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Stein-Erik Alvestad

Stein-Erik Alvestad · Identity | Security | CISSP

Field notes on identity, security & the Microsoft cloud.

Practical insights on cloud, identity and cybersecurity. Real-world lessons on zero trust, modern work and securing the digital workplace.

25 min read

Measuring the NSM ICT Security Principles in Microsoft 365 with Maester

NSM raised Norway’s cyber risk level to HØYT. Here’s one way an organisation can turn NSM’s 118 measures into something it measures every week: Microsoft controls per platform, a Maester pack for Entra ID, Microsoft 365 and Intune, and a simple internal view on NSM’s own scale. For engineers who build it, and for the leaders, risk owners and auditors who have to answer for confidentiality, integrity and availability.

2 min read

Upgrade Packer JSON template to HCL2 for Azure Virtual Desktop

How to upgrade a Packer JSON template to the newer HCL2 format for building Azure Virtual Desktop images.

3 min read

Azure Virtual Desktop Published Application and Scaling issues with DPI

Solving DPI scaling problems with a published line-of-business application on Azure Virtual Desktop RemoteApp.

3 min read

Troubleshooting Azure Virtual Desktop Monitoring

Troubleshooting Azure Virtual Desktop performance issues with Azure Monitor and Log Analytics after users reported connection errors.

10 min read

Azure Image Builder or Packer for Azure Virtual Desktop

Comparing Packer and Azure Image Builder for automating Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) image creation, with the trade-offs of each approach.

2 min read

0x80004005 office shared computer activation with Windows Virtual Desktop

Fixing Office shared computer activation error 0x80004005 on a Windows Virtual Desktop host pool image based on 20H2-evd-o365pp-g2.