External User Access

What this means

A significant portion of users in your directory are external (guest) identities. While collaboration with external partners is normal, a high ratio of guest-to-member users may indicate insufficient governance over external access.

Why is it a security risk?

• Guest users are authenticated by their home tenant — you have no control over their password strength, MFA settings, or compromised status.
• Over time, guest accounts accumulate without review, creating an ever-growing external attack surface.
• Guests may retain access to SharePoint sites, Teams, and applications long after the collaboration has ended.

Recommended next steps

1. Review your external collaboration settings to control who can invite guests and which domains are allowed.
2. Set up recurring Access Reviews for all guest users.
3. Consider using Entitlement Management access packages to automate guest lifecycle (invite → review → remove).