Modern Workplace
Unified Endpoint Management: Securing Every Device with Intune and UEM
Hybrid work means corporate data lives on laptops and phones everywhere. How unified endpoint management keeps devices compliant, patched and productive.
Key takeaways
- Identity is the first line: MFA, conditional access and no legacy authentication.
- Protect email against phishing and business email compromise.
- Control external sharing and label sensitive data.
- Use Secure Score to track progress, but prioritise by risk.
Identity
- Enforce MFA for all users with conditional access policies.
- Block legacy authentication protocols.
- Use phishing-resistant methods for administrators.
- Limit global administrators and use privileged identity management for just-in-time roles.
- Require compliant devices for access to sensitive applications.
- Configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC, moving DMARC to enforcement.
- Enable anti-phishing, safe links and safe attachments policies.
- Disable automatic external forwarding.
- Alert on suspicious inbox rules — a common sign of account takeover.
Data and collaboration
| Area | Recommended control |
|---|---|
| SharePoint and OneDrive | Restrict anonymous links; set link expiry |
| Teams | Govern external access and guest policies |
| Sensitivity labels | Classify and encrypt confidential content |
| DLP | Prevent sharing of sensitive data types |
| Retention | Policies aligned to legal requirements |
Monitoring
Ensure unified audit logging is enabled, stream logs to your SIEM and monitor risky sign-ins and admin activity.
Tracking progress
Microsoft Secure Score provides a useful measure, but prioritise actions by risk to your organization rather than by points.
Priority order for the first 30 days
- Enforce MFA and block legacy authentication.
- Reduce global administrators and enable just-in-time roles.
- Configure DMARC, anti-phishing and safe links policies.
- Disable automatic external email forwarding.
- Restrict anonymous sharing links.
- Stream audit logs to your SIEM.
Detecting account takeover
Watch for impossible travel, new inbox rules that forward or delete messages, OAuth consent to unknown applications, MFA method changes and unusual mass downloads from SharePoint or OneDrive. Automated responses — revoking sessions and requiring password reset — reduce the window of exposure.
Governance for Teams and SharePoint
Define who can create teams and sites, require owners, set expiry policies for inactive groups and review guest access regularly. Unmanaged sprawl leads to oversharing that sensitivity labels alone cannot fix.
How NAZZTEC helps
As a Microsoft partner, we assess Microsoft 365 tenants against best practice, implement hardening in controlled phases, configure Defender and Purview, and provide ongoing monitoring through our managed security services.
Next step: see Modern Workplace Solutions — NAZZTEC is a Microsoft partner.
Frequently asked questions
Is MFA enough to stop account takeover?
It blocks most attacks, but phishing-resistant methods and conditional access are needed against token theft and MFA fatigue attacks.
Do these controls need E5 licences?
Many are available in business and E3 plans; advanced capabilities may require add-ons or E5.
How long does hardening take?
Core identity and email controls can be implemented in a few weeks with proper change management.
NAZZTEC Editorial TeamWritten and reviewed by NAZZTEC practitioners. This briefing is general guidance, not legal advice.
