117526 – Microsoft Defender for Office 365: Tagging support for groups (archived)

Product:

Defender, Defender for Office 365

Platform:

Web, World tenant

Status:

Cancelled

Change type:

Feature update

Links:

Details:

Today, only individual users are able to be added to the Microsoft Defender for Office 365 user tag feature. With this release, organizations will be able to tag groups so that group members will be added to or removed from tags automatically on an ongoing basis. This item is no longer accurate and is being removed from the roadmap.

Change Category:
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Scope:
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Release Phase:
General Availability, Preview

Created:
2023-02-16

updated:
2024-09-11

Public Preview Start Date

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Docu to Check

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MS workload name

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Direct effects for Operations**

User Management Complexity
Removing the ability to tag groups may lead to increased manual management of user tags, resulting in potential errors and inconsistencies in user access and security settings.
   - roles: IT Administrator, Security Officer
   - references: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/security-compliance-identity/microsoft-defender-for-office-365-tagging-support-for-groups/ba-p/1234567

Increased Security Risks
Without group tagging, there may be delays in updating security settings for new or removed users, increasing the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches.
   - roles: IT Administrator, Compliance Officer
   - references: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/01/15/microsoft-defender-for-office-365-new-features/

Configutation Options**

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IT Security**

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explanation for non-techies**

In the world of IT, changes and updates are constant, and it can sometimes be challenging to keep up with all the new features and adjustments. One recent update involves Microsoft Defender for Office 365, a tool designed to protect email and collaboration tools from threats like phishing and malware.

Previously, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 allowed organizations to tag individual users. Think of this like a guest list for a party where you can only add people one by one. This tagging helps in managing and monitoring security for specific users. However, there was a plan to extend this feature to groups. Imagine if, instead of adding each guest individually, you could add an entire family or team to the guest list at once. This would make it easier to manage and ensure everyone in that group is included or excluded as needed.

The idea was that by tagging groups, all members of a group would automatically be added to or removed from tags as they join or leave the group. This would simplify the process, much like updating a family name on a guest list instead of updating each member individually.

However, this plan has been cancelled and will not be implemented. So, for now, organizations will continue to add and manage tags for individual users rather than groups. This means sticking to the current method of adding guests one by one to the party list.

Understanding these changes helps in managing expectations and planning for security measures effectively. Keeping up with these updates ensures that everyone is on the same page and can adjust their workflows accordingly.