157: Deploy MDM based policies for EDR/AV

Implementation Effort: Medium to High — core AV settings are easy to assign, but EDR onboarding, exclusions, and policy precedence require coordination with security operations.

User Impact: Low to Medium — most protection is silent, but scanning behavior, exclusions, or remediation actions can affect user workflows and app performance.

Overview

Microsoft Intune can manage endpoint security policies for Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint onboarding on supported devices. In a Zero Trust program, these controls provide continuous visibility and protection at the device layer: antivirus helps prevent and detect known threats, while endpoint detection and response provides richer telemetry, behavioral detection, and response actions for active compromise. The strongest design ties these controls into device compliance, monitoring, and incident response rather than treating them as isolated policies.

Implementation Guidance

• Connect Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Defender so device risk and security data can flow appropriately into compliance and operational monitoring workflows.
• Use the dedicated endpoint security policy types in Intune for antivirus and endpoint detection and response where supported, rather than scattering overlapping settings across multiple unrelated profiles.
• Define a standard antivirus posture that covers cloud-delivered protection, tamper protection, real-time protection, scan schedules, behavior monitoring, and carefully governed exclusions.
• Onboard devices to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint in pilot rings first and confirm telemetry, alerting, and automated response behavior before broad rollout.
• Separate special-case workloads such as developer devices, performance-sensitive systems, or regulated servers from general-user endpoints only when there is a documented and justified exception process.
• Monitor both policy deployment and actual security outcomes. A successful assignment does not guarantee healthy Defender onboarding or effective detection coverage.

Reference

• Configure Microsoft Defender for Endpoint with Intune and onboard devices - Microsoft Intune — Explains how to configure Endpoint detection and response policy as part of the Intune and Defender integration workflow.
• Learn about using Intune to manage Microsoft Defender settings on devices that aren't enrolled with Intune - Microsoft Intune — Describes how Intune endpoint security policies manage Microsoft Defender Antivirus settings for Windows devices.
• Intune endpoint security Attack surface reduction settings - Microsoft Intune — Lists the Intune endpoint security settings and profiles used to configure attack surface reduction policies.