Zero Trust with Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Over the last decade, it has become increasingly more important for businesses to have strict control over their networks. Although data security has always been a concern, the degree of sophistication of cybercriminals has reached new levels. And because of this, companies now require complete control over who can access their corporate data and how. Zero Trust can help businesses to establish the kind of security that they need to keep hackers at bay. Trusting all devices and then verifying them is no longer a viable option. Needless to say, the potential risks of such a strategy can be catastrophic. So it’s time for us to find out more about Zero Trust and how it can help.

What is Zero Trust?

Zero Trust is a security strategy that enables you to thoroughly assess any devices that are going to have access to your network. It considers all devices whether they are personal BYOD devices or fully-managed corporate devices. By assessing all devices, it means that only those that are healthy and compliant will gain access to corporate resources. But Zero Trust goes beyond just the devices themselves. It also checks mobile and desktop apps for health and trustworthiness. And what this does is to further enhance corporate data security. Using healthy and compliant apps ensures that you can prevent data from leaking to consumer apps and services.

Better alternative

The question that a lot of people want answers to is why do I need it? And the answer is pretty simple. It’s a significant upgrade to the solutions that we previously had. Perimeter-based security has shown over the years that it is not sufficient. And businesses have learned the hard way that just because a device is in the corporate perimeter, it doesn’t mean that it’s trustworthy. Hackers have several strategies they can use to break in and once they gain access, they can wreak havoc. Zero Trust functions differently. Rather than gifting trust, it requires validation at every step. Consequently, it is possible to reduce the incidences of breaches as well as their severity.

Getting started

A lot of clients wonder about how to get started with Zero Trust. As always, new approaches often pose challenges when it comes to implementation. And according to Nupur Goyal, Senior Product Marketing Manager, start with something as simple as multi-factor authentication. It’s a feature that is going to immediately strengthen your security. In addition to enhanced security, it’s very easy to use and most people have already come across it previously. By relying on strong authentication to verify user identities, you effectively reduce the risk of illegal access to corporate resources.

Device assessment

Before you can grant devices access to corporate resources, a thorough assessment needs to be done. You need to evaluate each endpoint to ensure that it has a trusted identity. Furthermore, you should check for relevant security policies as well as the risks for things like malware. In other words, you need to view the health and compliance of the device. You can obtain a trusted identity by registering a device with Azure AD. After the registration is complete and the devices have their identities, it’s essential to make sure that the devices meet your security requirements before granting access. You can establish protocols to distinguish between compliant and non-compliant devices.

Endpoint security

A major part of the Zero Trust strategy involves securing employees’ devices. This helps with maintaining data security and business continuity. Employees’ devices can be particularly vulnerable because of running old OS or downloading unsafe apps. By using Microsoft Endpoint Manager, you can instruct employees on safety protocols. In addition, Conditional Access policies help to control access by compliant and non-compliant devices. Another solution available to you is Microsoft Defender ATP which helps you to identify attacks and block malware.

Restricting access

Only devices that are secure and compliant should access corporate resources. So Azure AD Conditional Access assesses vulnerable devices and ensures that they don’t receive access until remediated. Microsoft recommends giving access to cloud apps only to Intune-managed, domain-joined, and/or compliant devices. Also, device-based Conditional Access policies can be configured specifically for your organization. This allows for a more tailor-made approach to deal with the risks that you face. Once all the processes are complete, employees can comfortably use their devices of choice to access company resources. However, restriction of access policies mean that data security will not be compromised in the process.  

Policy enforcement

Intune Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Intune Mobile Application Management (MAM) are the two options for enforcing policies on mobile devices. Although there is a rigorous process involved before devices gain access, security policies still need enforcement. For instance, you need to be able to control what employees can do with the data that they access. As far as apps are concerned, Intune MAM will ensure that only compliant apps running on approved devices will have certain access. Again, these Zero Trust strategies will help to prevent the challenges faced with perimeter-based security. As long as these strict security policies are enforced, vulnerable devices can be denied access and any potential breaches can be swiftly dealt with.

Plugging the gaps

All businesses can benefit from improving their security posture. You need to be constantly upgrading your security solutions to stay ahead of the cybercriminals. Assessing the health of your network is a key part of identifying the vulnerable points in the ecosystem. Therefore, the security policies that Zero Trust offers you can go a long way. You need to employ the best practices for your security configuration. Because security threats can and will come. However, how you approach them can make all the difference. Stricter measures and constant monitoring of devices are invaluable tools for enhancing your corporate security.