5 simple (and perhaps out of the ordinary) advice on how to improve and strengthen your SCCM and Intune knowledge

February 20, 2019July 30, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

This will be something completely different and new coming from my end. So please be aware; a lot of strong coffee is potentially needed. That be, because I usually talk about how to do something technically around Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune, or something technically related to those topics, and the typical reader would probably expect content in that context.

This time I’m going beyond that. “Why?” you may ask. Because I felt like giving back with a topic and content that I know that can make a difference. Not just limited to a specific technical topic, but as a whole, make a difference on how one will succeed in general with Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune (and possibly other stuff too).

I believe in helping and promoting others, and as of such, I will give you 5 (and possibly some unique) advice on how you can improve and strengthen your SCCM and Intune knowledge. (No guarantees though, but the bullets mentioned in this post helped me a lot)

Climb the pile of SCCM and Intune knowledge

Conditional Access: Restrict access to company resources and only grant access to trusted IPs

September 6, 2021July 10, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

I have previously given a few examples on use cases for Conditional Access, and I admit, for the Conditional Access newbie, the options available can seem daunting. So how about a very simple scenario, where access to company resources are blocked, if not coming from a trusted IP?

Imagine service accounts running some Powershell scripts for automation in your Azure/O365 tenant or other accounts who are never meant to be used outside of your organization. Simply block those from authenticating in Azure/O365 if not coming from your headquarter public IP. This is how you can do just that, using Conditional Access.

Illustration of the conditions of a Conditional Access rule. In this scenario, location is in focus

Flipping the switch, part 3: Moving Software Updates workload to Intune MDM (Co-management with SCCM)

December 21, 2018June 27, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

Continuing on the Co-management and flipping the switch journey. I have previously been going through how to initially enable Co-management with Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune, and how to move some of the Endpoint Protection workloads to Intune MDM.

This time I will walk you through how I moved the Software Updates workload from Configuration Manager to Intune MDM. Everything still based on a production environment and along the lines some additional ramblings on the topic.

Example of 2 Windows 10 update rings in Microsoft Intune

Microsoft Intune and Conditional Access in a Co-management scenario

June 5, 2018June 5, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

Last week I gave an example on how to leverage Microsoft Intune and Conditional Access to restrict access to Exchange Online for iOS devices. This week, I’m continuing the use of Microsoft Intune and Conditional Access, and will give an example on how to restrict access to company e-mail if not using a Windows 10 1803 device. All of this based on a computer co-managed with both Microsoft Intune and Configuration Manager.

So basically; no e-mails if not running on the latest and greatest version of Windows 10 on my co-managed device.

Conditional Access: Restrict access to Exchange Online and only grant access to company enrolled devices using the Outlook app

July 25, 2018June 1, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

Long title, but that’s actually what this post is going to cover; how you can secure the access to company e-mail accounts and only allow access to such, if coming from an enrolled (compliant) Intune device and that device uses the Outlook app.

In this scenario, we only uses iOS devices and of such only allow enrollment of iOS devices, but this can of course be android and Windows as well. Everything in this post is achievable with the use of Microsoft Intune and Conditional Access in Azure. Curious? Read on 🙂

How to renew Apple Push Certificate in Microsoft Intune standalone

June 3, 2018May 28, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

I have previously done a short post on how to renew the Apple Push Certificate when having Intune integrated with Configuration Manager (Hybrid). Since then, I’ve changed the MDM authority to Intune standalone and therefore the procedure changes slightly. Again, this is taken directly from an production environment and my certificate was due to expire in roughly 30 days. For the curious, this is the exact steps I went through to renew our Apple Push Certificate in Microsoft Intune standalone.

Picture of the front page of the Apple Push Certificate portal

Flipping the switch, part 2.1: Exploit Guard challenges (Co-management with Intune MDM and SCCM)

June 13, 2018April 20, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

Just quickly following up on my previous post, on how I moved some of the Endpoint Protection workloads into Intune MDM (in a Co-management scenario with Configuration Manager). More specifically, I moved the Exploit Guard capabilities and while walking through the process, I mentioned the possible impact of Exploit Guard in an enterprise environment.

Again, this post is to highlight the possible impact of turning on a very specific ASR (Attack Surface Reduction) rule in Exploit Guard. Turns out, that this specific rule is not documented by Microsoft (at least I can’t find it in the Exploit Guard documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-defender-exploit-guard/attack-surface-reduction-exploit-guard#attack-surface-reduction-rules) and the impact is quite significant to those using Configuration Manager (and possible other stuff too). Curious? Keep reading 🙂

What Attack Surface Reduction rule?

The rule in question is having an ID of: D1E49AAC-8F56-4280-B9BA-993A6D77406C. This is not mentioned anywhere in the Exploit Guard documentation. In Intune, it’s the one I’m highlighting below:

Flipping the switch, part 2: Moving Endpoint Protection workload to Intune MDM (Co-management with ConfigMgr)

November 12, 2019April 18, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

Continuing the Co-management journey from last week, where I went through the steps required to setup co-management with Configuration Manager. This week I’m moving the Endpoint Protection workloads into Intune MDM. The ability to transition the Endpoint Protection workload is brand new, and became available in Configuration Manager 1802. As of now, the endpoint protection workload consists of following features:

Windows Defender Application Guard
Windows Defender Firewall
Windows Defender SmartScreen
Windows Encryption (BitLocker)
Windows Defender Exploit Guard
Windows Defender Application Control
Windows Defender Security Center
Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection

Following walkthrough is exactly how I moved some of the Endpoint Protection features (more specifically Exploit Guard and some modifications to the Defender Security Center) into Intune MDM for at pilot group consisting of computers.

Endpoint Protection device configuration profiles

Flipping the switch: How to enable Co-management in SCCM Current Branch (System Center Configuration Manager)

September 29, 2019April 15, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

Co-management! It was announced last year at Ignite in Orlando and it’s being pushed heavily these days by Microsoft. For those who don’t know the ups and downs, co-management is basically (for those using ConfigMgr already) managing computers with both a Configuration Manager client and Intune MDM.

There are different possibilities to achieve co-management. It may sound complicated, but it’s not. I will walk you through the few steps required, as well as cover the precise prerequisites and how to troubleshoot issues if any. Note: This is precisely how I have done in a production environment. Curious? Read on 🙂

Remove inactive devices in Intune automatically using Microsoft Graph API and Powershell (and a scheduled task)

March 5, 2019April 11, 2018 by Martin Bengtsson

Introduction

*Updated July 23 2018: Minor changes to the script doing the deletion*

Just like we do in Configuration Manager, Active Directory, Exchange and anywhere else (where possible), It’s a good idea to keep things clean (at least I think so). Clean in terms of removing inactive computers, objects, mailboxes and so forth. This brings me to Microsoft Intune and how we can leverage Microsoft Graph API through Powershell to automatically remove inactive devices, and doing so on a schedule through a scheduled task. Curious? Read on 🙂

Example of devices that haven’t checked in for 30 days