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If you are tightening up Microsoft Entra ID security, the first wins are usually not exotic: they are the controls that reduce password abuse, shrink admin exposure, and stop legacy sign-in paths from becoming an easy route in. The trick is to turn on the right controls in the right order, without breaking sign-in for the people who keep the business running.
Microsoft is steering Entra ID away from SMS and voice MFA and towards passkeys. The shift is security-led, but it’s operationally risky: recovery, Conditional Access interactions, legacy apps, and helpdesk load can all change the outcome.
Microsoft will make passkeys the default sign-in method in Entra ID from 1 September 2026 and retire Microsoft-provided SMS and voice delivery on 1 February 2027. The key risk is strand-through: recovery and helpdesk flows that still assume telecom MFA.
