Microsoft is expanding its digital identity technology to LinkedIn with a new tool that lets companies give their employees a way to prove to the outside world that they’re not fibbing about their place of work.
LinkedIn will offer a new workplace verification system that uses Microsoft Entra Verified ID to issue credentials. Employees of participating companies will see a prompt in LinkedIn to confirm their workplace using these credentials. When complete, the employment verification will appear on their LinkedIn profiles.
Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for more than $26 billion in 2016. The new verified identity service is a notable integration between the business social network and the company’s Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management group, which has been led by former Amazon Web Services executive Charlie Bell since late 2021.
Responding to an inquiry from GeekWire, Microsoft said companies will have the ability to create these credentials without a paid license or subscription.
“Our goal is to make it convenient and secure for users and organizations to build trust and authenticity online,” said Ankur Patel, head of product for Entra Verified ID, in an emailed statement. “Organizations can issue workplace credentials for LinkedIn with any Azure AD subscription, including Azure AD Free, which will also integrate with their existing Identity Access Management or HR systems.”
Even with the free option, the approach plays into Microsoft’s broader business strategy. LinkedIn’s revenue rose 34% in Microsoft’s fiscal 2022, to more than $13.8 billion, representing nearly 7% of Microsoft’s overall revenue. Microsoft’s security technology business generates more than $20 billion annually, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told analysts earlier this year.
Microsoft says it’s testing Verified ID for LinkedIn with more 70 organizations, including consulting firms Accenture and Avanade, and Microsoft itself.
The company will start to roll out the technology more broadly on LinkedIn later in April, says Joy Chik, Microsoft’s president of identity and network access, in a post Wednesday morning.
This is part of a decades-long initiative by Microsoft to figure out ways to authenticate and verify digital identities. Entra is the brand introduced by Microsoft last year for its group of identity access and management products.
