Zero Trust Baseline with Defender XDR and Sentinel | Case Study

Building a Zero Trust baseline with Defender XDR and Sentinel

An enterprise environment adopted a Zero Trust security framework, built on Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel, to strengthen access control and improve threat detection across cloud and on-premises systems.

Engagement led by our founder, AH Gazi. Client name and identifying details are withheld for confidentiality; the diagram shows the general architecture, not the client's systems.

The challenge

Traditional security assumes that anything inside the network can be trusted. With users, devices and data spread across cloud and on-premises systems, that assumption no longer holds, and threats need to be detected across all of those places together rather than one system at a time.

The objective

Base access on verified identity, not network location.
Detect threats across identities, devices, email and endpoints in one place.
Monitor continuously and automate response to common threats.

What was delivered

Zero Trust frameworkA Zero Trust security framework designed and implemented for the environment.
Identity-based accessIdentity-based access controls across cloud and on-premises systems.
Integrated XDR detectionAdvanced threat detection with integrated Microsoft Defender XDR.
Continuous monitoringContinuous monitoring and automated response in Microsoft Sentinel.

Security considerations

Zero Trust rests on three principles: verify explicitly, use least-privilege access, and assume breach. Identity-based access controls address the first two; integrated detection, continuous monitoring and automated response address the third.

Result

OUTCOME 01

Access controlled by identity across cloud and on-premises systems.

OUTCOME 02

Improved threat detection through integrated XDR.

OUTCOME 03

Continuous monitoring with automated response in place.