Many Microsoft customers will soon have access to expanded cloud logging capabilities at no additional charge, the company said Wednesday, after cybersecurity experts called on it to offer free logging data to organizations using any of its cloud services.
This comes after Microsoft admitted last week that a likely China-based threat actor recently forged authentication tokens to access user email of approximately 25 organizations.
“After working collaboratively over the past year, I am extremely pleased with Microsoft’s decision to make necessary log types available to the broader cybersecurity community at no additional cost,” said Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). “While we recognize this will take time to implement, this is truly a step in the right direction toward the adoption of Secure by Design principles by more companies. We will continue to work with all technology manufacturers, including Microsoft, to identify ways to further enhance visibility into their products for all customers.”
“Today’s announcement comes as a result of our close partnership with CISA, who have called for the industry to take action in order to better protect itself from potential cyber-attacks,” said Vasu Jakkal, Microsoft’s corporate vice-president for security, compliance, identity, and management. “It also reflects our commitment to engaging with customers, partners, and regulators to address the evolving security needs of the modern world.”
Over the coming months Microsoft will include access to a wider variety of cloud security logs for customers at no additional cost, the company said in a blog. IT managers will use Microsoft Purview Audit to see more types of cloud log data generated across their enterprise.