We're an entirely remote setup with all our employees working from home across the UK and Netherlands. We utilize M365 Cloud with Intune licensing and have fewer than 15 users. I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to ease some device restrictions for an employee working from home, particularly to prevent their machine from locking every 5 minutes. This issue is interrupting their ability to monitor servers since the lock screen causes their connection to break. Ideally, we'd like to apply stricter security measures only when an employee is away from home. Is there a feasible way to implement this in our current setup?
7 Answers
It's really not a good idea to lower security protocols just because someone is working from home. In fact, I would argue that security should be even tighter considering we don’t have physical office access controls at home. Instead of loosening policies, I'd recommend looking into why the screen lock disrupts the user’s connections and trying to address that directly. It's more about fixing the root issue rather than just managing the symptoms here.
Have you checked out the NoSleep tool? It could keep the screen from locking and disrupting workflows. Just a thought!
You could consider implementing trusted locations as a method to ease the restrictions, although I personally wouldn't recommend it due to security concerns. Just something to think about!
What specific conditional access policy is causing the lock? Is it affecting just one user or multiple? Understanding this might help find a better solution.
If changing the policies isn't an option and the screen lock is unavoidable, one workaround could be using tools like Caffeine or the Awake feature from Microsoft PowerToys to keep the device awake and unlocked. These might help avoid the interference with connection interruptions.
The only way I see doing this is to adjust the policies based on whether the device is running on battery or plugged in. That could potentially offer some flexibility.
Appreciate all the suggestions! I'll look into these options and see what fits best.
Totally agree, this seems like a serious issue if the lock breaks connections. Fix that first!