Lock It Down: A Guide to Risk-Based Security with Microsoft Intune

Remember when office security meant locking the front door at 5:00 PM? Those days are long gone. Today, your "office" is wherever your employees happen to be: a coffee shop near the branch, a kitchen table, or an airport terminal. Their devices are the new desks, and their identities are the new keys.

If managing that sprawl feels like herding cats, you're not alone. Credit unions with 15 branches, mortgage companies with 200 loan officers in the field, and community banks running hybrid operations all face the same problem.

For financial institutions and regulated organizations, the challenge is balancing security with convenience. You can't lock down devices so tightly that loan officers miss rate-lock deadlines, but you can't leave endpoints wide open to ransomware, either. This is where Microsoft 365 Identity, Access & Endpoint Security comes into play. Specifically, we need to talk about the heavy hitter in the lineup: Microsoft Intune device compliance.

Implementing a risk-based Intune policy isn't a "nice to have." It's the difference between a secure, resilient organization and one that's waiting for a breach notification. Here's how to turn this powerful tool into your digital bodyguard.

What Is Microsoft Intune Device Compliance?

Microsoft Intune device compliance starts with understanding the platform itself. Think of Microsoft Intune as the central command center for every device touching your organization's data. It's a cloud-based endpoint management solution that handles two jobs: Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM).

In plain English? It controls how your devices (laptops, phones, tablets) behave and how your applications (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint) protect data.

For financial institutions, Intune provides something auditors and examiners love: visibility. You cannot secure what you cannot see. Intune lets you enforce encryption, require passcodes, and ensure that only healthy, updated devices can access emails and files. A credit union examiner asking about your endpoint security posture gets a straightforward answer when every device reports compliance status back to a single console.

Step-By-Step: Creating a Risk-Based Intune Security Policy

Moving to Intune device compliance isn't about flipping a single switch. It requires a thoughtful, risk-based approach. A risk-based Intune compliance policy doesn't treat every user or device the same. It adapts based on the threat level.

Here's how to build a policy that keeps the bad guys out without locking your employees out.

Step 1: Define Your Compliance Requirements

Before configuring settings, you must decide what "safe" looks like for your organization. A compliance policy acts as a baseline health check. If a device wants to talk to your network, it must meet these standards. Common baseline requirements include:

• BitLocker Encryption: Is the hard drive encrypted? For organizations handling nonpublic personal information (NPI), this is non-negotiable.
• OS Version: Is the device running a supported, updated operating system?
• Password/PIN: Does the device require a strong password or biometric unlock?
• Jailbreak Detection: Has the device been tampered with?

A mortgage company processing loan applications needs all four of these as minimums. A community bank with teller tablets might add location-based restrictions on top.

Step 2: Configure the Compliance Policy in Intune

Once you have your rules, you input them into Intune. You'll create separate policies for each platform (Windows, iOS, Android, macOS).

• Navigate to the Endpoint Manager admin center.
• Select Devices > Compliance policies.
• Create a policy that mirrors your definitions from Step 1.
• Define "Actions for non-compliance." If a device fails the test (e.g., the antivirus is turned off), what happens? You can warn the user via email, or you can immediately mark the device as "non-compliant." For regulated organizations, most compliance frameworks expect immediate flagging rather than a prolonged grace period.

Step 3: Layer on Conditional Access

This is where the enforcement happens. A compliance policy just checks the device. Intune Conditional Access (part of Entra ID) is the bouncer that enforces the rules. We covered this enforcement layer in depth in our article on 5 Conditional Access Rules You Need.

• Create a Conditional Access policy that states: "If a device is marked 'non-compliant' by Intune, block access to Microsoft 365 resources."
• This creates a closed loop. If a loan officer's laptop misses a security update, Intune flags it. Conditional Access then stops that specific laptop from opening SharePoint until the update is installed. The loan officer's other compliant devices still work fine.

Step 4: Test with Report-Only Mode

Never deploy a new security policy to the entire organization on a Friday afternoon. You will break something.

• Use "Report-Only" mode for your Conditional Access policies first.
• This allows you to see who would have been blocked without actually stopping them from working. It helps you identify legitimate users who might have unusual device configurations. A credit union with 300 employees might discover 40 devices running outdated OS versions that need attention before going live.

Identity Is the New Perimeter

You might be wondering why we're talking about devices when everyone keeps saying "Identity is everything." The truth is, they're two sides of the same coin.

The traditional network perimeter (the firewall around your office) is gone. We discuss this shift in depth in our article, The Moat Is Gone: Why Identity Is Your New Fortress in Microsoft 365.

In this new reality, your security relies on verifying who is logging in (Identity) and what they are logging in with (Device). A risk-based Intune policy feeds directly into this. Even if a user has the correct username and password (valid identity), you shouldn't let them in if they're logging in from a malware-infected, unencrypted tablet (risky device).

This matters especially in financial services. A bank teller with valid credentials logging in from an unmanaged personal laptop at home is a different risk profile than the same teller logging in from a company-issued, encrypted workstation at the branch. Intune and Conditional Access let you treat those scenarios differently.

By combining strong identity verification (like Multi-Factor Authentication) with strict device management for financial institutions, you build a fortress that moves with your user.

Microsoft 365: Building a Comprehensive IT Ecosystem

One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is buying Microsoft 365 purely for email and Word documents, ignoring the massive security engine under the hood.

Intune doesn't operate in a vacuum. It's part of a unified ecosystem:

• Microsoft Defender: Intune pushes Defender policies to endpoints, ensuring antivirus is active and cloud-delivered protection is on.
• Microsoft Purview: Intune helps enforce data protection policies, ensuring sensitive member or borrower data is not copied into unauthorized apps.
• Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD): Intune provides the device status that Entra ID needs to make smart access decisions.

When you treat Microsoft 365 as a comprehensive platform rather than a collection of apps, you eliminate the need for expensive third-party tools. You don't need a separate MDM provider, a separate antivirus, and a separate encryption tool. It's all integrated, talking to each other, and responding to risks in real-time. For financial institutions managing tight IT budgets, that consolidation is real savings.

Implementation: Why Do It and What to Watch For

Why go through the effort of setting up Microsoft Intune device compliance? The answer is resilience. A risk-based policy proactively defends against breaches. It stops a lost laptop from becoming a data leak. It prevents a hacker from using a stolen session token on an unmanaged device.

For regulated organizations, there is an additional reason: examiner expectations. Whether you answer to NCUA, OCC, state banking regulators, or CFPB, the question "How do you manage endpoint security?" comes up in every examination cycle. A documented, enforced Intune compliance policy is a concrete answer.

However, implementation isn't without hurdles.

The Challenges

1. User Pushback: Employees often resist having "company management" on their personal phones (BYOD). Clear communication matters here. Explain that MAM protects company data without spying on personal photos. This conversation is especially common at mortgage companies where loan officers use personal devices in the field.
2. Complexity: Intune has thousands of settings. Configuring them incorrectly can inadvertently block legitimate business processes. A misconfigured policy at a credit union could lock tellers out of their core banking application mid-transaction.
3. Maintenance: Security isn't "set it and forget it." OS versions change, new threats emerge, and policies need regular tuning.

The Benefits of Professional Implementation

This brings us to the value of partnership. While Microsoft 365 provides the tools, configuring them requires expertise. A misconfigured policy can be just as dangerous as no policy at all.

This is where a Managed Service Provider like ABT becomes invaluable. Our platform, Microsoft 365 Guardian, takes the foundation of Microsoft 365 Business Premium and layers on enterprise-grade hardening purpose-built for endpoint security in financial services.

We don't just sell you the license. As a Tier 1 Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) serving 750+ financial institutions, we turn the Microsoft cloud into a secure, intelligent foundation. We handle the complexity of Intune device compliance, ensuring your encryption standards, OS baselines, and Zero Trust policies are configured correctly from day one.

With ABT Guardian, you know your Microsoft 365 Identity, Access & Endpoint Security strategy is aligned with what regulators, auditors, and attackers actually expect. Not just the default settings. Whether you're a credit union preparing for an NCUA exam, a mortgage company meeting state licensing requirements, or a community bank responding to OCC guidance, Guardian covers the gaps.

Start Securing Your Future

The modern attack surface is only getting wider. Relying on default settings or outdated perimeter security is a gamble no financial institution can afford. By implementing Microsoft Intune device compliance policies rooted in a risk-based approach, you take control of your data, your devices, and your compliance posture.

We can help you deploy a security architecture that enables your organization to grow safely, pass examinations confidently, and stop worrying about the laptop that went missing at the airport.

Talk to an ABT expert about Microsoft 365 Guardian and Intune device compliance.