Identity protection focuses on protecting user accounts from misuse.
Microsoft 365 can detect certain types of risky sign-ins, such as unusual locations, suspicious login behavior, or credentials that may have been exposed.
Businesses can combine this information with conditional access rules to require MFA, block access, or force a password reset when risk becomes too high.
Identity security is important because attackers often target user accounts before they target computers.
If an attacker can sign in as a real employee, they may not need to break through a firewall in the traditional sense.
Protecting identities means using MFA, monitoring sign-ins, removing unused accounts, limiting administrator access, and responding quickly to suspicious activity.
In cloud environments, identity is one of the most important security boundaries a business has.