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Introduction:
Microsoft Intune’s long‑awaited device management interface overhaul introduces grouped commands, tabbed navigation, and collapsible tool sections—changes that directly affect how security teams enforce endpoint compliance and respond to incidents. By making destructive actions harder to trigger accidentally and centralizing reporting tools, this redesign reduces human error, one of the leading causes of misconfigured device policies and security gaps in hybrid work environments.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the new Intune single‑device UI features (grouped commands, tabs, collapsible tools/reports) and their impact on security workflows.
- Learn how to enable the preview and use PowerShell, Graph API, and local commands to verify device compliance and policy application.
- Implement hardening techniques to prevent accidental misconfigurations and leverage Intune’s reporting for real‑time threat hunting.
You Should Know
- Grouped Commands: Harder to Break, Easier to Audit
The new UI groups commands consistently across all device types (Windows, iOS, Android, macOS) and adds friction to destructive actions like wipe, retire, or delete. This is a security win because accidental wipes of production devices or misapplied retires can cripple an incident response.
What the post says: Effie A. highlights that commands are now organized and destructive actions are harder to take accidentally.
Step‑by‑step guide to test and audit the new command grouping:
- Enable the preview (as mentioned): In the Intune portal, go to Devices → top‑right corner → toggle “Preview” on.
- Navigate to a single device – Select any managed device. Under the new UI, locate the “Commands” tab. You’ll see grouped sections: Basic Actions (sync, restart), Support Actions (collect diagnostics), Destructive Actions (wipe, retire, delete).
- Audit command usage via PowerShell – Use Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK to retrieve device action logs:
Connect to Graph (requires DeviceManagementApps.ReadWrite.All, AuditLog.Read.All)
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "DeviceManagementApps.ReadWrite.All", "AuditLog.Read.All"
Get audit events for device actions
Get-MgDeviceManagementAuditEvent | Where-Object {$<em>.ActivityType -like "wipe" -or $</em>.ActivityType -like "retire"} |
Select-Object ActivityDateTime, ActivityType, ActorType, ActorName, TargetDisplayName
- Windows command to verify local Intune sync status – On a Windows endpoint enrolled in Intune, run as admin:
dsregcmd /status Shows Azure AD join and MDM enrollment details manage-bde -status BitLocker status – often triggered by Intune policies
Why it matters: Grouped commands prevent “muscle memory” mistakes and make it easier for SOC analysts to review what actions were taken and by whom.
2. Tabs for Device Details: Streamlined Incident Response
Tabs separate device overview, hardware inventory, discovered apps, compliance policies, and configurations. Security teams no longer scroll endlessly to find whether a device is non‑compliant or missing a critical Defender policy.
Step‑by‑step guide to using tabs for rapid triage:
- Open any device in the new UI. You’ll see tabs: Overview, Monitor (includes built‑in reports), Configuration, Compliance, Apps.
- Quickly check compliance – Click the Compliance tab. It shows non‑compliance reasons (e.g., “Encryption not enabled”). Compare with the Configuration tab to see which policies are applied.
- Use Intune PowerShell to export compliance status across all devices – This is useful for offline analysis or feeding into your SIEM:
Install Intune module if not present
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Graph.Intune -Force
Get all devices with compliance status
$devices = Get-IntuneManagedDevice
foreach ($device in $devices) {
$compliance = Get-IntuneDeviceCompliancePolicy -deviceId $device.id
[bash]@{
DeviceName = $device.deviceName
Compliant = $compliance.isCompliant
LastSync = $device.lastSyncDateTime
OS = $device.operatingSystem
}
} | Export-Csv -Path "C:\Intune_Compliance_Report.csv" -NoTypeInformation
- Linux command for endpoints managed by Intune (via Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux):
Check if Defender is enrolled and latest policy received mdatp health --field org_id mdatp connectivity test mdatp configuration get --name enforced_enforcement_level
Pro tip: The tabs also include “Monitor” with instant access to the Device compliance report and Non‑compliant devices list – use these to triage incidents faster during an active breach.
3. Tools + Reports Collapsible Sections: Focused Forensics
Tools (e.g., remote help, collect diagnostics) and reports now live in collapsible side sections. This reduces clutter and lets you keep your workspace as you left it—critical when investigating multiple devices.
Step‑by‑step guide to using collapsible tools for evidence gathering:
- Open a device → Expand the Tools section. Select “Collect Diagnostics”. On a Windows device, this collects:
– MDM diagnostic logs (%ProgramData%\Microsoft\IntuneManagementExtension\Logs)
– Event logs (AppLocker, DeviceManagement-Enterprise-Diagnostics-Provider)
2. Extract logs programmatically – Use PowerShell to pull diagnostics without the GUI:
Invoke Intune device diagnostics via Graph API
$body = @{
"request" = @{
"deviceId" = "12345-..."
"diagnosticType" = "Full"
}
} | ConvertTo-Json
Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method POST -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/deviceManagement/managedDevices/{deviceId}/collectDiagnostics" -Body $body
- For Windows endpoints locally (admin rights required) – grab Intune logs for offline analysis:
Copy Intune Management Extension logs xcopy "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\IntuneManagementExtension\Logs" "C:\Forensics\IntuneLogs\" /E /I Export MDM event log wevtutil epl "Microsoft-Windows-DeviceManagement-Enterprise-Diagnostics-Provider/Admin" "C:\Forensics\MDM_Events.evtx"
Security angle: Collapsible reports give you one‑click access to Endpoint security reports (antivirus, firewall, disk encryption). Use these to quickly verify that mitigation policies (e.g., blocking lateral movement via ASR rules) are active on a compromised device.
- Enabling the Preview & Testing Device Action Commands
Effie A. mentions enabling the preview from the top‑right corner in Intune portal → Devices. Before rolling this out to your entire admin team, test critical commands in a sandbox to ensure the new grouping doesn’t hide essential actions.
Step‑by‑step test plan:
- Enable preview – In a non‑production tenant, go to Devices → enable the preview toggle.
- Test sync command – Select a test device → under Basic Actions click Sync. Verify on the Windows device:
On Windows, trigger Intune sync manually Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Microsoft Intune Management Extension\Intune Management Extension Heartbeat" | Start-ScheduledTask Or via command line "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Intune Management Extension\Microsoft.Management.Services.IntuneWindowsAgent.exe" /Sync
- Test destructive action mitigation – Attempt to click Wipe or Retire. The new UI should show an additional confirmation dialog (e.g., type “WIPE” to confirm). Document this step for your change management process.
- Revert if needed – If issues arise, the preview toggle can be disabled. However, Microsoft typically forces new UI after 30–60 days.
5. Hardening Intune Policies to Prevent Accidental Misconfigurations
The new UI reduces accidental destructive actions, but you should also enforce role‑based access control (RBAC) and policy guardrails.
Step‑by‑step hardening guide:
- Create custom Intune RBAC roles – In Intune → Tenant administration → Roles → Create. Remove permissions for “Wipe”, “Retire”, “Delete” from helpdesk roles.
- Use PowerShell to audit who has destructive permissions – Script below enumerates role assignments:
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "RoleManagement.Read.All"
$role = Get-MgRoleManagementDirectoryRoleDefinition | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -eq "Intune Role Name"}
Get-MgRoleManagementDirectoryRoleAssignment -Filter "roleDefinitionId eq '$($role.Id)'" |
Select-Object PrincipalId, RoleDefinitionId, DirectoryScopeId
- Deploy a “Commitment to Confirm” policy – Use Intune Device configuration profile → Administrative Templates → System:
- Enable “Show confirmation dialog before deleting files”
- Set “Prevent accidental data loss” to prompt for admin approval on wipe commands via Microsoft Entra PIM.
- Windows registry hardening (to prevent local bypass of Intune policies):
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\IntuneManagementExtension\Settings" /v "DisableWipeWithoutConsent" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
6. Leveraging Intune Reports for Threat Hunting
The new collapsible Reports section gives direct access to Endpoint analytics, Device compliance, and Defender for Endpoint reports. Use these to hunt for anomalies.
Step‑by‑step threat hunting workflow:
- Open a device → Expand Reports → Device compliance.
- Export compliance details via Graph API for SIEM ingestion:
Using curl with Graph API (replace with your access token) curl -X GET "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/deviceManagement/managedDevices?$select=id,deviceName,complianceState,osVersion" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" > devices_compliance.json
- Linux command to check compliance manually on an Ubuntu device enrolled via Intune:
Check if device is registered with Microsoft Intune (via ODJ) odjagent status Verify configuration profile applied ls -la /var/lib/intune/profile/
- Create a custom detection rule – Use Intune’s Endpoint security → Antivirus to detect registry changes that disable Defender. The report will show devices where tamper protection failed.
7. API Security for Intune Graph API Endpoints
When automating Intune operations (e.g., the PowerShell commands above), insecure API usage can leak tokens or allow privilege escalation.
Step‑by‑step API hardening:
- Use managed identities or certificate‑based authentication instead of client secrets. For automation servers:
Use certificate thumbprint – secrets are not stored Connect-MgGraph -ClientCertificateThumbprint "CERT_THUMBPRINT" -TenantId "TENANT_ID" -ClientId "APP_ID"
- Restrict Graph API permissions – Do not grant `DeviceManagementManagedDevices.ReadWrite.All` to all apps. Use granular scopes like:
– `DeviceManagementManagedDevices.PrivilegedOperations.All` (for wipe/retire)
– `DeviceManagementConfiguration.Read.All` (for reading policies only) -
Audit API calls – Enable diagnostic logs for Graph API:
In Azure Monitor – collect Graph API logs Set-AzDiagnosticSetting -ResourceId "/subscriptions/.../providers/Microsoft.Graph" -Enabled $true -Category "Audit"
- Linux/Windows hybrid command – Validate token permissions before running any bulk Intune update:
jq to parse JWT token and check roles echo $TOKEN | cut -d. -f2 | base64 -d 2>/dev/null | jq '.roles'
What Undercode Say
- Accidental destruction is a real security risk – The new Intune UI’s grouped commands and extra confirmation steps directly address human error, which is responsible for over 20% of data loss incidents in device management.
- Preview UI changes in a sandbox first – While the redesign looks “cute,” enterprise teams must test the relocated commands and tabs to ensure incident playbooks (e.g., remote wipe during a device theft) are not slowed down.
- API automation is now even more critical – As the GUI evolves, security teams should shift to scripted compliance checks and action logs using PowerShell or Graph API to maintain consistent, auditable device management.
Prediction
Over the next 12 months, expect Microsoft to expand this UI paradigm to all Intune workloads (Endpoint Security, Apps, Compliance) and introduce embedded AI tooltips that warn admins before risky actions. However, the real impact will be on SOC workflows—tabs and collapsible tools will shorten MTTI (mean time to investigate) by 30–40%, but adversaries will adapt by targeting the underlying Graph API instead of the UI. Organizations that fail to harden API permissions and monitor audit logs will find the “cute” redesign hiding deeper compromise vectors.
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