Strengthening Microsoft Entra: How Secfense Secures What Entra Doesn’t Cover

Microsoft Entra has become the cornerstone of many enterprise identity and access management (IAM) strategies. With deep integration into Microsoft 365, conditional access, and expanding passwordless features, it delivers a robust foundation for managing cloud-based identities.

However, enterprise environments are rarely limited to Microsoft-native systems. Many organizations still rely on legacy applications, hybrid deployments, and on-premises infrastructure — all of which require authentication coverage that extends beyond Entra’s native reach.

That’s where Secfense complements Microsoft Entra: enabling phishing-resistant authentication and FIDO2-compliant passkey support across every system — including those that Entra doesn’t natively protect.

When Microsoft Entra Needs Support

Entra provides:

• Single Sign-On (SSO) via SAML or OIDC

• Conditional Access and adaptive risk controls

• Passwordless login through Microsoft Authenticator and Windows Hello

• Strong integration with Microsoft Defender and Graph for visibility

Yet, several identity use cases remain partially or completely outside its scope.

1. Legacy and On-Prem Applications

Many organizations maintain internal web apps that don’t support modern authentication protocols.

Secfense enables FIDO2 and passkey-based MFA for those applications without requiring code modifications or identity synchronization. Acting as a reverse proxy, Secfense enforces phishing-resistant authentication for on-prem and legacy systems — bringing them to modern security standards without disrupting existing workflows.

(Read more on secfense.com)

2. Customer Identity (CIAM) and External Users

Enterprises increasingly serve customers, contractors, and partners who need secure, passwordless access.

Secfense extends FIDO2 and passkey authentication to external and consumer-facing applications — even those not integrated with Entra. It allows organizations to apply FIDO standards directly across CIAM portals, improving usability, privacy, and compliance with regulations such as PSD2, NIS2, and DORA.

(Learn how Secfense supports CIAM environments)

3. Local Identity Ownership

Certain sectors — including finance, government, and critical infrastructure — require local identity governance and prohibit synchronization to cloud directories.

Secfense supports modern FIDO2 authentication directly from on-prem Active Directory (AD). This means organizations can adopt phishing-resistant, passwordless authentication while keeping all identity data under local control.

4. Authenticator and Passkey Flexibility

While Microsoft Authenticator and Windows Hello offer strong protection within the Microsoft ecosystem, many enterprises need broader flexibility.

Secfense works with any FIDO2-compliant authenticator — hardware security keys, biometric platform authenticators, or mobile passkeys — providing enterprises full control over where and how credentials are stored and used.

Layered Authentication: Defense in Depth

Modern identity architectures should never rely on a single security layer. Even when users authenticate through Entra, Secfense can enforce additional authentication policies at the application level, such as:

• Secondary FIDO2 or passkey prompts for high-risk actions

• Microauthorizations — step-up verification for critical transactions

• Session-level access policies beyond the initial login

This separation of concerns — between identity management (Entra) and authentication enforcement (Secfense) — aligns with Zero Trust principles and helps organizations achieve defense-in-depth security.

(See how Secfense implements microauthorizations)

Complementing, Not Replacing

Secfense does not replace Microsoft Entra. It strengthens and extends it.

In a typical architecture:

• Microsoft Entra manages identity federation, SSO, and access policies.

• Secfense adds phishing-resistant MFA to legacy, on-prem, and CIAM applications — without rewriting code or installing endpoint agents.

This modular approach lets organizations protect critical systems while continuing to benefit from their Microsoft investments.

Summary: Secfense Capabilities in Microsoft Environments

Final Thoughts

Enterprise identity can’t stop where the cloud begins. True Zero Trust security requires protection for every application — legacy, hybrid, or customer-facing.

Microsoft Entra provides a strong identity foundation. Secfense extends it — adding phishing-resistant authentication, passkey flexibility, and local control without rewriting code or replacing your IAM stack.

👉 Schedule a call with our team to learn how Secfense can strengthen your Microsoft Entra environment and enable phishing-resistant authentication everywhere.