19 Dec Conditional Access Policies in Azure with PowerShell

Intro

Safeguarding user identities and controlling access to resources are critical components of a robust security posture. Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) offers Conditional Access policies that enable organizations to enforce security requirements based on specific conditions. By leveraging PowerShell, you can automate the implementation and management of these policies, ensuring consistent and effective security controls. This blog post will guide you through the process of implementing Conditional Access policies in Azure using PowerShell.

What are Conditional Access Policies?

Conditional Access policies are a set of policies in Azure AD that define how users can access your organization’s resources. These policies enforce access controls based on various conditions such as user identity, device state, location, and application. They help ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive data and resources under compliant conditions.

Conditional Access policies provide several benefits:

• Enhanced Security: By enforcing additional security checks based on conditions, you can reduce the risk of unauthorized access.
• Compliance: Ensure that access controls meet regulatory and organizational requirements.
• User Productivity: Maintain a balance between security and user productivity by allowing seamless access under secure conditions.

Automating Conditional Access Policies with PowerShell

Using PowerShell to manage Conditional Access policies provides a powerful and flexible way to automate their implementation. Below are the steps to create and manage Conditional Access policies using PowerShell.

Step 1: Connect to Azure

Before managing Conditional Access policies, you need to connect to your Azure account using PowerShell.

# Connect to Azure
Connect-AzAccount

Step 2: Install the AzureAD PowerShell Module

You need the AzureAD PowerShell module to manage Conditional Access policies. If it’s not already installed, you can install it using the following command:

# Install the AzureAD module
Install-Module -Name AzureAD

Step 3: Define and Create a Conditional Access Policy

Conditional Access policies are defined based on conditions and controls. In this example, we’ll create a policy that requires multi-factor authentication (MFA) for users accessing a specific application from an untrusted location.

Example: Creating a Conditional Access Policy with PowerShell

# Connect to Azure AD
Connect-AzureAD

# Define the policy name and description
$policyName = "RequireMFAForUntrustedLocations"
$policyDescription = "Require MFA for users accessing from untrusted locations"

# Define the conditions
$conditions = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessConditions
$conditions.Users = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessUsers
$conditions.Users.IncludeUsers = @("All")
$conditions.Locations = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessLocations
$conditions.Locations.ExcludeLocations = @("TrustedLocationID")

# Define the grant controls
$grantControls = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessGrantControls
$grantControls.BuiltInControls = @("mfa")

# Create the Conditional Access policy
$policy = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessPolicy
$policy.DisplayName = $policyName
$policy.Description = $policyDescription
$policy.State = "enabled"
$policy.Conditions = $conditions
$policy.GrantControls = $grantControls

# Add the policy
New-AzureADMSConditionalAccessPolicy -DirectoryObject $policy

Step 4: Manage Existing Policies

You can use PowerShell to retrieve and manage existing Conditional Access policies.

Example: Retrieving All Conditional Access Policies

# Get all Conditional Access policies
$policies = Get-AzureADMSConditionalAccessPolicy

# Display policy names and descriptions
$policies | ForEach-Object {
    Write-Output "Policy Name: $($_.DisplayName) - Description: $($_.Description)"
}

Step 5: Remove a Conditional Access Policy

If a policy is no longer needed, you can remove it using PowerShell.

Example: Removing a Conditional Access Policy

# Define the policy ID
$policyId = "PolicyID"

# Remove the policy
Remove-AzureADMSConditionalAccessPolicy -Id $policyId

If you wish to start you journey from beggining check out how to start with Powershell in Azure: