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How to Design Bullet-Proof Conditional Access Policies in Microsoft Entra ID

April 11, 2026 · 57 min

Show notes

If you can’t immediately name your break glass accounts and the last time you tested them → you’re already at risk.

In this episode of Entra Chat, Microsoft MVP Per Torben walks through the conditional access mistakes he sees even large enterprises making, and the practical framework he actually uses with customers.

You’ll learn how to set up emergency access accounts the right way, why your CA policies should be built more like a firewall than a checklist, and the one naming convention that makes managing dozens of policies actually manageable.

🎧 Hit play, your tenant will thank you.

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About Per Torben

Per Torben is a Senior Architect at Crayon and a Microsoft MVP for Identity and Access. Based in Norway, he frequently writes highly-read posts featured on Entra.News and runs the collaborative tech blog “Agder in the Cloud”.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pertorbensorensen/

🔗 Related Links

* Agder in the Cloud - https://agderinthe.cloud

* I.D.E.A. for creating/configuring break-glass accounts

* GitHub - https://github.com/Per-Torben/I.D.E.A.

* Blog - https://agderinthe.cloud/2026/01/06/introducing-i-d-e-a-and-i-d-e-a-001/

* Protected actions: https://agderinthe.cloud/2025/02/12/protected-actions-adding-extra-guards-to-your-entra-id-gate/

* Conditional Access hardeing (series): https://agderinthe.cloud/2024/12/05/how-to-fix-the-fundamental-flaw-in-conditional-access-part-1-introduction-and-coverage-gapsCA geo filter (series): https://agderinthe.cloud/2025/11/06/diving-into-geo-filter-with-entra-conditional-access-part-1

* Entra Backup - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/role-based-access-control/backup-restore

📗 Chapters

06:22 The importance of Break Glass accounts

09:02 Securing emergency access with FIDO2 and RMAUs

18:10 Configuring Conditional Access: The “Block by Default” strategy

27:26 Managing scope and preventing accidental lockouts

29:31 Persona-based naming conventions for CA policies

35:38 Grouping settings and avoiding bloated policies

41:54 Handling exceptions and travel access with Access Packages

44:55 The flaw in Protected Actions for Conditional Access

53:38 Using the new Entra Backup feature for quick restores

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