Why MSPs Should Care About Break-Glass Accounts
The following lab demonstrates this risk in a real tenant with default Entra ID settings.
For engineers asking how this works technically.
For MSPs, break-glass (emergency access) accounts serve as both a technical safeguard and a critical business risk control.
When emergency access fails, the consequences extend beyond IT inconvenience and result in:
- Extended client outages
- Missed SLAs
- Escalation costs
- Reputational damage
- Potential contract and liability exposure
However, in many SMB and mid-market environments, break-glass accounts are often untested and exist only in documentation.
The MSP Reality: How Break-Glass Misconfigurations Happen
In managed Microsoft 365 and Entra ID environments, common misconfigurations include:
- Break-glass accounts created during onboarding and never revisited
- Emergency accounts are treated like standard admin identities.
- Conditional Access policies are applied broadly, with no exclusions.
- Credentials are stored informally or with a single technician.
Although these decisions are made with good intentions, such as aiming to secure all systems, they can unintentionally eliminate the final layer of protection.
Business Risk Scenario: Total Administrative Lockout
Consider a common scenario:
- A Conditional Access change is deployed after hours.
- MFA enforcement or sign-in risk evaluation misfires
- All Global Admins, including emergency accounts, are blocked.
At this point:
- The MSP cannot access the tenant.
- Microsoft support engagement becomes mandatory.
- Recovery timelines are uncertain and often slow.
A routine policy update can quickly escalate into a significant business incident.
The Real Cost to an MSP
1. Operational Cost
- Senior engineer after-hours engagement
- Emergency escalation and troubleshooting
- Time spent coordinating with Microsoft support
These hours are rarely billable and can quickly surpass the client's monthly recurring revenue. (Billable vs non-billable hours: how MSPs can find balance, 2024)
2. SLA and Contractual Risk
- SLA breaches due to prolonged outages
- Service credits or penalties
- Increased scrutiny during contract renewals
3. Reputational Damage
Clients often do not distinguish between Microsoft outages and MSP configuration decisions. (Organizations struggle with Microsoft 365 data loss due to backup gaps, 2025)From the client’s perspective:
“Our MSP locked us out.”
This often leads to a loss of trust, regardless of technical details.
4. Security and Liability Exposure
Poorly stored break-glass credentials introduce:
- Insider risk
- Credential theft scenarios
- Audit and compliance gaps
A compromised emergency account may result in a reportable security incident. (Security operations for privileged accounts in Microsoft Entra ID, 2023)
Why This Risk Often Goes Unnoticed
Break-glass accounts:
- Are rarely used
- Generate little telemetry
- Sit outside daily operational workflows.
Without regular testing and monitoring, MSPs may assume emergency access is functional until it fails during a critical moment. (Break Glass Account Management Best Practices, 2026)This creates a hidden risk that becomes apparent only during high-pressure incidents.
What MSPs Should Be Doing Differently
From a service delivery standpoint, emergency access should be treated as:
- A resilience control
- A contractual safeguard
- A recurring validation item
Recommended MSP Practices
- Maintain two cloud-only emergency accounts per tenant (Security operations for privileged accounts in Microsoft Entra ID, 2024)
- Exclude at least one from all Conditional Access policies (Plan Your Microsoft Entra Conditional Access Deployment, 2026)
- Secure credentials using enterprise-grade vaulting or physical safes (Securing Break Glass Accounts in Microsoft 365, 2025)
- Distribute access across multiple trusted custodians (Best practices to secure with Microsoft Entra ID, 2024)
- Implement alerting for any emergency account sign-in (Security operations for privileged accounts in Microsoft Entra ID, 2025)
- Perform scheduled validation tests and document outcomes (Security operations for privileged accounts in Microsoft Entra ID, 2024)
Implementing these steps reduces technical risks and limits business exposure.
Turning Risk Into an MSP Value Conversation
Break-glass validation is also an opportunity:
- Position identity resilience as a premium service
- Include emergency access testing in security reviews.
- Demonstrate proactive risk reduction to clients.
Proactively managing this control allows it to serve as a differentiator, rather than being discovered during an outage.
MSP-Focused Conclusion
When break-glass accounts fail, MSPs are the first to incur costs in time, money, and client trust. Emergency access is not a set-and-forget task. It is an operational dependency that must be:
- Designed intentionally
- Monitored continuously
- Tested regularly
For MSPs, validating break-glass access is not only good security practice but also essential for business risk management.
Need help validating this in your tenant?
This risk exists in most Microsoft 365 tenants.
Author: Jaspreet Singh
Platform: MSPInsights.ca
Hands-on Evidence & Labs: f11.ca
References
(2024). Billable vs non-billable hours: how MSPs can find balance. ConnectWise. https://www.connectwise.com/blog/2024/billable-vs-non-billable-hours
(October 16, 2025). Organizations struggle with Microsoft 365 data loss due to backup gaps. Resilience Forward. https://resilienceforward.com/organizations-struggle-with-microsoft-365-data-loss-due-to-backup-gaps/
(2023). Security operations for privileged accounts in Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/architecture/security-operations-privileged-accounts
(2026). Break Glass Account Management Best Practices. Britive. https://www.britive.com/resource/blog/break-glass-account-management-best-practices
(2024). Security operations for privileged accounts in Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/architecture/security-operations-privileged-accounts
(2026). Plan Your Microsoft Entra Conditional Access Deployment. Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/conditional-access/plan-conditional-access
(2025). Securing Break Glass Accounts in Microsoft 365. Cloud. https://cloud.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/08/27/securing-break-glass-accounts-in-microsoft-365/
(2024). Best practices to secure with Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/architecture/secure-best-practices
(2025). Security operations for privileged accounts in Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/architecture/security-operations-privileged-accounts
(2024). Security operations for privileged accounts in Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/architecture/security-operations-privileged-accounts