In this episode, we walk into the Intune habitat and zoom in on five subtle misconfigurations that quietly invite attackers into your Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Your deployment might look calm. Policies are assigned. Devices report in. Compliance dashboards show a reassuring shade of green. And yet:A single weak Conditional Access policyA missing baseline on just one device groupA standing admin role that never sleepsA fleet of unmanaged BYOD devices at the edgeOr reckless policy and update rings…is all it takes to turn a fleeting misstep into a costly breach. This episode breaks down what’s dangerous, why it fails, and exactly how to fix it — in the Intune admin center and via Graph/PowerShell — plus a short field audit ritual you can run every week. One small adjustment in Intune can prevent a minor oversight from becoming your next incident report. 🧨 What You’ll Learn By the end of this episode, you’ll know how to:Recognize the five most damaging Intune misconfigurations in modern cloud environmentsConnect device compliance, Conditional Access, PIM, and BYOD into one coherent Zero Trust storyUse report-only, rings, and baselines to change posture safely without breaking half your usersTurn intuitive hunches (“this feels unsafe”) into hard evidence you can show leadershipRun a practical Intune + Entra + PowerShell field audit that validates reality instead of assumptions🌍 The Threat Landscape Shaping Intune Risk We start with the environment your Intune instance actually lives in:Attackers hunt identities, not just unpatched softwarePassword spraying leads to token theft and OAuth abuseA single over-privileged app with offline_access converts one bad sign-in into broad, quiet accessMisconfigurations don’t just add risk — they multiply itYou’ll hear how:Device compliance, Conditional Access, and privileged access must work togetherA compliant device signal with weak policies is a timid bird — decorative, not protectivePrivileged roles left “always on” act like apex predators, reshaping the environment with a single mistakeUnmanaged BYOD and chaotic update rings create shadow corridors and shockwaves that attackers exploitThe takeaway: Intune is not the fortress — it’s the field instrument that measures device health and feeds identity the posture it needs to enforce Zero Trust. ⚠️ Misconfiguration #1: Weak Conditional Access — Identity Gates Left Ajar We zoom in on the first failure pattern: Conditional Access policies that exist, but don’t bite. You’ll learn:How over-broad exclusions, “trusted” executive groups, and named locations become private tunnels for attackersWhy basic/legacy authentication silently bypasses MFA and still lands tokensWhat a resilient Conditional Access design actually looks like:One policy enforcing MFA for all cloud appsA second requiring compliant devices for Exchange, SharePoint, admin portalsA third reacting to risk (medium = step-up, high = block)We walk through:Building policies in report-only modeUsing Insights and reporting to see who would break, and which flows use legacy authDesigning two break-glass accounts and nothing else exemptUsing Graph/PowerShell to export all CA policies, states, assignments, and old report-only rules that never got enforcedYou get a concrete quick win:Create a pilot CA policy in report-only that requires MFA + compliant device for Exchange/SharePoint, and a second that blocks legacy auth. After 7 days of telemetry, enforce in rings. 🛡 Misconfiguration #2: Missing or Divergent Security Baselines — Posture Drift Next, we watch posture drift creep in:Browsers quietly drop protectionsDefender rules loosen “just for a test”Unsigned code runs because of one old exception no one remembersYou’ll learn:Why security baselines are your gravity: Windows, Defender, EdgeHow building everything from scratch without baselines guarantees inconsistency and unintended gapsHow to use:Intune Security baselines for Windows/Defender/EdgeThe baseline comparison view to see where your environment driftsA structured exception model: reason, owner, expiryWe cover:Aligning compliance policies to baselines so “compliant device” actually means “meets our baseline”Resolving conflicts with Group Policy and overlapping MDM profilesReporting on per-setting success/conflict and mapping drift back to ring groups with Graph/PowerShellQuick win:Assign the Windows security baseline to a pilot ring today, clean conflicts, then tie a compliance policy + Conditional Access to those settings for your high-value apps. 👑 Misconfiguration #3: PIM Gaps and Standing Admin Access — Privileges That Never Sleep Here we meet the apex roles:Global AdminPrivileged Role AdminIntune Service AdministratorYou’ll see why always-on admin rights are a standing invitation:One stolen session = full controlOne hasty approval = tenant-wide blast radiusWe dive into:Moving from standing access to just-in-time (JIT) with Privileged Identity Management (PIM)Making admin roles eligible, not permanentRequiring:MFA on every activationJustificationApprovals for high-impact rolesShort activation windows (2–4 hours)You also learn how to:Bind PIM activations to Conditional Access so they only happen from compliant devicesDesign and monitor break-glass accounts properlyUse PIM audit history and Graph/PowerShell to report:Who activates mostWhenFor how longWhere standing access still existsQuick win:Pick one high-impact role (e.g., Intune Service Administrator), convert all active assignments to eligible, enforce MFA + justification, and add an approver. Then expand to other apex roles. 🕶 Misconfiguration #4: Unmanaged BYOD & Compliance Gaps — Shadow Creatures at the Perimeter We move to the edges of the habitat: personal devices and half-managed endpoints. You’ll see:How unmanaged BYOD silently carries valid tokens and corporate data off your estateHow old mail clients and basic auth on personal laptops undo your entire MFA storyWhy attackers love the “trusted” contractor laptop and ungoverned mobile accessWe walk through a balanced model:Corporate devices → full Intune enrollment + compliance + Conditional Access (require compliant device)Personal devices → app protection (MAM) with approved apps (Outlook, Teams, OneDrive) + Conditional Access (require approved client app)Tenant-wide →Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/m365-show-podcast--6704921/support.Follow us on:LInkedInSubstack

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