Microsoft Sentinel February 2026: Multi-Tenant Management, AI Agents, and Enhanced Threat Detection

Microsoft Sentinel's February 2026 update brings substantial enhancements to security operations centers, focusing on scalability, automation, and deeper threat detection capabilities. The release introduces multi-tenant content management, partner-built AI agents, expanded UEBA Essentials, and new data connectors that collectively help SOC teams work more efficiently across complex environments.

Expanding Data Visibility with New Connectors

Sentinel continues its aggressive expansion of data connector support, making it easier for organizations to consolidate security data from diverse sources. The latest batch of generally available connectors includes:

• Mimecast Audit Logs - Email security and threat intelligence
• CrowdStrike Falcon Endpoint Protection - Endpoint detection and response
• Vectra XDR - Extended detection and response capabilities
• Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW - Next-generation firewall insights
• SocPrime - Security operations and detection engineering
• Proofpoint on Demand (POD) Email Security - Email protection and compliance
• Pathlock - Application access governance
• MongoDB - Database security monitoring
• Contrast ADR - Application security and vulnerability detection

These connectors enable organizations to create unified visibility across their security stack, ensuring critical data isn't missed during investigations. For organizations using Microsoft 365 Copilot, the new public preview connector brings audit logs and activity data directly into Sentinel, enabling security teams to monitor usage patterns, detect anomalies, and identify potential policy violations.

Modernizing Data Collection with CCF

Microsoft is transitioning from Azure Function-based connectors to the Codeless Connector Framework (CCF), which provides a fully managed SaaS experience with built-in health monitoring, centralized credential management, and enhanced performance. This modernization effort is critical as the legacy custom data collection API will be retired in September 2026. Organizations are encouraged to review their deployed connectors and migrate to CCF versions to ensure uninterrupted data collection and access to the latest Sentinel capabilities.

Multi-Tenant Content Distribution: Scaling SOC Operations

One of the most significant additions is the public preview of multi-tenant content distribution, which allows partners and SOCs managing multiple Sentinel tenants to centrally manage and distribute content from the Microsoft Defender portal. This capability enables organizations to replicate analytics rules, automation rules, workbooks, and alert tuning rules across tenants without rebuilding configurations in each environment.

The impact is substantial: new tenants can be onboarded faster, configuration drift is reduced, and a consistent security baseline is maintained across all environments. Each target tenant maintains local execution while being centrally controlled, providing the right balance between standardization and flexibility.

Enhanced UEBA Essentials for Multi-Cloud Threat Detection

UEBA Essentials has received a significant upgrade with expanded multi-cloud anomaly detection capabilities covering Azure, AWS, GCP, and Okta environments. The solution now leverages the anomalies table to surface high-risk anomalous behavior faster, helping analysts establish reliable behavioral baselines and understand anomalies in context without chasing noisy or disconnected signals.

Key improvements include:

• 30+ prebuilt UEBA queries available directly from the Sentinel content hub
• Automatic behavior analytics activation when new data sources are added
• MITRE ATT&CK alignment for better threat context
• Complex malicious IP pattern detection
• Comprehensive anomaly profiles built in seconds

This enhancement reduces investigation time while improving signal quality across identity and cloud environments, making it easier for SOC teams to focus on genuine threats rather than false positives.

Partner-Built Security Copilot Agents

Sentinel now supports partner-built Security Copilot agents through the Microsoft Security Store, available in the Defender portal. These AI-powered agents are created by trusted partners to deliver specialized expertise for investigation, triage, and response without requiring organizations to build their own agentic workflows.

Notable partner agents include:

• BlueVoyant's Watchtower agent - Optimizes Sentinel and Defender configurations
• AdaQuest's Data Leak agent - Accelerates response by surfacing risky data exposure and identity misuse
• Glueckkanja's Attack Mapping agent - Automatically maps fragmented entities and attacker behavior into coherent investigation stories

These agents work with Sentinel analytics and incidents to help SOC teams triage faster, investigate deeper, and surface insights that would otherwise require hours of manual effort. The Security Store transforms partner innovation into enterprise-ready, Security Copilot-powered capabilities that integrate seamlessly with existing SOC workflows.

Enhanced Threat Intelligence and Data Security Integration

The Threat Intelligence Briefing Agent now applies a structured knowledge graph to Microsoft Defender for Threat Intelligence, surfacing fresher, more relevant threats tailored to specific industries and regions. The agent includes embedded, high-fidelity Microsoft Threat Intelligence citations, providing authoritative context directly within each insight.

Additionally, Sentinel now integrates with Microsoft Purview Data Security Investigations (DSI), combining AI-powered deep content analysis with activity-centric graph analytics. This integration helps teams identify sensitive or risky data, understand how it was accessed or moved, and take action from a single experience. SOC and data security teams gain a full, contextual view of potential blast radius, connecting what happened to the data with who accessed it and how.

Extended Transition Timeline

Recognizing the complexity of transitioning security operations, Microsoft has extended the sunset date for managing Sentinel in the Azure portal to March 31, 2027. This additional time allows customers to transition confidently while taking advantage of new capabilities available in the Defender portal. Organizations should begin planning their move now to ensure a smooth transition.

Looking Ahead

The February 2026 updates demonstrate Microsoft's commitment to making Sentinel more scalable, intelligent, and integrated. From multi-tenant management to AI-powered agents and enhanced threat detection, these capabilities help SOC teams move faster, scale smarter, and unlock deeper security insights without added complexity.

Organizations should evaluate which of these new capabilities align with their security operations needs and begin planning implementation strategies accordingly. The combination of expanded data connectors, centralized content management, and AI-powered automation positions Sentinel as a more powerful platform for modern security operations.