SSPM Administration
  • SSPM Administration
  • SaaS Security Documentation
  • All Documentation
>
Onboard a Microsoft SharePoint App to SSPM
Focus
Download PDF
Focus
  1. Home
  2. SaaS Security
  3. Onboard SaaS Apps Supported by SSPM
  4. Onboard a Microsoft SharePoint App to SSPM
Download PDF
SaaS Security

Onboard a Microsoft SharePoint App to SSPM

Table of Contents

Onboard a Microsoft SharePoint App to SSPM

Connect a Microsoft SharePoint instance to SSPM to detect posture risks.
Where Can I Use This?What Do I Need?
  • Strata Cloud Manager
  • SaaS Security Posture Management license
Or any of the following licenses that include the Data Security license:
  • CASB-X
  • CASB-PA
To detect posture risks in your Microsoft SharePoint instance, SSPM connects to the instance by using information that you provide. Once SSPM connects, it scans the Microsoft SharePoint instance for misconfigured settings and will continue to run scans at regular intervals.
There are two ways to onboard a Microsoft SharePoint app, depending on how you want SSPM to scan your Microsoft SharePoint instance. Review the following information about these two methods of scanning to decide which one you want SSPM to use. Before you onboard Microsoft SharePoint to SSPM, there are certain actions you must take and certain information you must gather. These actions will differ depending on the method you choose.
  • You can onboard a Microsoft SharePoint App for scans that use the Microsoft Graph API. To enable SSPM to access the Microsoft Graph API, you create a client application in Azure Active Directory (AD) with the necessary permissions, and allow access to the application to users in your organization. During onboarding, you will supply SSPM with Microsoft credentials for a user in the organization with the necessary permissions. You will also supply the Client ID of the Azure AD application. SSPM uses this information in a PowerShell call to connect to the Microsoft Graph API. The account that you use for onboarding cannot require MFA.
    This approach uses a published API.
  • You can onboard a Microsoft SharePoint App for scans that use data extraction (also known as web scraping). To perform this data extraction, SSPM logs in to Microsoft SharePoint by using an administrator account. You can have SSPM access the account directly or through the Okta or Microsoft Azure identity providers. If SSPM will be logging in to the administrator account directly, then the account cannot be configured for MFA. If SSPM will be accessing the account through Okta or Microsoft Azure, then MFA is required. During onboarding, you will provide SSPM with the administrator credentials. If SSPM will connect to the account through an identity provider, you will also specify the information that SSPM needs for MFA.
    This data-extraction approach scans more Microsoft SharePoint settings compared to the Microsoft Graph API approach.

Onboard a Microsoft SharePoint App for Scans That Use the Microsoft Graph API

Connect a Microsoft SharePoint instance to SSPM to detect posture risks.
High-level configuration scanning across Office 365 products is available by onboarding the Office 365 app. Adding the Microsoft SharePoint app individually gives you greater visibility into Microsoft SharePoint settings.
For SSPM to detect posture risks in your Microsoft SharePoint instance with more detail than the Office 365 app scan, you must onboard your Microsoft SharePoint instance to SSPM. Through the onboarding process, SSPM connects to a Microsoft API and, through the API, scans your Microsoft SharePoint instance for misconfigured settings. If there are misconfigured settings, SSPM suggests a remediation action based on best practices.
There are two ways in which SSPM can scan your Microsoft SharePoint instance. The following instructions describe how to enable SSPM to use the Microsoft Graph API to perform its configuration scans. You can follow alternative instructions that enable SSPM to use data extraction techniques to perform its configuration scans. To onboard your Microsoft SharePoint instance, you complete the following actions:
  • Collect Information for Connecting to Your Microsoft SharePoint Instance
  • Enable Required Enterprise Applications
  • Connect SSPM to Your Microsoft SharePoint Instance

Collect Information for Connecting to Your Microsoft SharePoint Instance

To access your Microsoft SharePoint instance, SSPM requires the following information, which you will specify during the onboarding process.
ItemDescription
Username
The login email address for a Microsoft account. The account must not require multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Required Permissions: The user must be assigned to one of the following roles.
  • SharePoint Administrator
  • Global Administrator
Password
The password for the Microsoft account.
Client IDSSPM will access a Microsoft API through an Azure AD application that you create. During the onboarding process, SSPM prompts you for a Client ID that uniquely identifies the application.
As you complete the following steps, make note of the values of the items described in the preceding table. You will need to enter these values during onboarding to access your Microsoft SharePoint instance from SSPM.
  1. Identify the Microsoft account that SSPM will use to access your Microsoft SharePoint instance.
    Account requirements:
    • The account must have SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator permissions.
    • The account must not require MFA.
    After SSPM establishes the connection, it will perform an initial scan of your Microsoft SharePoint instance, and will then run scans at regular intervals of approximately 30 minutes. For SSPM to run these scans, the administrator account that you use to establish the initial connection must remain available. For this reason, we recommend that you use a dedicated service account to grant SSPM access. If you delete the service account, or update the account password, the scans will fail and you will need to onboard Microsoft SharePoint again.
  2. Register an Azure AD Client Application.
    During onboarding, SSPM will access a Microsoft API through an Azure AD client application that you create. Follow the instructions to register an Azure AD client application, and note the Client ID that Azure AD generates for the client app.
    If you have already onboarded another Microsoft application that requires an Azure AD client application, you can use that same Azure AD client app to onboard Microsoft SharePoint. If necessary, ask the administrator who registered the Azure AD client app for its Client ID.
    Do not continue to the next step unless you have obtained the Client ID. You will provide this information to SSPM during the onboarding process.

Enable Required Enterprise Applications

To complete its scans, SSPM also requires the Microsoft Graph Command Line Tools and the PnP Management Shell enterprise applications.
  1. As a Global Administrator, log in to the the Azure portal and navigate to the Enterprise applications page. To quickly navigate to this page, enter Enterprise applications in the search field at the top of the page.
  2. Enable Microsoft Graph Command Line Tools and PnP Management Shell for user sign in. Complete the following steps for both of these enterprise applications.
    1. On the Enterprise applications page, use the search box to quickly locate the Microsoft Graph Command Line Tools or PnP Management Shell application.
      If the Enterprise applications page does not list these applications, you will need to install them by using PowerShell. PowerShell is included with all supported versions of Microsoft Windows, but if you are using the macOS operating system, you will need to install PowerShell on macOS.
      1. Open PowerShell. If you are using Microsoft Windows, use the search bar to locate the PowerShell application and Run as Administrator. If you are using macOS, open the command terminal and run the pwsh command.
      2. Enter the following commands in PowerShell to install the Microsoft.Graph.Authentication and PnP.PowerShell modules.
        Install-Module Microsoft.Graph.Authentication -Scope CurrentUser -RequiredVersion 2.18.0 -Force -Verbose

Install-Module PnP.PowerShell -RequiredVersion 1.12.0 -Force -Verbose
      3. On Windows only: Enter the following command to set the PowerShell execution policies for subsequent commands. This command prevents PowerShell from blocking commands and scripts. This block prevention will be in effect only for the current PowerShell session. If you are using the macOS operating system, you do not need to enter this command.
        Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
      4. Enter the following commands in PowerShell to access Microsoft Graph and the PnP Management Shell.
        Connect-MgGraph -Scope "Sites.Read.All","Domain.Read.All","openid","profile","ReportSettings.Read.All","OrgSettings-AppsAndServices.Read.All","OrgSettings-DynamicsVoice.Read.All","OrgSettings-Forms.Read.All","Application.Read.All";


Register-PnPManagementShellAccess
        After you issue the preceding commands, the Enterprise applications page will list the Microsoft Graph Command Line Tools and the PnP Management Shell application.
    2. Click the application name and, from the left navigation pane, navigate to its Properties.
    3. Set the Enabled for users to sign-in property and the Assignment required property to Yes.
    4. Save your changes.
    5. Make sure you have completed the preceding steps for both Microsoft Graph Command Line Tools and PnP Management Shell.

Connect SSPM to Your Microsoft SharePoint Instance

By adding a Microsoft SharePoint app in SSPM, you enable SSPM to connect to your Microsoft SharePoint instance.
  1. From the Add Application page (Posture SecurityApplicationsAdd Application ), click the Microsoft Sharepoint Powershell tile.
  2. Under posture security instances, Add Instance or, if there is already an instance configured, Add New instance.
  3. Log in with Credentials.
  4. When prompted, provide SSPM with the Microsoft user credentials and the Client ID of the Azure AD application.
  5. Connect.

Onboard a Microsoft SharePoint App for Scans That Use Data Extraction

Connect a Microsoft SharePoint instance to SSPM to detect posture risks.
High-level configuration scanning across Office 365 products is available by onboarding the Office 365 app. Adding the Microsoft SharePoint app individually gives you greater visibility into Microsoft SharePoint settings.
For SSPM to detect posture risks in your Microsoft SharePoint instance with more detail than the Office 365 app scan, you must onboard your Microsoft SharePoint instance to SSPM. Through the onboarding process, SSPM logs in to a Microsoft administrator account. SSPM uses this account to scan your Microsoft SharePoint instance for misconfigured settings. If there are misconfigured settings, SSPM suggests a remediation action based on best practices.
There are two ways in which SSPM can scan your Microsoft Exchange instance. The following instructions describe how to enable SSPM to use data extraction techniques (also known as web scraping) to perform its configuration scans. You can follow alternative instructions that enable SSPM to use the Microsoft Graph API to perform its configuration scans.
During the onboarding process, you will supply Microsoft SharePoint account credentials to SSPM. SSPM can access the account directly or through the Okta or Microsoft Azure identity providers. Having SSPM access the account through one of these identity providers requires MFA, which adds an extra layer of security.
To onboard your Microsoft SharePoint instance, you complete the following actions:
  • Collect Information for Connecting to Your Microsoft SharePoint Instance
  • Connect SSPM to Your Microsoft SharePoint Instance

Collect Information for Connecting to Your Microsoft SharePoint Instance

To access your Microsoft SharePoint instance, SSPM requires the following information, which you will specify during the onboarding process.
ItemDescription
UserThe username or email address of the administrator account. The format that you use can depend on whether SSPM will be logging in directly to your account or through an identity provider.
Required Permissions: The user must be assigned to the Microsoft Global Admin role.
PasswordThe password for the administrator account.
If you are using Okta as your identity provider, you must provide SSPM with the following additional information:
ItemDescription
Okta subdomainThe Okta subdomain for your organization. The subdomain was included in the login URL that Okta assigned to your organization.
Okta 2FA secretA key that is used to generate one-time passcodes for MFA.
If you are using Azure Active Directory (AD) as your identity provider, you must provide SSPM with the following additional information:
ItemDescription
Azure 2FA secretA key that is used to generate one-time passcodes for MFA.
As you complete the following steps, make note of the values of the items described in the preceding tables. You will need to enter these values during onboarding to access your Microsoft SharePoint instance from SSPM.
  1. Identify the Microsoft administrator account that SSPM will use to access your Microsoft SharePoint instance. The administrator must be assigned to the Microsoft Global Admin role.
  2. Determine whether you want SSPM to log in to the administrator account directly, or through an identity provider.
    Using an identity provider adds an extra layer of security by requiring MFA using one-time passcodes. You can use Okta or Microsoft Azure as the identity provider for accessing the administrator account. However, if you use an identity provider, SSPM requires more information for MFA.
    1. (For Okta log in) To access the administrator account through Okta:
      1. Identify your Okta subdomain.
      2. Generate and copy an MFA secret key.
    2. (For Microsoft Azure log in) To access the administrator account through Microsoft Azure:
      1. Enable third-party software OATH tokens for the administrator account.
      2. Configure the account for MFA and copy the MFA secret key.

Connect SSPM to Your Microsoft SharePoint Instance

By adding a Microsoft SharePoint app in SSPM, you enable SSPM to connect to your Microsoft SharePoint instance.
  1. From the Add Application page (Posture SecurityApplicationsAdd Application ), click the Microsoft SharePoint tile.
  2. Under posture security instances, Add Instance or, if there is already an instance configured, Add New instance.
  3. Specify how you want SSPM to connect to your Microsoft SharePoint instance. SSPM can Log in with Credentials, Log in with Okta, or Log in with Azure.
  4. When prompted, provide SSPM with the administrator credentials. If SSPM is connecting to the account through an identity provider, specify the information that SSPM needs for MFA.
  5. Connect.

Technical Documentation

Company

Legal Notices

© 2025 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.