Microsoft Introduces Azure AD Application Proxy Preview

CW Staff

June 13, 2014

Bring Your Own Device is one of the most popular tenants of cloud computing and Microsoft Azure’s new Azure AD Application Proxy Preview allows systems administrators to deploy applications to users that can be accessed from any device using all of the typical secure tactics minus the need for a corporate VPN. That’s exciting news for systems administrators because not having to deal with a corporate VPN means there are less moving parts involved with a user trying to connect remotely. What security features does Azure AD Application Proxy provide?

Authentication

Two-factor authentication will be essential to corporate clients. Microsoft makes it easy to remove the need for pesky RSA tokens and corporate VPNs. As long as you have your mobile device handy, you can receive a phone call or a text in order to authenticate onto the network.

Network Protection

Azure AD Application proxy provides security against Denial of Service attacks by using the cloud to shield and deflect common attacks. Users will be able to access the corporate owned applications behind the corporate firewall thus keeping corporate data safe and secure.

Single Sign On

One of the more annoying occurrences for end users is when they have authenticated multiple times in order to gain normal access. When Single Sign On is enabled, users only have to authenticate once in order to gain access to a plethora of corporate applications.

Do these features sound familiar? If you are a Windows Server 2012 administrator, each of these feature sets is included within that server infrastructure as a role or feature. Azure AD Application Proxy consolidates many of these functions, integrates into your corporate network, and allows your users to gain access to corporate applications regardless of the device they are using. This keeps corporate hardware costs down and makes end users happy because they do not have to carry an additional piece of hardware such as a laptop in order for them to work outside of the office.