Category: Microsoft
Category Archives: Microsoft
Saving multiple e-mails in either New Outlook or Webmail
Is there a way to save multiple e-mails locally either from the webmail client or the new outlook client. The reason I ask is we have shared mailboxes and a user who needs access to e-mails that are older than 12 months. I’m aware you can save one e-mail at a time by right clicking and clicking on save as, but if you select more than 1 e-mail you no longer have this option.
I’ve tried dragging and dropping, both with ctrl and without, and I’m unable to move a copy from New Outlook locally.
Is there a way to save multiple e-mails locally either from the webmail client or the new outlook client. The reason I ask is we have shared mailboxes and a user who needs access to e-mails that are older than 12 months. I’m aware you can save one e-mail at a time by right clicking and clicking on save as, but if you select more than 1 e-mail you no longer have this option. I’ve tried dragging and dropping, both with ctrl and without, and I’m unable to move a copy from New Outlook locally. Read More
Configurando DAPR, KEDA no AKS
A CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation) define Aplicações Cloud-Native como software que consistem em vários serviços pequenos e interdependentes chamados microsserviços. Essas aplicações são projetadas para aproveitar ao máximo as inovações em computação em nuvem, como escalabilidade, segurança, flexibilidade e automação.
Alguns dos projetos Cloud-Native mais conhecidos da CNCF são: Kubernetes, Prometheus, Envoy, Jaeger, Helm, DAPR, KEDA e etc.
Neste artigo, falaremos sobre DAPR, KEDA e como esta combinação pode trazer eficiência e flexibilidade na construção de aplicações em Kubernetes.
DAPR: Distributed Application Runtime
DAPR é um runtime portátil, serverless orientado a eventos que facilita a vida dos desenvolvedores na construção de microsserviços resilientes, principalmente no gerenciamento de estado, envio e consumo de mensagens via broker etc, usando uma abordagem de mesh, que simplifique bastante seu gerenciamento e também abraça a diversidade de linguagens e frameworks.
KEDA: Kubernetes Event Driven Autoscaling
KEDA torna o escalonamento automático de aplicativos simples, aplicando escalonamento automático orientado a eventos para escalar seu aplicativo com base na demanda ( filas, tópicos etc). Ele permite que você escale cargas de trabalho de 0 a N instâncias de forma eficiente (escala para zero), o que significa que seu aplicativo pode escalar dinamicamente para zero instâncias quando não estiver em uso, ajudando bastante em cenários de otimização de custos.
Desta forma, aproveitei para montar este repositório no GitHub chamado “App-Plant-Tree” que cobre conceitos sobre Arquitetura Cloud-Native combinando as seguintes tecnologias:
Go – Producer/Consumer App
Distributed Application Runtime – DAPR
Kubernetes Event Driven Autoscaling – KEDA
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Azure Container Registry (ACR)
Azure Service Bus (ASB)
Ferramentas para desenvolvimento
Go SDK
Azure CLI
DAPR CLI
Kubectl
Helm CLI
GIT bash
Visual Studio Code
Configurando a Infraestrutura
Logando no Azure usando a linha de comando(CLI):
az login
Substitua os valores das variáveis abaixo conforme seu ambiente:
– $SubscriptionID = ”
– $Location = ”
– $ResourceGroupName = ”
– $AKSClusterName = ”
– $ContainerRegistryName = ”
– $ServiceBusNamespace = ”
Aponte para sua subscription:
az account set –subscription $SubscriptionID
Criando seu resource group:
az group create –name $ResourceGroupName –location $Location
1. Criando seu cluster AKS e conecte o ACR
Crie o cluster AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service):
az aks create –resource-group $ResourceGroupName –name $AKSClusterName –node-count 3 –location $Location –node-vm-size Standard_D4ds_v5 –tier free –enable-pod-identity –network-plugin azure –generate-ssh-keys
De forma opcional, mas benéfica por trazer o suporte da Microsoft(veja detalhes nos links abaixo), você pode você pode instalar DAPR e KEDA via extension/addons.
DAPR AKS Extension
KEDA AKS Addon
Crie o ACR (Azure Container Registry):
az acr create –name $ContainerRegistryName –resource-group $ResourceGroupName –sku basic
Conecte o AKS ao ACR :
az aks update –name $AKSClusterName –resource-group $ResourceGroupName –attach-acr $ContainerRegistryName
Pegue as credenciais para se conectar ao cluster AKS:
az aks get-credentials –resource-group $ResourceGroupName –name $AKSClusterName –overwrite-existing
Verifique a conexão com o cluster:
kubectl cluster-info
2. Configurando DAPR no AKS via helmcharts
Adicione a referência:
helm repo add dapr https://dapr.github.io/helm-charts/
helm repo update
helm upgrade –install dapr dapr/dapr –namespace dapr-system –create-namespace
helm upgrade –install dapr-dashboard dapr/dapr-dashboard –namespace dapr-system –create-namespace
Verifique se os pods estão rodando:
kubectl get pods -n dapr-system
2.1 Configurando o DAPR Dashboard
para acessar o DAPR dashboard, execute o seguinte comando
dapr dashboard -k
Resultado esperado:
DAPR dashboard found in namespace: dapr-system
DAPR dashboard available at http://localhost:8080
3. Configurando KEDA no AKS via helmcharts
Adicione a referência:
helm repo add kedacore https://kedacore.github.io/charts
helm repo update
helm upgrade –install keda kedacore/keda -n keda-system –create-namespace
helm upgrade –install keda-add-ons-http kedacore/keda-add-ons-http -n keda-system –create-namespace
Verifique se os pods estão rodando:
kubectl get pods -n keda-system
4. Configurando a camada de transporte para DAPR e KEDA
Neste projeto, temos três diferentes opções para configurar a camada de transporte (escolha uma):
Azure Service Bus
Redis
RabbitMq
Deploy das aplicações no AKS
1. Criando as imagens docker
az acr login –name $ContainerRegistryName
docker build -t “$ContainerRegistryName.azurecr.io/consumer-app:1.0.0″ -f cmd/consumer/dockerfile .
docker build -t “$ContainerRegistryName.azurecr.io/producer-app:1.0.0″ -f cmd/producer/dockerfile .
2. Subindo as imagens no Container Registry ACR
docker push “$ContainerRegistryName.azurecr.io/consumer-app:1.0.0″
docker push “$ContainerRegistryName.azurecr.io/producer-app:1.0.0″
3. Aplicando Helmchart das Aplicações
helm upgrade –install app .helmcharts/app -n tree –create-namespace
Verifique se os pods estão rodando::
kubectl get pods -n tree
4. Testando as aplicações
# Revisar Logs
kubectl logs -f -l app=consumer1 –all-containers=true -n tree
# Fazer o foward da porta
kubectl port-forward pod/producer1 8081 8081 -n tree
# Enviar um post para o producer
– POST -> http://localhost:8081/plant
– Json Body: {“numberOfTrees”:100}
# Validar os pods e seus status
kubectl get pod -l app=consumer1 -n tree
4. Removendo recursos
Removendo os helm-charts:
helm uninstall app -n tree
helm uninstall keda-add-ons-http -n keda-system
helm uninstall keda -n keda-system
helm uninstall dapr -n dapr-system
Excluir todos os recursos Azure:
az aks delete –name $AKSClusterName –resource-group $ResourceGroupName
az acr delete –name $ContainerRegistryName –resource-group $ResourceGroupName
az group delete –name $ResourceGroupName
Referências
DAPR KEDA GO – Plant Tree App
DAPR – Pros/Cons
KEDA – Pros/Cons
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Securing Multi-Cloud Gen AI workloads using Azure Native Solutions
Note: This series is part of “Security using Azure Native services” series and assumes that you are or planning to leverage Defender for Cloud, Defender XDR Portal, and Azure Sentinel.
Introduction
AI Based Technology introduces a new set of security risks that may not be comprehensively covered by existing risk management frameworks. Based on our experience, customers often only consider the risks related to the Gen AI models like OpenAI or Anthropic. Thereby, not taking a holistic approach that cover all aspects of the workload.
This article will help you:
Understand a typical multi-cloud Gen AI workload pattern
Articulate the technical risks exists in the AI workload
Recommend security controls leveraging Azure Native services
We will not cover Data Security (cryptography, regulatory implications etc.), model specific issues like Hallucinations, deepfakes, privacy, toxicity, societal bias, supply chain security, attacks that leverage Gen AI capabilities to manifest such as Disinformation, Deepfakes, Financial Fraud etc. Instead, we aim to provide guidance on architectural security controls that will enable secure:
Configuration of AI workload
Operation of the workload
This is a two-part series:
Part 1: Provides a framework to understand the threats related to Gen AI workloads holistically and an easy reference to the native security solutions that help mitigate. We also provide sample controls using leading industry frameworks.
Part 2: Will dive deeper into the AI shared responsibility model and how that overlaps with your design choices
Threat Landscape
Let’s discuss some common threats:
Insider abuse: An insider (human or machine) sending sensitive / proprietary information to a third party GenAI model
Supply chain poisoning: Compromise of a third-party GenAI model (whether this is a SaaS or binary llm models developed by third party and downloaded by your organization)
System abuse: Manipulating the model prompts to mislead the end user of the model
Over privilege: Granting unrestricted permissions and capability to the model thereby allowing the model to perform unintentional actions
Data theft/exfiltration: Intentional or unintentional exfiltration of the proprietary models, prompts, and model outputs
Insecure configuration: Not following the leading practices when architecting and operating your AI workload
Model poisoning: Tampering with the model itself to affect the desired behavior of the model
Denial of Service: Impacting the performance of the model with resource intensive operations
We will discuss how these threats apply in a common architecture.
Reference architecture
Fig. Gen-AI cloud native workload
Let’s discuss each step so we can construct a layered defense:
Assuming you are following cloud native architecture patterns, your developer will publish all the application and infrastructure code in an Azure DevOps repo
The DevOps pipeline will then Create a container image
Pipeline will also set up respective API endpoints in Azure API management
Pipeline will deploy the image with Kubernetes manifests (note that he secrets will stored out of bound in Azure Key Vault)
User access an application that leverages GenAI (Open AI for Azure and Anthropic in AWS)
Depending on the API endpoint requested, APIM will direct the request to the containerized application running in cloud native Kubernetes platforms (AKS or EKS)
The application uses API credentials stored in KeyVault
The application makes requests to appropriate Gen AI service
The results are stored in a storage service and are reported back to the user who initiated step 5 above
Each cloud native service stores the diagnostic logs in a centralized Log Analytics Workspace (LAW)
Azure Sentinel is enabled on the LAW
The subscription where the workload is running is protected by Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Entra ID is the identity provider for this multi-cloud workload.
Layered defense using native services
If you were to follow the Kill Chain framework, in many cases the initial attack vectors may be what we have seen earlier like spear phishing, exploiting poorly written application (XSS etc.), privilege escalation. However, these attacks will lead to gen AI specific scenarios:
Injecting instructions to trick the application to query private datastores by removing the prompt and conversation history. The classic example would be Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) where the attacker will trick the browser (or client application) to perform this query. Without a Gen AI aware outbound filter and inbound checking this would hard to detect or prevent.
Privilege escalation, exploiting the privileges that user might have granted to a third-party app or plugin, which can query LLM model. In this scenario, an attacker can get hold of user’s browser running the plugin or the desktop client and then provide a prompt to exfiltrate the information. Like 1 above, in this case you will need Gen AI aware controls at different layers
Jailbreaking the AI safety mechanisms to trick the LLM to perform restricted capabilities like malware generation, phishing etc.
Distributed denial of service by making the model unavailable this can be via unrestricted queries
Supply chain poisoning by using unapproved images, SBOM components, in your application etc.
Hopefully, this helps you realize that you need a layered defense to mitigate, like so:
Microsoft Native Security Solutions and security controls
Microsoft’s security solutions provide deep capabilities across each of the above layers. Let’s look at some specific controls, where would they apply in the reference architecture, and the corresponding native solution. To provide a standardized framework, we leveraged leading practices provided by NIST, OWASP, ISACs and other bodies to derive the controls.
Please note that in this article we intend to provide a foundational knowledge as a result we are focusing on the high-level description of different native security components that you may be able to leverage. In subsequent articles we plan to focus specific use cases.
#
Control description
Ref architecture step
Native solution
Description
1.
Verify that systems properly handle queries that may give rise to inappropriate, malicious, or illegal usage, including facilitating manipulation, extortion, targeted impersonation, cyber-attacks, and weapons creation:
– Prompt injection (OWASP LLM01)
– Insecure Output Handling (OWASP LLM02)
– Sensitive Information Disclosure (LLM06)
– Insecure Plugin Design (LLM07)
5, 6, 8,9
Azure WAF, APIM, Defender for API, Defender for Containers,
Defender for Key Vault,
Defender for AI,
Defender for Database,
Microsoft Sentinel
Azure WAF may act as the first line of defense for injections made via API or HTTP requests like XSS reducing the likelihood and impact of LLM01 and LLM02
Defender for API can help identify risky APIs that also APIs that might respond with Sensitive Data released by the model in addition to alerting on anomalies. This is specifically useful for LLM06
Defender for Containers might detect if an attacker is trying to manipulate the running Gen AI application to change the behavior to get access to the Gen AI services
Defender for AI might detect several Gen AI specific anomalies related to the usage pattern like Jailbreak (LLM07), Unintended sensitive data disclosure (LLM06) etc.
Azure AI content safety has Prompt Shield for User Prompts this feature natively targets User Prompt injection attacks, where users deliberately exploit system vulnerabilities to elicit unauthorized behavior from the LLM (LLM01)
2.
Regularly assess and verify that security measures remain effective and have not been compromised:
– Prompt injection (OWASP LLM01)
– Insecure Output Handling (OWASP LLM02)
– Model Denial of Service (LLM04)
– Supply chain vulnerabilities (LLM05)
– Insecure Plugin Design (LLM07)
– Excessive agency (OWASP LLM08)
– Overreliance (LLM09)
– Model Theft (OWASP LLM10)
All
Defender CSPM, Defender for API, Defender for Containers,
Defender for Key Vault,
Defender for AI,
Microsoft Sentinel
DevOps Security, which is part of Defender CSPM, allows you to scan your Infrastructure as Code templates as well as your application code (via third party solution or GHAS). This enables you to prevent insecure deployment reducing the likelihood of LLM05 and LLM07
Defender CSPM has several leading practices driven recommendations for each step of the reference architecture to enable secure operations of AI workloads reducing the likelihood of LLM01
Defender for AI specifically have alerting targeted at LLM06, LLM07 (as described above) in addition to Model Theft (LLM10)
Defender for Database also has protections to prevent for LLM07 to notify of the harmful impacts of raw SQL or programming statements instead of Parameters
Monitoring the recommendations of Defender CSPM may reduce your chances of accidental exposure as well simulating the alerts from Workload protection capabilities will help you validate if you have appropriate response plans in place.
3.
Measure the rate at which recommendations from security checks and incidents are implemented. Assess how quickly the AI system can adapt and improve based on lessons learned from security incidents and feedback.
All
Defender CSPM, Microsoft Sentinel
Secure Score overtime and Governance workbook within Defender CSPM can help you identify how the security of your AI workload is trending.
In addition, you can run workbooks in Microsoft Sentinel to assess your response capabilities and specifically Azure Open AI related issues. There are also workbooks that help you identify visualize the events from the WAF
4.
Verify fine-tuning does not compromise safety and security controls.
– Prompt injection (OWASP LLM01)
– Insecure Output Handling (OWASP LLM02)
– Model Denial of Service (LLM04)
– Insecure Plugin Design (LLM07)
– Excessive agency (OWASP LLM08)
1,2,3,5,6,8
Defender CSPM, Defender for API, Defender for Containers,
Defender for AI,
Microsoft Sentinel
As mentioned in #1 above, there are native safeguards for each of these Gen AI specific threats. You may want to pre-emptively review the security alerts and recommendations to develop responses that you can deploy via Logic App and automate the response using Workflow Automation. There are several starter templates available in Defender for Cloud’s GitHub.
5.
Conduct adversarial testing at a regular cadence to map and measure GAI risks, including tests to address attempts to deceive or manipulate the application of provenance techniques or other misuses. Identify vulnerabilities and understand potential misuse scenarios and unintended outputs.
All
Defender CSPM, Defender for API, Defender for Containers, Defender for Key Vault
Defender for AI,
Microsoft Sentinel
As specified in #4, your Red Team can conduct test against your workloads and review the results in Defender for Cloud’s dashboards or in Microsoft Sentinel’s workbooks mentioned under #3
6.
Evaluate GAI system performance in real-world scenarios to observe its behavior in practical environments and reveal issues that might not surface in controlled and optimized testing environments.
11
Defender for AI, Microsoft Sentinel
You can review the current security state of the AI workload as mentioned in Microsoft Sentinel’s workbooks Azure Open AI related issues and in Defender for Cloud’s Secure Score overtime, Governance workbook, and current alerts.
7.
Establish and maintain procedures for the remediation of issues which trigger incident response processes for the use of a GAI system and provide stakeholders timelines associated with the remediation plan.
5,6,8,11
Defender CSPM, Defender for API, Defender for Containers, Defender for Key Vault,
Defender for AI,
Microsoft Sentinel
You can generate sample alerts in Defender for Cloud and review the recommended actions that are specific to each alert with each stakeholder. Customers often find it beneficial to do this exercise as part of their Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE). You may then want to set up automation as suggested under #4 above. The Secure Score overtime and Governance workbook will help you benchmark your progress.
8.
Establish and regularly review specific criteria that warrants the deactivation of GAI systems in accordance with set risk tolerances and appetites.
5,6,11
Defender CSPM, Microsoft Sentinel
As you will use Defender for Cloud as a key component, you can leverage the alert management capabilities to manage the status, set up suppression rules, and risk exemptions for specific resources.
Similarly, in Microsoft Sentinel you can set up custom analytic rules and responses to correspond to your risk tolerance. For example, if you do not want to allow access from specific locations you can set up an analytic rule to monitor for that using Azure WAF events.
Call to action
As you saw above, the native services are more than capable to monitor the security of your Gen AI workloads. You should consider:
Discuss the reference architecture with your CCoE to see what mechanisms you currently have in place to transparently protect your Gen AI workloads
Review if you are already leveraging the security services mentioned in the table. If you are not, consider talking to your Azure Account team to see if you can do a deep dive in these services to explore the possibility of replacement
Work with your CCoE to review the alerts recommended above to determine your potential exposure and relevance. Subsequently develop a response plan.
Consider running an extended Proof of Concept of the Services mentioned above so you can evaluate the advantages of native over best of breed.
Understand that if you must, you can leverage specific capabilities in Defender for Cloud and other Azure Services to develop a comprehensive plan. For example, if you are already using a CSPM solution you might want to leverage foundational CSPM capabilities to detect AI configuration deviations along with Defender for AI workload protection. A natively protected reference architecture might look like so,
Fig. Natively protected Gen AI workload
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
The Updated Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program: Beyond the Classroom
What is the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program?
The program is a global group of campus leaders who are eager to help fellow students, lead in their local tech community, and develop technical and career skills for the future. It is a chance to be effective and to grow personally and professionally by working on AI-driven projects that matter. This community is highly diverse and inclusive – you find students of different backgrounds.
This program is looking for students who are or want to be community influencers, community builders, startup advocates, tech enthusiasts, agents of change, skill builders, learners, and open-minded individuals. If you fall within any of these specifications or something similar, then you are welcome to join the program if you are 16 years old at the time of registration, enrolled full-time in an accredited academic institution, and not be a Microsoft employee or current contractor.
I can proudly say that this program stands at the top of known student/campus ambassador programs because of its vibrant and supportive community members which span across all skill levels.
Student Ambassadors Benefits
Micrsosoft Learn Student Ambassadors complete activities that make contributions to both the Ambassadors community and their local communities and work to unlock more benefits. Some of the key benefits are outlined below:
Access to Microsoft 365.
Visual Studio Enterprise subscription.
$150 monthly Azure credits.
Ready-to-go presentation materials.
Engagement with Microsoft employees, Microsoft MVPs, Cloud Advocates, and other students worldwide.
Student Ambassadors milestone badges highlighting accomplishments.
Student Ambassadors Swag. Visit my LinkedIn post to see some of the contents of the swag box.
These benefits are subject to change.
How to Register: Step-by-Step Guide
The process of registering to become a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador has been updated and is straightforward.
Visit the official Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program website and click “Get Started”.
Log in with your Microsoft account or create a Microsoft account.
Fill out the required information from personal information to academic information, to social media information, et cetera. Once you fill out the required information, click on submit. This video (subject to changes) gives a concise breakdown of what you are expected to do on the website after creating your account. Keep an eye on your inbox for an invite to join the Microsoft Student Developer Community on Discord within a few days (subject to changes).
Join the Discord server to complete other requirements.
Go to the “Start Here” and “FAQ” channels and follow the instructions provided (subject to changes). You will be expected to link your Discord account to your GitHub account
Join and complete Technical Training
Choose either of the three paths: Community Influencer, Community Builder, or Startup Advocate, then complete the tasks required for each path using your assigned Contributor ID.
Be sure to visit all channels on the server so that you do not miss any information.
Your progress to the numbers expected from you will be sent to your registered email periodically by one of the Program Managers.
When you meet all the requirements, you will receive an official invitation through email to join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program on Microsoft Teams.
Accept your invite and join as an Alpha Ambassador with your benefits activated.
Note that these steps are subject to changes which will be made when necessary. The three ways you can get current information about the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program are
(1.) through the Student Ambassadors website
(2.) through the Microsoft Student Developer Community on Discord,
(3.) Referral by reaching out to current Ambassadors (preferably Gold Ambassadors).
Student Ambassadors Milestones
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program has three milestones: Alpha, Beta, and Gold. As an Ambassador progresses from the Alpha milestone forward, more benefits get unlocked.
Alpha Milestone: Students who complete all requirements on Microsoft Student Developer Community on Discord based on their selected path will be invited to join the program and earn the Alpha badge (This milestone will likely be retired in 2025). New (Alpha) Ambassadors are onboarded quarterly.
Beta Milestone: Ambassadors who host an event or participate in an AI project. will earn the Beta badge.
Gold Milestone: This is the highest stage in the program. Student Ambassadors who have gone beyond serving their community and the program will earn the Gold badge. Attaining this milestone is competitive and achievable.
Tips for Meeting the Requirements by Registered Members
To meet your requirements, take note of these tips:
Do not sound desperate while making posts on social media asking your connection to engage with your posts. Be creative. Your post should answer questions like, “Why should I follow this link?” or “What will I learn through this link?”.
Draw insights from what current Ambassadors (Gold Ambassadors preferably) are doing.
For the Community Influencer path, be sure to know what each website you will be sharing with your audience is used for and how beneficial they are.
Be sure to join a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors community around you or online. Participate in the community activities as much as you can.
Ask current Ambassadors to help you share your posts (remember that Ambassadors are not obliged to repost or share your posts).
Ask for guidance if you need one. Be direct with your request for guidance.
The program is flexible. You will find the time to engage in the activities you want.
My Unwavering Journey in the Program
I got attracted to the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program in 2020. The attraction was largely because of the uniquely designed water bottle that I saw with my coursemate and friend who was a Beta Ambassador at that time.
It took me some time before I eventually felt confident enough to submitted my application in the third quarter of 2021. I applied not knowing what to expect. I did not know about any other benefits of the program. Fast forward to August 2021, I joined the program.. This was a defining moment for me because I wanted everything to do with Microsoft. The title “Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador” alone carried grace, leadership, responsibility, and privilege in it. I loved it. Everything in the program was new to me. Talk about hosting events online, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365, et cetera, everything. It was another opportunity for me to come out of my shell, learn new skills and growth both technically, personnally and professionally. I have been part of other student programs but there was none like this.
This program challenged me. I engaged in skilling activities I never thought I could be capable of. I progressed through the Alpha milestone to Beta and finally got the swag, but I felt there were more things I could achieve in the program. Achievements that would last forever. I drew insights and inspiration from what other Ambassadors were doing. My goals changed. I have successfully mentored over 100 students to join the program. I mentored fellow Ambassadors as well, helping them find their place in the program and advancing through milestones. I have collaborated with fellow Ambassadors from different regions as a host, a co-host, a speaker, and an event moderator. I and five other Ambassadors have led a program where Ambassadors sign up to lead their community while skilling participants in Azure Fundamentals or Azure AI Fundamentals content on Microsoft Learn since October 2023. Hundreds of students worldwide have obtained one Microsoft Fundamental certification or another through this program.
I have hosted over 30 events as an Ambassador among which include speaking engagements at different universities both online and in-person. These and more are ways through which I support the program, my community, and myself. These activities were influential to my reaching the Gold milestone.
Tips for Current Ambassadors
Be sure to be active within the community both in person and online Microsoft has amazing online communities such as the Microsoft AI Discord channel with over 10k AI Developers and speclialist.
Microsoft has amazing Open Source GitHub Projects, Curricula and Samples for you to share and consume.
Engage in all program activities like Peer Mentorship, Ambassadors AI project, Study Group Program, et cetera. where possible. There is also a community dedicated to Women and Gender Minority.
Continue building skills on Microsoft Learn.
Make the Student Ambassador Handbook your friend. Updates get posted in the handbook when the need arises. This way you will remain up to date with current information.
Collaborate with fellow Ambassadors from your immediate community, country, and across continents to host and cohost events.
Always report your events and activities on the Student Ambassador’s website to keep track of all you do.
Focus on building impact. Have fun in all you do.
Conclusion
The Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program offers a wide stream of opportunities for students to learn, connect, and grow. By becoming an Ambassador, you can empower yourself to make a lasting impact and kick-start your career in technology. This is a community for you.
Register today and take the first step towards becoming a leader in the tech community!
Be a Force for Good!
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
80 Guru Pelatih SMK dari SMK NTT Siap Tingkatkan Mutu Pengajaran dengan AI Generatif
Read the English version here
Kupang, 18 Juli 2024 – Kemajuan teknologi kecerdasan buatan (Artificial Intelligence-AI) harus bermanfaat bagi masyarakat Indonesia, termasuk bagi para pendidik Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK) di wilayah Nusa Tenggara Timur. Terutama, agar para guru dan murid SMK di wilayah ini bisa memanfaatkan AI Generatif dan bersaing lebih baik dalam memasuki bursa kerja, di tengah persaingan dengan 149,38 juta angkatan kerja nasional lainnya (BPS, 2024).
Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia) menggelar pelatihan untuk para pelatih (Training of Trainers–ToT) yang diikuti oleh 80 guru SMK dari Kota Kupang, Kabupaten Lembata, Kabupaten Timor Tengah Selatan, Kabupaten Nagekeo, dan Kabupaten Manggarai secara daring dan luring pada Kamis (18/07/2024). Kegiatan ini merupakan bagian dari program ketenagakerjaan dan kewirausahaan Plan Indonesia, AI TEACH, yang didukung penuh oleh Microsoft.
Dini Arifah, AI TEACH Project Manager Plan Indonesia, menjelaskan bahwa ToT ini merupakan lanjutan dari upaya berkelanjutan Plan Indonesia untuk meningkatkan akses penduduk di NTT terhadap pekerjaan digital. “Sebagai organisasi yang sudah bekerja lebih dari 50 tahun di NTT yang merupakan wilayah kerja utama kami, Plan Indonesia berharap dapat menggunakan kesempatan ini untuk meningkatkan kemampuan para guru dan kesiapan kerja murid SMK di NTT. Tujuannya agar mereka dapat bersaing di era industri digital 4.0,” sebut Dini dalam pembukaan acara ToT di Kupang, Kamis (18/07/2024).
Kegiatan ToT AI TEACH ini terselenggara melalui kerja sama antara Plan Indonesia dengan Dinas Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan NTT. Kedua lembaga ini bertujuan menjangkau 1.000 guru SMK melalui pelatihan berjenjang (cascading) dan menjangkau sekitar 60.000 murid SMK di NTT hingga akhir 2024.
Ambrosius Kodo, Kepala Dinas Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan NTT, menyambut baik inisiatif Plan Indonesia untuk memajukan kuailtas pendidikan di NTT, terutama untuk mengurangi tingkat pengangguran terbuka NTT yang mencapai 3,17 persen pada 2024.
“Kita tentunya diberikan kecerdasan, ruang untuk memanfaatkan teknologi dengan baik, teristimewa untuk kemajuan sektor pendidikan di NTT. Dengan adanya AI, sebetulnya segala sesuatu akan menjadi lebih mudah. Pendidik maupun peserta didik harus benar-benar memahami cara memanfaatkan AI untuk pengetahuan dan kemajuan karier, daripada melihatnya sebagai suatu ancaman,” sebut Ambrosius.
Sementara itu, Microsoft ASEAN Philanthropies Lead Supahrat Juramongkol mengatakan, “Sejalan dengan misi Microsoft untuk memberdayakan setiap individu dan setiap organisasi di planet ini untuk mencapai lebih, kami merasa senang dapat mempercepat pengimplementasian program AI TEACH bersama Plan Indonesia. Melalui AI Generative Toolkit yang kami siapkan, kami berharap tidak hanya dapat meningkatkan peluang karier dan pendidikan para peserta, tetapi juga membantu pemerataan akses pendidikan digital, serta mendorong pertumbuhan ekonomi digital inklusif di NTT.
Topik pembelajaran yang diberikan melalui AI TEACH adalah keterampilan AI Generatif di dunia pendidikan, soft skill (kesiapan kerja), keterampilan digital dasar, kesetaraan Gender dan Inklusi Sosial (GESI), hingga kesadaran terhadap perilaku berisiko. Seluruh pelatihan ini diakses melalui modul AI Generative Toolkit yang tersedia di platform pembelajaran kitakerja.id milik Plan Indonesia, dilengkapi dengan materi tambahan dalam platform LinkedIn learning.
Selain memberikan pelatihan awal kepada 80 guru yang akan menjadi pelatih di NTT, program AI TEACH oleh Plan Indonesia dan Microsoft juga bertujuan menjangkau 5.000 pendidik SMK yang akan melatih 300.000 murid SMK dari seluruh penjuru negeri. Para pendidik juga akan mendampingi setidaknya 60.000 murid untuk mendapatkan sertifikasi penyelesaian oleh Microsoft dan LinkedIn hingga akhir Desember 2024.
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