Admin portals are the crown jewels of your environment. They hold the power to create, delete, and reconfigure accounts, devices, and apps. If attackers gain access, they don’t just compromise a single user, they compromise your entire tenant. Restricting access ensures that only trusted, compliant devices can reach these sensitive portals, dramatically reducing exposure.
Remote abuse: Stolen admin credentials can be used from anywhere in the world.
Full tenant compromise: Attackers with portal access can disable security policies, create backdoors, and exfiltrate data.
Invisible persistence: Malicious changes made in admin portals often go unnoticed until damage is done.
Go to Entra ID Admin Center.
Navigate: Security > Conditional Access.
Create a new policy:
Assignments: Apply to administrative roles (Global Admins, Security Admins, etc.).
Cloud apps: Target all admin portals.
Conditions: Require compliant or trusted devices.
Access controls: Block all other access.
Enable and enforce the policy.
Overly broad exclusions: Avoid leaving high-value admin roles outside this policy.
Break-glass accounts: Keep one emergency account outside Conditional Access, but secure it with strict controls.
Unmanaged endpoints: Admins logging in from personal laptops or unmanaged devices expose the environment to risk.
Pair with MFA enforcement
Always require MFA for admin roles, even on compliant devices.
Audit portal activity
Regularly review sign-in logs for admin roles to detect unusual access attempts.
Use privileged access workstations (PAWs)
Require admins to use hardened, dedicated devices for portal access.
Rotate and monitor admin accounts
Keep admin membership small, rotate credentials, and alert on new assignments.
Restricting access to admin portals prevents attackers from turning a stolen credential into a full-scale tenant breach. By enforcing access from only compliant and trusted devices, you lock down the control room of your cloud environment. Protect the portals, and you protect everything behind them.