A hands-on Microsoft lab demonstrating how device health can influence access decisions for Microsoft 365 resources.
Lab environment: This project was completed independently in a personal Microsoft lab. All identities, devices and configuration details are lab data.
| Area | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Business requirement | Restrict organisational access from noncompliant Windows devices |
| Compliance signal | Microsoft Defender Antivirus status |
| Access control | Microsoft Entra Conditional Access |
| Deployment state | Report-only validation |
| Security principle | Zero Trust device health |
An organisation needs access decisions to consider more than a valid username and password. This project tested whether a Windows device could be assessed for antivirus health and whether that compliance state could be used by Conditional Access.
- Created a Windows 10/11 compliance policy
- Required Microsoft Defender Antivirus to be enabled
- Assigned the policy to the managed Windows device
- Reviewed device compliance status in Intune
- Created a policy requiring a compliant device
- Used report-only mode for safe validation
- Reviewed sign-in logs and policy evaluation results
- Simulated a noncompliant state by disabling antivirus protection
| Test | Expected result | Observed result |
|---|---|---|
| Defender enabled on managed device | Device reports compliant | Compliant |
| Defender disabled for test | Device reports noncompliant | Noncompliant |
| Sign-in evaluated in report-only mode | Policy records that access would be blocked | Block result recorded |
The lab validated the relationship between endpoint health, Intune compliance and Entra Conditional Access. A device that failed the antivirus requirement became noncompliant and the sign-in logs showed that the access policy would block it.
- Microsoft Intune
- Compliance policies
- Microsoft Defender Antivirus
- Microsoft Entra Conditional Access
- Report-only deployment
- Sign-in log analysis
- Zero Trust access design
- Security validation
View the full technical documentation (PDF)