To get the most out of this book

This book assumes readers have foundational knowledge of Microsoft Defender for Identity, Kusto Query Language (KQL), Active Directory, and basic networking principles. Familiarity with the Microsoft 365 or Azure portals and experience with PowerShell will support you in following the labs and step-by-step instructions. For setup, ensure access to the specified software and environments in the following table.

Software/hardware covered in the book	Operating system requirements
Microsoft tenant	Windows, macOS, or Linux (to access the Microsoft or Azure portal)
Microsoft Defender for Identity subscription
Azure subscription	Microsoft Azure
Active Directory, AD CS, AD FS, Entra Connect	Microsoft Windows Server 2019 or later
TinyProxy	Ubuntu
PowerShell 7.4 or later	Microsoft Windows Server 2019 or later

If you’re familiar with infrastructure-as-code, you can use the Bicep templates provided in the GitHub repository to automate the deployment of the lab setup in your Azure environment.

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.