NIS2 compliance with Microsoft: optimize your security and control risks

Real solutions to comply with regulations and strengthen digital resilience

The NIS2 Directive raises the bar for cybersecurity in Europe. Organizations in critical sectors need to go beyond reacting to incidents: they must manage risks, protect information, and demonstrate compliance with evidence.

If you work with Microsoft 365 and Azure, you have an ecosystem capable of covering most of the NIS2 requirements with Microsoft solutions. In this guide, you will see how to move from the standard to specific technical and organizational actions.

Once it comes into force, organizations will be required to:

Proactively manage risks in critical systems and processes.
Detect and respond to cybersecurity incidents in a very short time.
Protect sensitive information and ensure operational continuity.
Strengthen security in the supply chain.
Provide evidence that the required measures are being complied with.

Although there are multiple solutions on the market from manufacturers such as Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Splunk, and Google Chronicle, Microsoft offers an integrated ecosystem that covers both regulatory compliance and protection and monitoring within a single technological framework.

Compliance with NI2 Directive using Microsoft solutions

NIS2 requirement	Microsoft tool	Technical example
Assess risks and policies	Purview Compliance Manager	MFA, encryption, and retention audit, with recommendations.
Respond quickly to incidents	Microsoft Sentinel + Defender XDR	Event correlation and automatic playbook activation.
Protect sensitive data	Purview DLP, Information Protection	Automatic tagging and encryption, blocking of critical downloads.
Supplier security	Azure AD Conditional Access	External access control by location and risk profile.
Evidence for audits	Purview eDiscovery	Traceable logging and exporting of incidents and compliance.

Integrate NIS2 into your company's strategy

Compliance with NIS2 is not just about technology; it's also about organization:

Defined security roles with access to dashboards and reports.
Corporate policies aligned with technical configurations.
Regular drills and validations to measure effectiveness.
Ongoing training in tools and procedures.

Set a security calendar so you don't leave any loose ends

Monthly: review critical policies in Purview and apply improvements.
Quarterly: simulate data leaks and validate DLP/eDiscovery response.
Semi-annually: audit Sentinel rules and automations.
Annually: review external access in Azure AD Conditional Access.

Critical actions to comply with NIS2 in Microsoft

Ensure that all users have multi-factor authentication (MFA) enabled, without exceptions.
Configure data protection rules (DLP) and automatic tagging systems so that sensitive information is always controlled.
Implement Microsoft Sentinel with finely tuned alerts and response flows that run automatically in the event of critical incidents.
Define conditional access policies that distinguish between internal and external personnel and limit access based on location or risk profile.
Store and organize evidence in Purview eDiscovery for permanent traceability and to be ready for any audit.
Plan regular audits and drills; they are key to verifying that everything is working as expected.
Keep your technical strategy aligned with corporate policies so that security evolves alongside your business.

From NIS2 to digital resilience: the path with Microsoft and an integrated ecosystem

Compliance with NIS2 in a Microsoft environment is not just a matter of activating tools. It is about combining the automation offered by technology with solid organizational management. With regular reviews and the support of senior management, the system gains incident response capabilities and maintains regulatory compliance, while strengthening resilience.

In many companies, working with solutions from different manufacturers complicates interoperability: data that does not correlate well, duplicate alerts, or fragmented compliance processes. Microsoft, like Splunk or Palo Alto, offers advanced features to bring the pieces together, but its advantage is that Purview and Sentinel integrate natively with the entire Microsoft 365 and Azure ecosystem. This integration reduces technical adjustments, speeds up implementation, and maintains consistency in policies and reporting without relying on additional layers.

Ultimately, NIS2 should not be seen as yet another legal burden, but rather as an opportunity to genuinely improve cybersecurity and reduce risks that, sooner or later, affect daily operations.

At Intelequia, we accompany you throughout the entire process: initial diagnosis, technical adaptation, and implementation of Microsoft solutions aligned with best practices. The goal is to make compliance sustainable and useful for your business. If you want to take the next step with NIS2, we are at your disposal.