Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), Microsoft’s identity service, will now be known as Microsoft Entra ID.

Today, Microsoft Azure AD offers a full suite of security tools ranging from single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to conditional access. According to the software giant, the platform offers defense against 99.9 percent of cyber attacks. Although the name is widely used among IT teams, Microsoft believes it’s time to change things within Azure.

The name change to Microsoft Entra ID will not affect the functionality of the service. Within Azure AD, everything works as it does today. License plans remain the same, as do login URLs and APIs.

According to Microsoft, administrators need not worry. All current configurations, integrations and other projects will continue to work as before. Starting today, IT teams will see a notification in the admin portal or elsewhere in Azure AD.

The transition from Azure AD to Microsoft Entra ID must be completed by the end of 2023. No action is required on the customer side, the software giant is in control.

Two new services

Along with the name change, Microsoft is also introducing two new services in public preview: Entra Internet Access and Entra Private Access.

With Entra Internet Access you can secure public web services. Admins can restrict visitors with conditional access. According to Microsoft, the formula is intended to protect access to the Internet, SaaS and Microsoft 365 apps.

With Entra Private Access, Microsoft offers a VPN-like solution that enables remote access to internal, private company services. This is a so-called Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), which enables secure access to private apps and resources.

Both are now available for testing. Microsoft plans to make the service generally available later this year.