With personal smartphones, tablets, and laptops becoming ubiquitous in the workplace, bring your own device (BYOD) strategies and security measures have evolved. The frontlines have shifted from the devices themselves to the apps and data residing on—or accessed through—them.
Mobile devices and cloud-based apps have undeniably transformed the way businesses operate. But they also introduce new security and compliance risks that must be understood and mitigated. When personal and corporate apps are intermingled on the same device, how can organizations remain compliant and protected while giving employees the best productivity experience? And when corporate information is dispersed among disparate, often unmanaged locations, how can organizations make sure sensitive data is always secured?
Traditional perimeter solutions have proved to be inadequate in keeping up with the stream of new apps available to users. And newer point solutions either require multiple vendors or are just too complex and time-consuming for IT teams to implement. Companies need a comprehensive, integrated method for protecting information—regardless of where it is stored, how it is accessed, or with whom it is shared.
Microsoft’s end-to-end information protection solutions can help reconcile the disparity between user productivity and enterprise compliance and protection. Our identity and access management solutions integrate with existing infrastructure systems to protect access to applications and resources across corporate data centers and in the cloud.
The following Microsoft solutions and technologies provide access control on several levels, offering ample coverage that can be up and running with the simple click of a button:
Identity and access management
Simplify user access with identity-based single sign-on (SSO). Azure Active Directory Premium (Azure AD) syncs with existing on-premises directories to simplify access to any application—even those in the cloud—with a secured, unified identity. No more juggling multiple combinations of user names and passwords. Users sign in only once using an authenticated corporate ID, then receive a token enabling access to resources as long as the token is valid. Azure AD comes pre-integrated with thousands of popular SaaS apps and works seamlessly with iOS, Android, Windows, and PC devices to deliver multi-platform access. Not only does unified identity with SSO simplify user access, it can also reduce the overhead costs associated with operating and maintaining multiple user accounts
Secure and compliant mobile devices
Microsoft Intune manages and protects devices, corporate apps, and data on almost any personal or corporate-owned device. Through Intune mobile device management (MDM) capabilities, IT teams can create and define compliance policies to meet specific business requirements, deploy policies to users or devices, and monitor device and/or user compliance from a single administration console. Intune compliance policies deliver complete visibility into users’ device health, and enable IT to block or restrict access if the device becomes non-compliant. IT administrators also have the option to install device settings that perform remote actions, such as passcode reset, device lock, data encryption, or full wipe of a lost, stolen, or non-compliant device.
Conditional access
Microsoft Intune can also help reinforce access protection by verifying the health of users and devices prior to granting privileges with conditional access policies. Intune policies evaluate user and device health by assessing factors like IP range, the user’s group enrollment, and if the device is managed by Intune and compliant with policies set by administrators. During the policy verification process, Intune blocks the user’s access until the device is encrypted, a passcode is set, and the device is no longer jailbroken or rooted. Intune integrates with cloud services like Office 365 and Exchange to confirm device health and grant access based on health results.
Multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication is a feature built into Azure Active Directory that provides an additional layer of authentication to help make sure only the right people have the right access to corporate applications. It prevents unauthorized access to on-premises and cloud apps with additional authentication required, and offers flexible enforcement based on user, device, or app to reduce compliance risks.
To learn more about BYOD security, download the free eBook, Protect Your Data: 7 Ways to Improve Your Security Posture
from Microsoft Secure Blog Staff
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