Step-by-Step Guide: Enforcing Password History in Intune

Keeping your organization’s data secure is paramount in today’s digital age. One key aspect of this is ensuring that passwords are not reused too quickly, which can be a significant vulnerability. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to enforce a password history of 24 or more passwords using Microsoft Intune, specifically for a corporate or enterprise environment.

Understanding the Importance

Before we dive into the technicalities, let’s understand why this setting is crucial:

• Security Enhancement: By enforcing a password history of 24, you ensure that each user must come up with new, unique passwords, reducing the risk of password reuse and brute-force attacks.
• Compliance: This setting helps in adhering to best security practices and potentially regulatory requirements, enhancing your organization’s security posture.

Prerequisites

• Ensure you have administrative access to the Microsoft Intune portal.
• Familiarity with navigating the Intune interface.

Configuration Steps

1. Access Intune:
   • Log into the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center.
   • Navigate to Devices.

1. Create a Configuration Profile:
   • Under Devices, select Configuration profiles.
   • Click on Create profile.

• Then select + Create

1. Profile Setup:
   • Choose Windows 10 and later as the platform.
   • Select Templates > Device restrictions as the profile type.

• • Click Create.

1. Profile Configuration:
   • Name your profile appropriately to reflect its purpose, like “Enforce Password History 24“.

• • Click Next to proceed to the configuration settings.

1. Configure Password Settings:
   • Find the Password section under Device restrictions.

• • Set the Password configuration to Required.
  • Locate the Prevent reuse of previous passwords setting.
  • Set this to 24 to enforce a history of 24 passwords.

1. Finalize the Profile:
   • Click Next to save the password settings.
   • Continue through the wizard to assign the profile and set applicability rules as needed for your organization.
   • Finalize the creation of the profile.

Verification and Audit

To ensure the policy has been applied correctly:

• Check the registry on a device receiving the policy at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device\DeviceLock:DevicePasswordHistory to confirm it’s set to 24.
• The GUID in the registry path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\Providers\{GUID}\Default\Device\DeviceLock:DevicePasswordHistory confirms the policy source.

You the below PowerShell script to validate if this was successfully rolled out. You can use the PowerShell script created and shared on GitHub to validate the setting. HERE

Remediation for Non-Compliance

Should a device not comply with this policy:

• Verify the device is receiving the correct Intune policies.
• Ensure the device’s Group Policy is not overriding Intune settings.
• Re-sync the device with Intune to enforce the policy.

Conclusion

Implementing a robust password policy, including enforcing a password history, is a foundational step in securing your organization’s IT environment. By following these steps to configure a 24-password history requirement in Intune, you’re not just complying with best practices but also significantly enhancing your security posture against potential threats. Always remember, the strength of your security is as robust as your policies and their enforcement.

Sharing is caring!