XTHE

Your organization has likely spent recent years adopting best practices such as zero-trust architecture. Still, the cybersecurity environment is becoming more challenging.  

Threat actors now use AI to find and exploit vulnerabilities. They automate password attacks, phishing, and deepfake content, join calls, request IT support, and reset passwords. Some use AI to adjust their agents in real time as they move through your network.  

Focus on these four key priorities to lead identity security effectively this year. 

1. Demand AI-powered protection that operates rapidly, adapts instantly, and remains vigilant at all times.  

2. Prioritize the management, oversight, and protection of both AI and AI agents with immediate attention.  

3. Implement zero trust across the organization using a unified access fabric solution.  

4. Establish a strong identity and access foundation for enduring security.  

Use AI-Powered Protection That Is Quick, Adaptable, and Constantly Alert 

In 2026, make it a priority to add AI agents to your workflows. This will help reduce risk, speed up decision-making, and strengthen your defenses.  

Security systems generate a lot of data, but turning that information into clear actions remains mostly manual and can lead to mistakes. Tasks like investigations, policy adjustments, and threat responses often require assembling information from many tools, often under time pressure. Since cyber attackers now use AI to move faster and at a larger scale, relying only on human workflows can hold defenders back.  

Generative and agent-based AI enable teams to proactively manage access, identify policy gaps, and strengthen controls without increasing user friction. You can interact with these agents much like co-workers, reviewing patterns and policies to identify and explain needed changes. A recent study found that identity admins using the conditional access optimization agent in Microsoft Entra finished conditional access tasks 43% faster and 48% more accurately in tested scenarios. These improvements lead to stronger identity security and fewer opportunities for cyber attackers to find weaknesses. Microsoft Entra also comes with built-in AI agents that can review users’ apps, sign-ins, risks, and settings in context. They help you investigate unusual activity, summarize risky behavior, check for sign-in changes, investigate and fix risks, and improve access policies.  

The main benefit of AI-powered protection is its speed, scalability, and flexibility. Human-only workflows can’t keep up with the pace of evolving cyberattacks. By working with AI agents, your teams can frequently assess security, strengthen access controls, and respond to new risks before they become bigger problems.  

Manage, Oversee, and Protect AI and AI Agents 

Treat every AI agent as a critical identity, managing them with the same rigor as human users to avoid security gaps.  

The rise of AI increases the risk of agent sprawl and data leaks. These tools must be secured against emerging threats.  

The good news is that you can use the same zero-trust principles for both human employees and AI agents and manage them with the same tools. You can add advanced controls, including monitoring how agents interact with outside services, setting limits on internet access, and stopping sensitive data from reaching unauthorized AI or SaaS apps.  

With Microsoft Intra Agent ID, you can register and manage agents using familiar Intra experiences. Each agent receives its own identity, which improves visibility and auditability across your security stack. Requiring a human sponsor to govern an agent’s identity and life cycle helps prevent orphaned agents and preserves accountability as agents and teams evolve. You can even automate lifecycle actions for onboarding and retiring agents using conditional access policies. You can block risky agents and set guardrails for least privilege and just-in-time access to resources.  

Microsoft Internet Access detects and secures risky or unsanctioned apps, protects against attacks, and prevents data leaks with network filtering and classification policies. Visibility over network activity lets you use AI agents safely, ensuring policy adherence.  

Extend Zero Trust Principles Everywhere With an Integrated Access Fabric Security Solution 

Identity systems manage credentials and access rights, but may miss network activity. Integrate identity and network access into your Zero Trust setup so they work through a single policy engine. This improves visibility and control over each user session.  

Many organizations use multiple identity and network solutions from different vendors, obstructing visibility. Attackers exploit gaps, using AI to automate phishing and increase breaches.  

A unified platform combines identity, network, and device data for consistent access controls, whether work happens in the cloud, on-site, or at the edge. Drawing on multiple sources, it better evaluates risk and continuously checks trust for real-time, risk-based decisions.  

Microsoft Intra secures access for AI, SaaS apps, internet traffic, and private resources by uniting identity and network controls under a single zero-trust policy engine. Microsoft Entra Conditional Access continuously tracks user and network risks and updates policies immediately when risk levels change, blocking access for users, apps, or AI agents as needed.  

With Entra, your security team sets policies centrally with assurance that they are enforced everywhere. These adaptive controls safeguard users, devices, and AI agents, closing security gaps and simplifying policy management.  

Strengthen Your Identity and Access Foundation to Start Secure and Stay Secure 

Start with a secure foundation using phishing-resistant credentials and strong identity checks to ensure only authorized people can access your systems even during authentication and recovery.  

A baseline security model sets minimum standards for identity, access, system hardening, and monitoring. Use controls like security defaults, Microsoft-managed conditional access, or Microsoft 365 baseline security mode. Move from passwords to passkeys for stronger, easier sign-ins. Use robust recovery and onboarding processes requiring government-issued identification and biometric checks to stop bad actors and AI impersonators.  

Microsoft Entra helps you enforce best practices, including using phishing-resistant credentials, which are authentication methods that protect against fraudulent login attempts for all accounts, and passkey rules. Most admins or users in regulated industries can use device-bound passkeys, such as physical security keys or codes generated by Microsoft Authenticator. Others can use synced passkeys, which are cloud-stored credentials for ease of use. Protect all admin accounts with phishing-resistant credentials and require new employees to set up a passkey before access. With Microsoft Entra Verified ID, you can add a live person check verifying that the user is present and confirm government-issued identification for enrollment and recovery.  

Combine access policies, device compliance, threat detection, and identity protection to further strengthen your foundation.  

Support Your Identity and Network Access Priorities With Microsoft 

The 2026 plan is clear. Use AI for rapid, scaled protection. Secures AI and agents. Apply zero trust with an access fabric solution and strengthen your identity foundation. These steps keep your organization agile and resilient. Evolving threats demand that you outpace advanced attacks.  
Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2026/01/20/four-priorities-for-ai-powered-identity-and-network-access-security-in-2026/