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When I first looked at Windows Hello for Business at launch, I was impressed by it but also concerned. Turning the option on would prompt all users or devices that had the policy on, strongly encouraging them to go through the Windows Hello for Business setup with their fingerprint/face recognition and PIN.

To roll out Windows Hello for Business, follow Microsoft’s documentation which is quite detailed due to the complexities of scenarios and requirements; such as Single-Sign On, MFA of some sort and Public Key Infrastructure.

It was a bit intrusive to have this almost forced registration process as a user might not be in a position to go through the setup and be trying to do something urgent first thing in the morning, but even more of a concern was the style of the userbase I support – anyone expects to be able to log onto any computer anywhere. Windows Hello for Business doesn’t follow the user around for good reason (you’re tying the things you have to a single device), so each new device will go through the prompts.

I also had concerns around desktop users who didn’t have any other method of authentication beyond the PIN, and the perception than a PIN is less secure than a password (again the PIN is tied to a single device, while the password can be used to log onto any device).

Thankfully, a new option turned in Group Policy under the ‘Use Windows Hello for Business’ policy, located under both the Computers and Users areas Policies > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Hello for Business. The tickbox ‘Do not start Windows Hello provisioning after sign-in’. (To be fair, this has now been there for a while and I just wasn’t aware):

This will instead provide a little warning in Windows Security under Account Protection, saying Windows Hello isn’t set up. It doesn’t pop up and alert this, but instead shows a yellow exclamation mark against the shield icon in the taskbar. A user can then click through this at their leisure and set up Windows Hello for Business.

To me, this is a great way of allowing all staff the chance to set it up when they’re ready to do so, and in a staggered fashion without really having to manage it. Each business is different of course, and some will prefer or require the heavy handed approach of Windows Hello for Business on all devices – but I’m glad this more relaxed option exists.

Note that Windows Hello for Business is supported in both Azure AD connected and Hybrid Azure AD devices. For further info, read Microsoft’s documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/identity-protection/hello-for-business/hello-identity-verification