Recent Discussions
Why Your Copilot Studio Agent Fails in Production (And How to Fix It)
Most Copilot Studio tutorials show you how to build a chatbot. This post is about something harder: building agents that actually work in production. I architect enterprise agents at a hospitality company — handling customer email triage, HR workflows, helpdesk automation, and reporting pipelines across multiple systems. One of those agents reduced human handling time per customer email from ~12 minutes to under 2 minutes (88% reduction) by orchestrating sentiment analysis, CRM lookups, SOP research via child agents, and response drafting — all before a human agent ever opens the email. Here is what I've learned building at that scale. The Four Layers Every Enterprise Agent Needs Most teams design only the top layer and treat everything else as "we'll figure it out later." By the time the other layers become urgent — usually after an incident — they're too expensive to retrofit. Layer Component Conversation Topics · Entities · Adaptive Cards · NLU Orchestration Agent routing · Context passing · State Integration Connectors · Power Automate · Azure Functions Governance DLP · Auth · ALM · Monitoring · Logging Build the governance layer first. Design the conversation layer last. The demo will be slightly less impressive. The production deployment will be significantly more stable. The Three Mistakes I See Most Often 1. Slot-filling designed for the happy path The default Copilot Studio pattern collects parameters one by one. It breaks the moment your flow has conditional branches — which every real enterprise workflow does. Use intent-first routing instead: identify what the user wants before collecting any parameters, then branch to a sub-flow that collects only what that variant needs. 2. Multi-agent context that gets dropped When you delegate from a router agent to a capability agent, the receiving agent needs to know who the user is and what conversation state to preserve. Native session variables don't cross agent boundaries. Build an explicit context envelope — a JSON object passed at delegation time — that carries user identity, security scope, origin topic, and return context. Your agents become stateless with respect to each other. Context travels with the conversation. 3. No async pattern for slow integrations A synchronous request that works for a REST API returning in 200ms will silently fail for a legacy system query that takes 45 seconds. Design async from day one: submit to an Azure Service Bus queue, return a correlation ID, acknowledge the user, and use proactive messaging to deliver the result when it's ready. This is the single biggest gap between demos and production deployments. A Note on Authentication — Chatbots vs. Autonomous Agents This is a distinction most articles get wrong, so it's worth being explicit. Chatbots have a human on the other end of the conversation. Authentication options here include Entra ID SSO (works in Teams and SharePoint channels where the user's identity is delegated to the agent) or client ID + secret (validates against AD but without user delegation — the agent authenticates as itself, not as the user). Autonomous agents are different in a fundamental way: there is no human in the authentication loop. The agent authenticates using the identity of the account that owns and runs it. There is no SSO because there is no interactive user session. This distinction matters because the security model shifts entirely — you are no longer protecting a user session, you are protecting a service identity. This gets more interesting when your autonomous agent connects to non-Microsoft systems. There is no universal pattern here — it depends entirely on what the external system supports: - API Key / Secret — the most common pattern for SaaS integrations. The external system issues a scoped key specifically for this integration. Store it in Azure Key Vault or encrypted Power Platform environment variables, never hardcoded in a flow. The scoping question is critical: is this a full-admin key or a least-privilege key issued only for what this agent needs? - OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials (machine-to-machine) — the agent authenticates as itself using client ID + secret against the external system's auth server and receives a bearer token. No user involved, fully automated. - Basic Auth on legacy systems — still common in enterprise environments. Credentials must live in Key Vault, not in flow variables or connector configuration in plain text. - Custom connector with encrypted connection — Power Platform manages the auth at the connector level; credentials are stored encrypted and scoped to the environment. The governing principle across all of these: the identity the agent uses to call an external system should be issued specifically for that integration, scoped to only the permissions that agent needs, stored securely (Key Vault or encrypted environment variables), and auditable — meaning the external system's logs show the agent's calls as a distinct identity, not a shared admin account that 12 other things also use. Before You Go to Production — Quick Checklist [ ] Autonomous agent's owning account/service principal is scoped to least-privilege — access only to systems the agent needs, nothing broader [ ] Non-Microsoft system credentials stored in Azure Key Vault or encrypted environment variables — never hardcoded in flows [ ] Each external system integration uses a dedicated, scoped credential — not a shared admin account [ ] External system audit logs show the agent as a distinct, identifiable caller [ ] DLP policies configured per environment — production is strict, dev is permissive [ ] Dataverse schema finalized before topic design begins [ ] Error handling designed for every integration point with user-readable failure messages [ ] Async pattern in place for any integration that may take > 10 seconds [ ] ALM pipeline configured: Dev → Test → UAT → Prod with automated solution checker [ ] Application Insights connected with custom events for key agent actions [ ] Escalation rate baseline established with alert threshold configured The One Question to Ask Before Building Anything "What does success look like in six months, and what data does the agent need access to in order to achieve it?" That answer determines your Dataverse schema, your integration architecture, your authentication model, and your DLP policy — before a single topic is created. Agents designed from that question forward are maintainable and trusted by the business. Agents designed from the conversation layer down spend their first year in retrofitting mode. Happy to go deeper on any of these layers in the comments — particularly multi-agent context passing and the async pattern, which I find generate the most questions in enterprise deployments.
Still Contributing, Still Supporting the Community — But Still Questioning the MVP Decision
I still don’t understand the reason behind my rejection from the Microsoft MVP Program. For years, I have been actively contributing to the tech community in Tunisia through free events, international conferences, training sessions, mentoring, and knowledge sharing around Microsoft technologies, Data, Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, and AI. I proudly represent my country in many community initiatives and continue supporting professionals and students with passion and dedication. What makes this decision difficult to understand is the lack of clear feedback or explanation regarding the refusal. Transparency is important, especially in a global program that values community impact and leadership. I will continue contributing to the community with the same energy and commitment, because community work is bigger than any title.
MVP membership
Good day, I would like to become a MVP - but I remember in the past you need to be sponsored and be active in the technical Microsoft forums ? I've got a MCSE. MSCD, MCDBA and MCT certifications under my belt. But not sure what the next step is ? I also my internship in the UK with the SRG team in Reading.... (and met the developer who designed and codes the old 'robocopy' console app :) Thanks and regards, Pieter ClaassensMVP Enthusiast
working professional more than 25 years of work exprience i do create videos on excel tutorial but never be earned pretigious award of MVP i dont know only if i post expertise on learn.microsoft.com then only my experience count as i am the expert ? my dream is dream to become MVP one just small desire have nice day all dont want to spam but just this is my feeling thanks
MVP Nomination form for filling in community activities did not save
Hi MVP team, I have been nominated by another MVP. I tried many times to create community activities, but the page didn't save my information. I started from scratch on a different computer with a private web browser. But it still does not work. Can anyone help me investigate it, or does anyone else face the same problem as I do? I also sent an email to mvpga I'm waiting for them to reply, but my submission deadline is 12 Feb 2026. I hope to fill out the form before the deadline. Thank you for any suggestions. Best regards, PitiMicrosoft MVP Summit
Hello greetings to all members. I have to discuss something very important as you know it's be very good feelings when we became MVP and you guys also know that one of the most important & favorite part that we can attend mvp summit physically & visit Microsoft campus hq at Redmond/ Bellevue it's like our dream come true coz visit Microsoft Redmond campus is everyone wish who love Microsoft. But 2020 to 2022 due to covid it's all become virtual which is heartbreaking coz almost all mvp want to attend mvp summit in real.. It's my request that Microsoft should resume it's MVP summit from next year so we can visit Microsoft campus in Redmond & Bellevue in real & now almost everything become normal, all physical activities resumed so Microsoft also resume the MVP summit & invite those mvp who are vaccinated.. I am very excited for 2023 mvp summit coz I am sure it will be all physical not virtual.Understanding the Microsoft MVP Program: Seeking Clear Guidance
Hello everyone, I’d like to start a discussion about the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Program. My main concern is understanding the process of becoming an MVP and the specific requirements involved. I know the program recognizes exceptional community leaders and experts who share their knowledge and support others, but the actual path to nomination and selection seems a bit unclear. Could anyone share clear guidance on the eligibility criteria, the nomination process, the types of contributions that are most valued, and practical tips to strengthen an application? Your insights and experiences would be highly valuable, not just to me but also to others in the community who may be interested in pursuing this recognition. Thank you so much for your attention and participation.Unable to Sign In - MVP Program Hub
When I sign in, the page seems to load with a spinning popup bar. However, after a while, I get the message: "We couldn't sign you in. Please try again." I have tried the following steps, but nothing worked: Clearing the cache Using an incognito tab Changing my password As a result, I cannot access the MVP Summit Scholarship page or the FAQ page, which is frustrating since I need the information. Could you please help me on that? Thanks in advance.Feedback Request: Seamless Context Retention Between Voice and Text Modes in Copilot
בקשת שיפור: שימור הקשר בין מצב קולי לצ'אט כתוב ב־Copilot מאת: מיכאל, MS MVP (ישראל) נושא: שיחה רציפה והקשר נשמר בין קול לכתב תיוגים: Copilot, VoiceChat, ContextRetention, CrossModeSync, AI usability, Excel integration, MS MVP, User Experience, Productivity, Accessibility Feedback Request: Seamless Context Retention Between Voice and Text Modes in Copilot From: Michael, MS MVP (Israel) Topic: Improve continuity and preserve context when switching between voice and text conversations in Copilot Tags: Copilot, VoiceChat, ContextRetention, CrossModeSync, AI usability, Excel integration, MS MVP, User Experience, Productivity, Accessibility Description: Currently, when transitioning between voice and text modes in Copilot, the ongoing conversation context is lost, resulting in a fresh and disconnected session. This poses challenges for users engaged in technical workflows (e.g., Excel functions, coding steps, formula exploration), where discussion begins in voice and requires visual follow-up in text — yet the system fails to remember what was just discussed. Use Case: A user verbally asks for help creating a complex Excel formula. After several minutes of voice dialog, they switch to text mode to view and refine the formula — only to discover that Copilot no longer remembers the earlier voice interaction, forcing redundant explanation and a break in continuity. Suggested Improvements: Enable persistent conversation memory across modes Automatically bring recent voice summary into the next text session Introduce an intelligent switch that allows users to move from voice to text (and back) with full context preserved Support visual rendering (e.g., formulas, graphs) within voice sessions Value to Users: This improvement would dramatically boost workflow efficiency, reduce friction in technical tasks, and allow users to engage naturally — choosing the mode best suited to their needs without sacrificing consistency. תיאור: בעת מעבר בין שיחה קולית לצ'אט כתוב ב־Copilot, לא נשמר ההקשר הקודם. השיחה מתחילה מחדש, דבר שמפריע במיוחד בשיח טכני בו מבקשים תוכן חזותי (למשל נוסחה או קוד) אחרי שדנים בו בקול. מקרה שימוש: המשתמש שואל בקול איך ליצור נוסחה מורכבת באקסל. לאחר שיחה קולית ארוכה, הוא עובר לצ'אט כדי לראות אותה בכתב — אך מגלה ש־Copilot שכח את השיחה הקודמת. צריך לחזור על הכול מחדש. הצעות לשיפור: שימור הקשר מלא במעבר בין קול לכתב סיכום קולי אוטומטי שיופיע בצ'אט כתוב מעבר חכם בין המצבים תוך שמירת רצף אפשרות להציג תוכן טכני גם בשיחה קולית ערך למשתמשים: חוויית שימוש חכמה, טבעית ורציפה ללא הפרעות. מתאים במיוחד למשתמשים טכניים, אנשי מקצוע, תלמידים וכל מי שעובד באופן דינמי ומעמיק. Feel free to reach out if you'd like to explore this idea further. I’d be happy to help. Best regards, (micky) Avidan Michael Microsoft MVP – OFFICE 365 EXCEL Email: email address removed for privacy reasons Relevant tags: Copilot, VoiceChat, ContextRetention, Excel integration, MS MVP, User Experience, Productivity, Accessibility
We need to stop bullying in gaming and make it safe for everyone
I help in my community we have a church outreach program where the goal is to better society by helping youth navigate the horrible situation with online bullying especially in gaming i plan to help Xbox/microsoft in this idea because as with my community I believe everyone should treat one another fairly and without discrimination I have been a proud member of our tech outreach program at the church for 4 years and plan on making more progroms like it so that society can move forward without discrimination as someone who has been discriminated against for being disabled this is very important to me Sincerely Jake CramerCloud Forensics investigations in Azure
How to apply the principles and methods of digital forensics within the cloud environment to investigate a security incident? Cloud forensics seeks to apply the principles and methods of digital forensics within the cloud environment to investigate any security incident. To obtain digital evidence in a cloud environment, investigators must know the data location and the access level exercised by a specific organization on that data. Cloud forensics has many uses: Investigation Cloud forensics helps in finding the source of different cloud-based crimes and solving organized cloud crimes, policy violations in a public environment, and suspicious activities in a cloud environment. In the investigation process, all sources, including manual and mechanical, are analyzed and the results are revealed. This helps the clients and service providers to secure their cloud services. Troubleshooting Cloud forensic techniques assist users in troubleshooting by determining the data and hosts that are physically and virtually present in a cloud environment. They allow users to find and resolve any errors or security issues in the cloud. They help in understanding the trends of past security attacks to tackle any incident in the future. Log monitoring Cloud forensic techniques include processes for generating, storing, analyzing, and correlating the massive volumes of log data created within a cloud environment. These data help the users and service providers to audit, analyze, and calculate various aspects of the cloud environment; they also help security officials in checking whether a cloud system complies with the regulatory standards. Data and system recovery Cloud forensics involves recovery procedures that help forensic practitioners in recovering lost, accidentally deleted, corrupted, and inaccessible data. It also enables the data acquisition of cloud systems and the creation of a forensic copy of the data that can be used by the service providers as back up; forensic experts can use this copy as evidence in the court of law. Due diligence/regulatory compliance Cloud forensics also deals with the security aspects of an organization in securing critical data, maintaining necessary records for auditing purposes, and notifying the concerned team when any suspicious activity is reported; for instance, if private data have been misused or exposed. It also helps in finding the sections that miss a regulatory compliance and fixes. Cyber Kill Chain Security Center’s threat protection includes fusion kill-chain analysis, which automatically correlates alerts in your environment based on cyber kill-chain analysis, to help you better understand the full story of an attack campaign, where it started and what kind of impact it had on your resources. Security Center’s supported kill chain intents are based on the MITRE ATT&CK™ framework. As illustrated below, the typical steps that trace the stages of a cyberattack Reconnaissance: The observation stage where attackers assess your network and services to identify possible targets and techniques to gain entry. Intrusion: Attackers use knowledge gained in the reconnaissance phase to get access to a part of your network. This often involves exploring a flaw or security hole. Exploitation: This phase involves exploiting vulnerabilities and inserting malicious code onto the system to get more access. Privilege Escalation: Attackers often try to gain administrative access to compromised systems so they can get access to more critical data and move into other connected systems. Lateral Movement: This is the act of moving laterally to connected servers and gain greater access to potential data. Obfuscation / Anti-forensics: To successfully pull off a cyberattack, attackers need to cover their entry. They will often compromise data and clear audit logs to try to prevent detection by any security team. Denial of Service: This phase involves disruption of normal access for users and systems to keep the attack from being monitored, tracked, or blocked. Exfiltration: The final extraction stage: getting valuable data out of the compromised systems. Threat Hunting Tools and Methodology To ensure maximum visibility of the attack chain, hunters use data sourced from proprietary incident response tooling for point-in-time deep scanning on endpoints, as well as bespoke forensic triage tools on devices of interest. For point-in-time deep scanning, for forensic investigations uses: Proprietary incident response tooling for Windows and Linux. Forensic triage tool on devices of interest. Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) security and configuration assessment. For continuous monitoring: Microsoft Sentinel — Provides centralized source of event logging. Uses machine learning and artificial intelligence. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint — For behavioral, process-level detection. Uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to quickly respond to threats while working side-by-side with third-party antivirus vendors. Microsoft Defender for Identity — For detection of common threats and analysis of authentication requests. It examines authentication requests to Azure AD from all operating systems and uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to quickly report many types of threats, such as pass-the-hash, golden and silver ticket, skeleton key, and many more. Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps — Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) that supports various deployment modes including log collection, API connectors, and reverse proxy. It provides rich visibility, control over data travel, and sophisticated analytics to identify and combat cyberthreats across all your Microsoft and third-party cloud services. Deep scan includes proprietary endpoint scanners such as ASEP, Fennec, LIFE, and FoX Enterprise data includes Active Directory Configuration and Antivirus logs. Global telemetry includes the Intelligent Security Graph, the largest sensor network in the world. Continuous monitoring includes the following: Microsoft Defender for Office 365, which monitors spoofing impersonation, and content analysis. Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, which monitors app discovery, access management, and data loss prevention. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, which monitors exploitation, installation, and command and control channel. Microsoft Defender for Identity, which monitors reconnaissance, lateral movement, and domain dominance. Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Sentinel, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud, which include advanced hunting, alerting, and correlation across data sources. This is example Hunting through the Attach chain: Starting with IOCs (“known bads”) The hunting cycle starts with hunting for indicators or “known bads,” ranging from the smallest unit of indicators to behavioral indicators that may define the actor. An incident response investigation is more manageable when you start off with an initial indicator of compromise (IOC) trigger, or a “known bad,” to take you to any additional findings. We typically begin with data reduction techniques to limit the data we’re looking at. One example is data stacking, which helps us filter and sort out forensic artifacts by indicator across the enterprise environment until we’ve determined that several machines across the same environment have been confirmed with that same IOC trigger. We then enter the hunting flow and rinse and repeat this process. When a security incident is detected on the Azure cloud platform, investigators must examine the log data collected from various sources. If a VM is found to be affected, it is important to take a snapshot of the OS disk of the VM for further investigation. This section discusses the forensic acquisition methodology of an Azure VM and discusses an assumed scenario to divide the whole process into multiple steps. Virtual machine acquisition on the Azure cloud platform includes the following steps: Create a snapshot of the OS disk of the suspect VM via Azure portal or Azure CLI Copy the snapshot to a storage account under different resource groups where it can be stored for forensic analysis Delete the snapshot from the source resource group and create a backup copy Mount the snapshot onto the forensic workstation DFIR Scenario: In my environment I created two resource group in the same Azure Subscription: Uros-PROD for production enviroment SECURITY-UROS for DFIR investigations Under Uros-PROD resource group there is VM called Ubuntu-Uros which is suspected to be compromised As a forensics investigator I need to take snapshot of the OS disk of the suspected VM Ubuntu -Uros for further DIFR investigations: Step 1: Create Snapshot of the OS disk of the affected VM in Azure Portal Shut down th VM Ubuntu-Uros whose snapshot needs to be created Step 2: Locate Ubuntu Ubuntu-Uros_OsDisk from Uros-PROD resource group Step 3: Click on Snapshot button Step 4: Create snapshot of the OS disk on the Affected VM Ubuntu -UrosGive desired name of OS snapshot (urosubuntudisksnap)storage type standard HDD Step 5: urosubuntudisksnap snapshot is successfully created Step 6: Mount the snapshot onto the forensic workstation: Open File Explorer from the Start Menu or press Win+E key togetherSelect This PC from the left-side menu, click on Computer, and select Map Network DriveSelect the drive letter and provide the UNC path in file shareIf prompted, provide the storage account name as username and storage key as passwordThe file share chfishare is now mounted under Network Locations . Double-click on the mounted share to view the dd file Step 7: Analyze the Snapshot via Autopsy Once the file share containing the disksnapshot.dd file is mounted on the Forensic workstation, you can conduct forensic examination on the contents of the OS disk of the affected VM via tools like Autopsy RECOMMENDATIONS AND BEST PRACTICES: Recommendations for devices Active Directory Hardening You should review the Active Directory Administrative Tier model (0/1/2), Restrict Service Accounts from interactive logins. Use MSA or GMSA for Service Accounts Standardize DCs and reduce attack surface Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Enroll 100% of devices in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Actively monitor alerts and quickly take action on issues in the console Leverage Microsoft Threat Experts for help monitoring advanced attacks Regularly review Threat and Vulnerability Management and follow remediation steps, starting with most critical to your organization Patching Implement a comprehensive patching strategy across all systems, for both Microsoft and 3rd party products. This is critical. Windows 10 Hygiene Tighten up Windows 10 build to N-1. Enable Credential/Device/Exploit Guard, Windows Hello for Business, SmartScreen, Application Control, Controlled Folder Access, Attack Surface Reduction, BitLocker, Secure Boot, etc. Windows Firewall Ensure this is enabled on 100% of computers via Group Policy. This greatly reduces lateral movement attack surface Block all the incoming connection on the clients (manage the exceptions for Help Desk access) Recommendations for identity Manage Legacy protocols Inventory & Disable SMBv1 Inventory & Disable NTLM Inventory & Discontinue use of TLS 1.0 and 1.1 (EOL ‘Spring 2021’) Update all services & apps which use SMTP, Telnet, FTP, IMAP, etc. to modern non-clear-text alternatives. This is required to disable Legacy Authentication in Office 365, which is required for Conditional Access Strong Authentication A username and password is no longer enough. Use technologies such as Passwordless, Hello for Business, FIDO, Azure AD MFA or OATH tokens to enforce Strong Authentication for all signings. Centralize Logging Ensure that sign in data flows to a central location for detailed analysis and enrichment Just-in-time administration Where possible, enforce just-in-time access for administration, using solutions like Privileged Identity Management for Azure AD or Privileged Access Management for Active Directory Credential Hygiene Continue Credential Hygiene Best Practices www.aka.ms/tier0 for reference materials Recommendations for access Risk based access Consider using the risk level of users and devices as a condition for accessing corporate systems Block access or require higher level of confidence for users and/or devices based on risky activities Requires Azure AD Identity Protection and / or Intune and MDE enrolment Remote Tools & VPN Remote access tools were identified. Ensure that 100% of these are managed & monitored for legitimate usage Ensure VPN clients are legitimate & monitored, and MFA is required Monitor & Audit MSSP Perform regular audits of any external vendors management and activity Privileged Access Workstation (PAW) Securing privileged access is a critical first step to establishing security assurances for business assets in a modern organization. The security of most or all business assets in an IT organization depends on the integrity of the privileged accounts used to administer, manage, and develop. This above figure shows how reversing the control relationship and accessing user apps from an admin workstation gives the attacker no path to the targeted object. The user jump box is still exposed to risk so appropriate protective controls, detective controls, and response processes should still be applied for that internet-facing computer. Securing privileged access is a critical first step to establishing security assurances for business assets in a modern organization. The security of most or all business assets in an IT organization depends on the integrity of the privileged accounts used to administer, manage, and develop. Plan deployment of Privileged Admin Workstation (PAW) for EA/DA T0, T1, and Azure admins. Monitor T0 accounts and audit usage regularly. Recommendations for cloud User Entity Behavioral Analytics (UEBA) Use Cloud App Security and Azure AD Identity Protection to identify anomalous user activity. Manage and respond to alerts regularly to help train the systems. Azure Security Center Monitor and manage IaaS and PaaS security configurations to protect cloud workloads. Use Insights and Recommendations to prioritize and plan remediation activities Azure Monitor + Defender for Cloud + Sentinel+XDR Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud-native SIEM tool; Microsoft 365 Defender provides XDR capabilities for end-user environments (email, documents, Microsoft Teams, identity, apps, and endpoint); and Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides XDR capabilities for infrastructure and multicloud platforms including virtual machines, databases, containers, storage, and IoT. Altogether, the security operations team gets a fully integrated solution to prevent, detect, respond to, and protect against attacks Microsoft 365 security center Benefit from a combined incident queue, correlation of signals across cloud services and configuration management for multiple platforms in one place. https://security.microsoft.com Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Use behavioral analysis of emails, attachments and files to protect Office 365 from zero day or polymorphic threats. Anti-Phishing policies help protect against user or domain impersonation. Regularly review and respond to alerts in the Microsoft 365 security center and train end-users with Attack Simulation training modules. SMB — Preventing SMB traffic Because SMB is a remote file system, it requires protection from attacks where a Windows computer might be tricked into contacting a malicious server running inside a trusted network or to a remote server outside the network perimeter. Firewall best practices and configurations can enhance security preventing malicious traffic from leaving the computer or its network. Impact of changes Blocking connectivity to SMB may prevent various applications or services from functioning. For a list of Windows and Windows Server applications and services that may stop functioning, review Service overview and network port requirements for Windows. Weak Passwords Enable Azure AD Password Protection Detects and blocks known weak passwords and their variants and can also block additional weak terms that are specific to your organization. On-premises deployment of Azure AD Password Protection uses the same global and custom banned password lists that are stored in Azure AD and does the same checks for on-premises password changes as Azure AD does for cloud-based changes. These checks are performed during password changes and password reset events against on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain controllers. Password Leak Azure Identity Protection Azure AD works by calculating a user risk level for each user. The risks identified by Azure AD Identity Protection are: Leaked credentials Impossible travel to atypical locations Sign-ins from infected devices Sign-ins from anonymous IP addresses Sign-ins from IP addresses with suspicious activity Signs in from unfamiliar locations Companies must guarantee that digital evidence they provide in response to legal requests demonstrates a valid Chain of Custody (CoC) throughout the evidence acquisition, preservation, and access process. To ensure a valid CoC, digital evidence storage must demonstrate adequate access control, data protection and integrity, monitoring and alerting, and logging and auditing.To become an MVP, shall I need to contribute on particular area?
I have few queries : 1) I have been actively involved in MSDN and Technet Forums. I have a query here. Suppose, I'm helping the community under ". NET" Category. Again under this we have 3 more subcategories : dotnetcore, dorltnet framework and dotnet runtime core. So each of these have leaderboards? 2) If I move top by contributing on the leaderboard in any of the platform, is someone has to nominate or Microsoft will give me MVP? 3) Is contribution to one domain suffice for MVP? Kindly help me on the same. Thanks for your time!Error on the link to the MVP Nomination form for filling in community activities
Hi! I have been nominated for the MVP consideration by another MVP, due to that I received an email to fill in the community activities using a link to a form. I’ve tried to access the form to submit further details, it prompted for a User ID and password to which I have entered my Microsoft live account credentials. After the login, it gives the following error message Sorry, an error occurred while processing your request. (500) I’ve tried the link in different browsers & devices, there is no change. I am not sure if this is the correct forum to ask this question. If you could advise the correct support team, it would be great. Thanks much for your help P.S: I have sent an email to mailto:mvpga@microsoft.com with the error message details, yet to see a response. Regards, Mohamed Ashiq Faleel
Recent Blogs
- Microsoft 365 Community Conference 2026 brought together technologists, community leaders, builders, admins, architects, and product teams for three days of learning and connection in Orlando, Florid...Jun 25, 2026
- By Guest Blogger: Yanina Ariadna Cohen Yolde It Wasn’t Luck. It Was Decisions. When one door closes, a decision begins When the company where I had worked for 10 years suddenly closed its doors ...Jun 23, 2026
