Achieving Zero Trust with Workspace ONE’s Compliance Solution and Azure AD Integration

The need for a secure and comprehensive solution for device authentication and access has become more important than ever. The concept of Zero Trust assumes that any connection to sensitive data is untrusted, even if it’s coming from a corporate device, and requires further checks during authentication and access. To achieve this, Workspace ONE’s Compliance Solution with Azure AD and Office 365 integration can assist enterprises in providing a seamless and secure experience for their employees across various devices. In this article, we’ll explore how this integration works and the steps required to set it up.

Understanding Zero Trust

Zero Trust is a security approach that assumes that every connection, authentication, and access to sensitive data resources is untrusted and needs to be verified before granting access. It operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify.” This means that every user, device, application, or network must be validated before accessing sensitive data resources. Authentication, authorization, and monitoring must be conducted at every step to ensure that only authenticated and authorized users, devices, and applications have access to the data resources they need to perform their jobs.

Workspace ONE’s Compliance Solution with Azure AD and Office 365 Integration provides a comprehensive solution for device authentication and access to ensure a secure and seamless experience for employees accessing sensitive data. It allows users to authenticate their devices, set conditional access policies that regulate the access of unverified devices, and monitor device compliance status. Using this integration, administrators can create granular policies for application access on BYOD devices using Tunnel or ZTNA with applications like VMware Web, Boxer for email access, or the standalone Tunnel. It helps organizations achieve Zero Trust by verifying user identity, device compliance, and application access policies before granting access to sensitive data resources.

Exploring the Graph API-Based Integration Between Workspace ONE Compliance, Azure AD, and Office 365

The Graph API-based integration between Workspace ONE Compliance, Azure AD, and Office 365 provides a seamless and secure experience for users utilizing various devices. It allows administrators to configure device access policies based on the device’s compliance status, user roles, and group memberships. Additionally, it provides administrators with the ability to manage and monitor device compliance status using Azure AD, and to report compliance status to system administrators.

The Graph API-Based Zero Trust Architecture Video

The Graph API-based Zero Trust Architecture video explains the flow of components involved in creating this solution. It explains how Workspace ONE Compliance, Azure AD, and Office 365 work together seamlessly, providing granular policies for application access and ensuring secure access to sensitive data resources.

To set conditional access rules and enroll a device with the MDM application, you need at a minimum the Azure AD Premium P1 license on the Azure AD side. Additionally, you must have access to the Intune/Endpoint management portal, an Azure AD Premium P1 license, and an existing Workspace ONE environment. These components must be installed and configured before continuing with the onboarding process.

The flexibility offered by Tunnel or ZTNA for granular policies enables Workspace ONE Compliance with Azure AD and Office 365 integration to provide secure access on BYOD devices for applications like Boxer for email access, VMware Web, or using the standalone Tunnel. This allows organizations to create more specific policies for device and user access, enabling a more customized approach to security.

The microservice on the Workspace ONE side for both scenarios is located on the Intelligence tenant within your Workspace ONE environment.

Components Required for Setup

Before proceeding with onboarding, it’s crucial to first have all the components installed and configured. These include an existing Workspace ONE environment, access to the Azure AD Conditional Access Policies, access to the Intune/Endpoint management portal, an Azure AD Premium P1 license, and an Intune license. Having these in place will make the user onboarding process faster and smoother.

Suggested Onboarding Process for Users

To ease the onboarding process, it’s recommended to first register the users into the integration before enforcing the conditional access policy and requiring the user to follow the many steps of the remediation flow. One way to do this is to send out web links or notifications to inform the user of the requirement to register in Authenticator first, based on the installation of the prerequisites.

The integration of Workspace ONE Compliance with Azure AD and Office 365 provides a comprehensive solution for device authentication and access that ensures a secure and seamless experience for employees accessing sensitive data. It assists organizations in achieving Zero Trust by verifying user identity, device compliance, and application access policies before granting access to sensitive data resources. Workspace ONE, by integrating with Azure AD and Office 365, offers granular policies and flexible options that enable organizations to create more secure and customized approaches to device access and security.

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