Zero Trust Device Enforcement

📋 Project Overview

This project demonstrates an enterprise Zero Trust approach to Microsoft Intune administration. The objective was to secure Windows devices by implementing modern endpoint management and enforcing device compliance before allowing access to Microsoft 365 resources. The implementation follows Microsoft's Zero Trust principles, ensuring every device is verified, compliant and continuously evaluated before access is granted.

🎯 Business Objectives

Implement Zero Trust device security.
Configure Microsoft Intune for centralized endpoint management.
Deploy Configuration Profiles using enterprise best practices.
Create Compliance Policies for corporate devices.
Integrate Conditional Access with compliant devices.
Strengthen endpoint protection using Microsoft Defender.
Reduce administrative overhead through automation.
Improve security posture using Microsoft's recommended baselines.

🔧 Microsoft Technologies Used

Microsoft Intune Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access Windows Autopilot Configuration Profiles Compliance Policies Endpoint Security Device Restrictions Microsoft Defender BitLocker PowerShell Microsoft Graph

🧪 Lab Environment

Component	Details
Platform	Microsoft Intune
Identity	Microsoft Entra ID
Operating System	Windows 11 Enterprise
Authentication	Modern Authentication + MFA
Security Model	Zero Trust
Management	Cloud Managed Devices

🏗 Solution Architecture

The following architecture illustrates how Microsoft Intune integrates with Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, Windows devices and Microsoft Defender to implement a Zero Trust device security model.

graph TD A[Users] --> B[Windows Devices] B --> C[Microsoft Entra ID] C --> D[Microsoft Intune] D --> G[Configuration Profiles] D --> F[Compliance Policies] F --> E[Conditional Access] G --> B H[Endpoint Security] --> B I[Microsoft Defender] --> B E --> J[Microsoft 365]

🚀 Implementation Phases

Phase 1 — Environment Preparation

Configured Microsoft Intune tenant, verified licensing, prepared Microsoft Entra ID, and established administrator roles.

Phase 2 — Device Enrollment

Configured Windows enrollment, automatic MDM enrollment, and validated successful device registration.

Phase 3 — Configuration Profiles

Created security configuration profiles to enforce enterprise device standards, password policies, BitLocker, and Windows security settings.

Phase 4 — Compliance Policies

Defined compliance requirements, device health checks, minimum OS versions, BitLocker requirements, and Microsoft Defender status.

Phase 5 — Endpoint Security

Configured endpoint protection, firewall policies, attack surface reduction, device control, and antivirus integration.

Phase 6 — Conditional Access

Integrated Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access to allow access only from compliant, trusted, managed devices.

Phase 7 — Validation

Validated configuration, confirmed compliance, reviewed reports, and verified successful policy deployment.

⚙️ Configuration Summary

Category	Status
Device Enrollment	Completed
Configuration Profiles	Completed
Compliance Policies	Completed
Endpoint Security	Completed
Conditional Access Integration	Completed
Reporting & Monitoring	Completed

🛡️ Security Controls Implemented

Zero Trust Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access Compliance Policies BitLocker Windows Firewall Microsoft Defender Endpoint Security Device Compliance Cloud Management

⭐ Key Highlights

Implemented Microsoft Zero Trust principles across the entire device lifecycle.
Configured an enterprise-grade Microsoft Intune environment from the ground up.
Applied device compliance policies enforcing BitLocker, Defender, and OS version requirements.
Deployed configuration profiles standardising password policies and Windows security settings.
Integrated Conditional Access to block non-compliant devices from Microsoft 365 resources.
Implemented endpoint protection using Microsoft Defender with Attack Surface Reduction rules.
Validated successful policy deployment and confirmed compliance status in the Intune portal.
Documented the complete implementation with 30+ screenshots for evidence and review.

📸 Implementation Screenshots

The following screenshots document each stage of the implementation. They provide evidence of the Microsoft Intune configuration and validation process.

Device Enrollment

Configuration Profiles

Compliance Policy

Endpoint Security

Conditional Access Integration

Deployment Validation

💻 PowerShell Automation

PowerShell was used to automate administrative tasks, validate device configuration, and interact with Microsoft Graph where applicable.

# Connect to Microsoft Graph
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "DeviceManagementManagedDevices.Read.All"

# Retrieve all managed devices
Get-MgDeviceManagementManagedDevice

# Retrieve Intune managed devices (legacy cmdlet)
Get-IntuneManagedDevice

Additional production-ready PowerShell scripts are included in the scripts folder of this repository.

✅ Validation

Validation Item	Status
Device Successfully Enrolled	✅ Passed
Configuration Profiles Applied	✅ Passed
Compliance Policy Evaluated	✅ Passed
Conditional Access Tested	✅ Passed
Microsoft Defender Reporting	✅ Passed
Device Synchronization	✅ Passed

📚 Lessons Learned

Always pilot Intune policies on a test group before deploying to production.
Use dynamic device groups to simplify policy assignment and administration.
Integrate Compliance Policies with Conditional Access for end-to-end enforcement.
Test Configuration Profiles on a small device group before broad assignment.
Use Security Baselines as a starting point rather than relying on default policies.
Monitor deployment reports regularly to identify failed or pending assignments.
Document every configuration change for audit trails and future troubleshooting.

🔧 Troubleshooting

Issue	Resolution
Device not enrolling	Verify MDM user scope and licensing assignment.
Compliance policy not evaluating	Force device synchronization from the Intune portal.
Configuration Profile failed	Review assignment groups and check for policy conflicts.
Conditional Access blocking device	Verify compliance state in Microsoft Entra ID.

🎯 Skills Demonstrated

Microsoft Intune Windows Autopilot Compliance Policies Configuration Profiles Conditional Access Microsoft Entra ID Endpoint Security Microsoft Defender PowerShell Microsoft Graph Zero Trust Enterprise Security

🚀 Future Improvements

Windows LAPS integration for local administrator password management.
Microsoft Tunnel deployment for secure on-premises resource access.
Endpoint Privilege Management for least-privilege enforcement.
Application Protection Policies for mobile application management.
Windows Autopatch implementation for automated OS and driver updates.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint full integration and advanced threat hunting.
Device Health Attestation for hardware-based compliance verification.
Automated compliance reporting using Microsoft Graph API.

📖 References

Thank You for Reviewing This Project

This project demonstrates practical enterprise implementation of Microsoft Intune and Zero Trust device management using Microsoft best practices. It forms part of my Microsoft Infrastructure Portfolio, showcasing real-world administration, security and endpoint management skills developed through hands-on lab environments.

View GitHub Repository → ← Back to Intune Projects

Microsoft 365 Administration

Enterprise administration of Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Licensing, Hybrid Identity and Microsoft 365 services.

View Microsoft 365 →

Microsoft Security

Microsoft Defender XDR, Sentinel, Identity Protection, Conditional Access and Zero Trust Security.

Microsoft Compliance

Microsoft Purview, DLP, Information Protection, Insider Risk, eDiscovery and Compliance.

📌 Project Information

Category	Microsoft Intune Administration
Project	Zero Trust Device Enforcement
Status	✅ Completed
Experience Level	Enterprise
Author	Lokesh M
Repository	GitHub Repository →
Technology	Microsoft Intune, Entra ID, Defender, PowerShell

📋 Project Overview

🎯 Business Objectives

Implement Zero Trust device security.
Configure Microsoft Intune for centralized endpoint management.
Deploy Configuration Profiles using enterprise best practices.
Create Compliance Policies for corporate devices.
Integrate Conditional Access with compliant devices.
Strengthen endpoint protection using Microsoft Defender.
Reduce administrative overhead through automation.
Improve security posture using Microsoft's recommended baselines.

🔧 Microsoft Technologies Used

🧪 Lab Environment

Component	Details
Platform	Microsoft Intune
Identity	Microsoft Entra ID
Operating System	Windows 11 Enterprise
Authentication	Modern Authentication + MFA
Security Model	Zero Trust
Management	Cloud Managed Devices

🏗 Solution Architecture