EU Antitrust Cops Investigate Microsoft’s Security Software Practices

European Union regulators are probing whether Microsoft is preventing its customers from buying security software that competes with Microsoft’s, according to a document the EU sent to at least one rival in January. It’s the latest sign of growing scrutiny from policymakers, especially in the EU, of Microsoft’s fast-growing cloud business and its practice of bundling products.

Regulators from the European Commission, the agency that enforces the EU’s antitrust laws, are examining Microsoft’s Entra ID software, previously known as Azure Active Directory, which lets companies control which personnel can log in to their cloud-based apps. Most of Microsoft’s business customers use Entra ID because it comes with cloud-based apps such as Office 365 and Teams. Microsoft doesn’t allow Office 365 customers to replace Entra ID with competing identity management software, such as products from Okta and Cloudflare.