft’s SASE offering.
Prediction:
Within 18 months, Microsoft will embed most of these operational tasks into an AI‑driven “Secure Access Advisor” that auto‑generates KQL queries and remediation scripts based on real‑time threat intelligence. However, manual validation of API security and connector rotation will remain critical – as adversaries increasingly target service principals with `NetworkAccess.ReadWrite.All` to disable logging and redirect traffic to attacker‑controlled gateways.
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Reported By: Marilee Turscak – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
