Control Access To Microsoft 365 Administrator Portals

What is the new functionality?

In this article, I wanted to inform you about the new functionality that Microsoft added to Conditional Access in Microsoft 365.

The new functionality gives administrators the ability to control access to the Microsoft 365 administrators portal (The Microsoft Admin Portals app).

Administrator portals that are included:

• Microsoft 365 Admin Center
• Exchange admin center
• Azure portal
• Microsoft Entra admin center
• Security and Microsoft Purview compliance portal

An Important Distinction with Microsoft Azure Management App:

You might think, “Can’t we already control access with the Microsoft Azure Management app?” Well, there’s a big difference.

The Microsoft Azure Management app blocks access through APIs and PowerShell too. On the other hand, the Microsoft Admin Portals app applies to interactive sign-ins to the listed admin portals only. In simpler words, that means administrators can control access only when users access the portal via the Graphical User Interface (GUI).

The Microsoft Admin Portals app functionality enables customers to progress along the MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) adoption journey for admins without impacting automation that relies on APIs and PowerShell.

Showcase:

This was just an example. You can use this option for different purposes. You can combine it with other Microsoft Conditional settings.

For example, you can allow access to Microsoft Admin Portals for all administrators but with the condition that they have multi-factor authentication turned on.

See ya in next posts.