What is a primary advantage of integrating Microsoft Defender for Identity with cloud applications concerning policy enforcement?

The integration of Microsoft Defender for Identity with cloud applications offers a primary advantage in that it simplifies the enforcement of uniform security policies by centralizing policy management. This capability allows organizations to create a cohesive security strategy that can be applied across various cloud environments and on-premises systems. By centralizing the management of security policies, organizations can ensure consistency in enforcement, which reduces the risk of policy gaps and enhances compliance with regulatory requirements.

This approach enables security teams to respond more efficiently to threats and anomalies, as they have a unified view of the security posture across different applications and services. Furthermore, centralized policy management reduces the administrative burden of managing multiple discrete policy sets, streamlining operations and making it easier to implement changes or updates to security protocols as needed.

The benefits provided by this centralized strategy contrast sharply with the drawbacks associated with options that highlight environment-specific policies, increased complexity, or manual synchronization, as these would introduce inconsistencies and challenges in maintaining a secure and compliant environment.