## 1 Introduction  
In the past few years, cloud computing has revolutionized the way institutions develop and provide their services. In today's mission-critical business requirements, cloud technology plays an important role. Cloud computing provides effortless, on-demand access to a shared pool of computing resources, while requiring little management complexity [1]. With the advent of cloud computing, it has become possible to outsource the entire IT infrastructure to a service provider. As a result, cloud solutions have become the industry standard for running IT systems in a range of organizations, from small businesses to large corporations. Consequently, several organizations find it appealing to move from on-premises computing to cloud computing, either fully or partially, which has led to increased competition between service providers [2]. Cloud computing has emerged as a rapidly growing sector in the IT industry, offering numerous benefits such as cost efficiency, flexibility, accessibility, scalability, and increased productivity. Projections indicate that the demand for cloud computing services is expected to reach approximately $791.48 billion by 2028 [3]. However, alongside its potential, there are significant risks and threats associated with cloud services. The storage of confidential data in multi-cloud environments exposes organizations to a higher risk of attacks. This concern is particularly relevant for businesses that are still considering a migration to cloud computing, as it poses a potential threat to their transformation efforts. Cloud computing enables efficient data management at a reasonable cost, with flexible pricing options tailored to customer requirements and the expertise of service providers. Price plays a crucial role in organizations providing cloud-based services, as it directly affects customer requirements and company profitability. Pricing decisions have a direct impact on the economy, shares, profits, and losses [4]. Service vendors prioritize delivering guaranteed quality of service (QoS) to their customers, ensuring customer satisfaction and meeting service level agreements (SLAs). While pricing in the technology industry has traditionally followed a set framework, the advent of cloud computing has brought about new models of value chains, leading to the evolution of pricing models in this domain [5]. Overall, statistical data and figures indicate a growing trend among companies in adopting Microsoft cloud services, encompassing Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint for collaborative purposes, Microsoft Office applications, and various other services [6]. Microsoft Azure Active Directory (AAD) serves as a cloud-based identity and access management solution offered by Microsoft, delivering Identity and Access Management (IAM) services through the cloud [7]. Moreover, AAD can be leveraged for authentication purposes across different cloud environments. AAD shares similarities with Windows Active Directory (AD), which operates as a server-based service, running on Windows Server [6]. Despite the advantages of cloud computing, the storage of sensitive data with a third party, such as a cloud service provider, raises significant security concerns. Security is a crucial requirement for both cloud providers and their customers [8]. Cloud systems, due to their accessibility and complexity, are associated with various risks and security issues. The National Security Agency (NSA) has identified cloud misconfigurations as a prominent cause of security breaches [9; 10]. These misconfigurations create opportunities for malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities or obtain user credentials through phishing campaigns or social engineering techniques, thereby enabling privilege escalation attempts [11]. Misconfigurations can have severe consequences, including the compromise of sensitive data and privilege escalation attacks [9]. The focus of this paper is on Microsoft Azure cloud services, specifically highlighting its security architecture.