# Microsoft Entra ID **Entity class:** Cloud identity and access-management system **Architecture:** [[wiki/Signals, Silos, and Sovereign Software|Signals, Silos, and Sovereign Software]] ## Definition **Microsoft Entra ID**, formerly Azure Active Directory, is Microsoft's cloud identity and access-management service for authenticating users, devices, applications, workloads, and service principals. ## Modern Defense and Cybersecurity Role Identity is the control plane of a privatized intelligence environment. Entra ID provides authentication, authorization, conditional access, workload identity, and federation across government, contractor, cloud, and enterprise boundaries. ## Chronological Proximity Microsoft renamed Azure Active Directory as Entra ID in 2023 while identity became a central enforcement layer for Zero Trust architectures. ## Relational Proximity [[wiki/Microsoft Defender for Identity|Defender for Identity]] detects identity attacks, [[wiki/Microsoft Defender XDR|Defender XDR]] correlates them, and Azure services use Entra-issued identities and permissions to govern action. ## Collection Routes [[collections/The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace|The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace]] · [[collections/Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment|Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment]] ## Sources / Provenance - [Primary documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/fundamentals/whatis)