The percentage of people that work remotely in European countries ranges between 9 to 25%. In the US, this percentage is over 20%. Even though working remotely has several benefits, it is associated with several cybersecurity risks since workers rely on their own or work mobile devices and the internet to access company resources and the other online tools they use for their everyday tasks.
To mitigate the risks associated with having a remote workforce, using remote device management platforms like Microsoft Intune is a reliable solution. Microsoft Intune has all the tools your IT team needs to manage the devices of your remote workforce, ensuring they meet the minimum security and compliance needs of your organization. In this article, we will discuss how you can use Microsoft Intune to ensure maximum security for your remote workforce.
What is Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based service from Microsoft that provides unified endpoint management (UEM). It acts as a central location for you to manage and secure all your devices, whether they are company-owned or personal devices used for work (BYOD – Bring Your Own Device). Let’s explore the key Intune features that are crucial for securing your remote workforce.
Key Features and Benefits
- Unified Device Management: This feature allows you to manage a wide range of devices from one dashboard. It supports all the major platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS/iPadOS, and Linux.
- Mobile Device Management (MDM): Intune offers robust MDM capabilities, allowing you to control access to corporate data, enforce security policies on mobile devices, and remotely wipe devices if needed.
- Application Management: Intune streamlines application deployment and management for various devices. You can remotely distribute internal or public app store apps, configure settings, and ensure devices have the necessary applications.
- Conditional Access: With Intune, you can enhance security by implementing conditional access policies that ensure only compliant devices can access organizational resources based on pre-defined rules. Intune can also be used alongside Microsoft Entra Conditional Access to require multifactor authentication (MFA) when users are enrolling their devices.
- Endpoint Compliance: This feature allows you to define and enforce compliance policies to ensure devices meet your organization’s security standards. Intune can monitor device health, detect vulnerabilities, and take actions (like restricting access) on non-compliant devices.
- Data Encryption: You can also enforce data encryption on devices using Intune to protect sensitive information even if the device is lost or stolen.
- Password Management: Intune also allows you to enforce strong password policies and enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security.
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Intune integrates Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to identify, contain, and respond to threats on managed devices.
Securing Devices with Microsoft Intune
Intune offers a comprehensive approach to securing devices enrolled in your organization’s mobile device management (MDM) program. Let’s explore how you can secure the devices of your remote workers using Intune:
1. Device Enrollment and Management
With Intune, you can enroll your devices using three main methods. These methods include:
- Automated Enrollment:Intune integrates with Azure Active Directory (Microsoft Entra ID), which streamlines the process of enrolling company devices.
- User Enrollment:Users initiate enrollment via the company portal or QR code on personal devices.
- Windows Autopilot:Automated configuration for new Windows devices.
Choose from any of the above methods depending on the device type and your user needs. Once enrolled, Intune provides a central inventory of all devices. You can view device details, health status, and manage them remotely. In case of a lost or stolen device, Intune allows selective or full wipe of work data to protect sensitive information from being accessed by unauthorized entities.
2. Setting Security Policies
Intune allows you to define security baselines outlining requirements for strong passwords, encryption, minimum OS version, and more. Intune enforces these policies on enrolled devices. You can also configure specific settings on devices like Wi-Fi networks, VPN access, app restrictions, and security certificates. You can also implement access controls based on device health, location, and user identity.
3. Ensuring Device Compliance
Intune provides detailed reports on device compliance status. You can identify non-compliant devices, and the specific issues, and take corrective actions to make them compliant. With Intune, you can also integrate conditional access policies to restrict access for non-compliant devices.
Intune can notify users to take the recommended actions such as updating software, to meet the compliance needs of your organization. You can also integrate Intune with MTD (mobile threat defense) solutions to scan devices for vulnerabilities, malware, and other threats to remediate issues and improve overall device security posture.
Protecting Data with Microsoft Intune
Besides device security, Intune also offers robust data protection features, which include the following:
1. Data Protection Policies
Intune allows you to define policies to control how organizational data is accessed and used within apps. You can restrict data sharing, copy/paste functionality, and enforce encryption on app data. As mentioned earlier, Intune also allows selective wiping of work data from BYOD devices while preserving personal information.
2. Encryption and Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Intune enforces on-device encryption to protect data at rest on devices. This makes data inaccessible even if the device is compromised. DLP policies help prevent sensitive data from being accidentally or intentionally shared outside the organization. Intune can identify sensitive data types and restrict their transfer through emails, messages, or cloud storage.
3. Controlling Access to Company Data
Conditional access policies play a crucial role in data protection. By restricting access to company resources only from compliant and trusted devices, Intune helps prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data. Intune integrates with Microsoft Entra ID to enforce MFA for accessing company resources. This adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second verification factor beyond just one’s username and password.
Remote Work Best Practices with Microsoft Intune
- Zero Trust Approach: Organizations must implement a zero-trust security model where no device or user is implicitly trusted. Intune’s conditional access policies align with this approach by verifying each access request based on pre-defined criteria like device compliance and user identity.
- Least Privilege Access: Grant users and devices the minimum access level required to perform their jobs. This reduces the potential damage if a device is compromised. Intune can help enforce the least privilege through role-based access control (RBAC).
- Device Segmentation: Segment devices into groups based on department, function, or risk level. This allows you to apply more granular security policies to different device groups based on their needs.
- Application Protection Policies (APP): Implement robust APP policies to control how organizational data is accessed and used within applications. This helps prevent data leakage and unauthorized access.
- Implement Secure Access Controls with Intune: Intune provides robust tools to secure remote access. You can define policies requiring compliant devices, strong Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and specific locations for accessing resources. Intune can also automate secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections and enforce session timeouts to automatically lock down inactive sessions, minimizing unauthorized access.
- Educating Employees on Security Measures: A well-informed workforce is critical for remote work security. Your organization should conduct regular cybersecurity awareness training to equip remote employees with knowledge to identify phishing attempts, maintain strong password hygiene, and recognize suspicious activities.
- Monitoring and Responding to Security Threats: Intune offers features to proactively monitor and respond to threats. Utilize Intune reports to identify potential security risks and track incidents. Consider Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) for real-time threat monitoring and response capabilities.
Conclusion
With Microsoft Intune, your organization can secure its remote workforce by leveraging its unified platform for managing and protecting devices and data. Intune’s comprehensive features address the key challenges of securing remote work environments, including device enrollment and management, enforcing security policies, ensuring device compliance, and protecting data access. To get the best from Microsoft Intune, your organization must follow remote work best practices like zero trust, least privilege, and user education.
If you don’t have the internal expertise to leverage the endpoint device management capabilities of Microsoft Intune, our team at WizardCyber is always ready to step in. We offer managed personalized cybersecurity services using a wide range of Microsoft security products, including Intune. Contact our support team with details of your company needs to get started now.
