Forum Discussion
Conditional Access vs enable MFA
I've started testing MFA within our org.
I created a conditional access policy with access controls of MFA or hybrid AD joined.
But when I look at MFA through the o365 portal
https://account.activedirectory.windowsazure.com/UserManagement/MultifactorVerification.aspx?
it shows none of my users enabled for MFA.
I assume I should continue with the conditional access not just enabling MFA through the o365 portal because CA gives me more control. Will using CA for my admins accounts increase my Microsoft security score?
6 Replies
That's the expected behavior. If you enable it via the MFA page, it will always require MFA, the only exception being users logging from "trusted IPs". So it's a good way to have an "always on" configuration for your most sensitive users. If you want flexibility/better customization, use CA policies - this is the recommended method nowadays.
Are you aware of any instructions for converting from cloud only "enable MFA" to cloud only "Conditional Access MFA"?
Thanks!
-Neil
Neil Goldstein
One advantage of using just CA policies: User won't have to set up App Passwords for Legacy Apps. I think iirc, App Passwords are required if you use Enable MFA for apps like Outlook and Skype, even PowerShell... make sure one account doesn't have MFA enable just in case there is another MFA outage (follow best practice for non-MFA account, i.e. setup CA policy for trusted IPs only).Additionally, you'd want to create a few CA policies to avoid compromise accounts... yes, it is nice not to deal with App Passwords, but then attackers can use Outlook to login as bypass to MFA. So set CA policies for that, like block if sign in is from high risk location/countries or not included in trusted IP/location.
- thank you, do you know if using conditional access counts toward the security score?
The score is just and arbitrary number, the important thing is the action not whether it increases the score :)
