Conditional Access (CA) Policies

Conditional Access (CA) policies

Conditional Access in Microsoft 365 lets you enforce rules on sign-ins—for example, require multi-factor authentication (MFA) or block access from certain locations. Petra can show you the Conditional Access policies that apply to a tenant so you can see at a glance whether MFA or other important controls are enforced. This article explains what you'll see and why it matters.

What Conditional Access policies are

Conditional Access (CA) policies are rules that Microsoft 365 applies when a user signs in. For example, a policy might require MFA for all users, require a compliant device for access to certain apps, or block sign-ins from outside approved countries. Admins configure these in the Microsoft 365 or Entra admin center. Petra can read and display the CA policies for a tenant so you don't have to leave Petra to check whether key controls are in place.

What you'll see in Petra

On the tenant's CA policies page (or in a CA policies section), you'll typically see a list of policies: the policy name, whether it's enabled, and often what it does—for example, "requires MFA" or "requires compliant device." You might see which users or groups the policy applies to and whether it's in report-only mode or actively enforcing. This gives you a quick view of the tenant's sign-in security posture. If MFA is enforced for all users, you may see a badge or message on the tenant dashboard indicating that MFA is enforced, which is a positive signal for security.

Why it matters

Knowing whether MFA and other CA policies are in place helps you assess risk. If a tenant has no MFA requirement, you might prioritize it for hardening or mention it in a report to the customer. If policies are in place, you can reference that when discussing the tenant's security posture. Petra doesn't change CA policies—it only displays them—so any changes to policies must be made in the Microsoft admin center. Use Petra's CA view as a visibility and reporting tool, not as the place to edit policy.