Security did an audit of everyone’s usage into our network and determined that no one was using Linux, so no reason to keep it unblocked. Most users used Windows and some used macOS, but no Linux usage seen, so why not just block it to close off one possible vector. If you try to connect using Linux, even with the right credentials and MFA, you’ll get a block message that your device is not allowed. I had been planning on switching full time to Linux, but hadn’t yet otherwise my usage would have showed up on their report and they might not have blocked it.

The security at my job is very tight. Most things are blocked unless there is a specific need or use for it. The head of security is very strict on access and keen to block things until multiple people cry for it to be unblocked and for a reason he agrees with.

As part of the larger project of blocking access, he blocked most personal devices to access our systems. My team was excluded with some heavy deterrents to it and an agreement for us to use company managed cloud PCs for all the work we do. Myself and others don’t want company devices while we work from home and prefer to use our own devices so this was part of the compromise.

I honestly probably could have made a stink about it, and maybe not even that much effort since I have a friendlier relationship to the head of security than others, and we may have kept Linux unblocked, but I decided to just go along with it and get a Mac instead. The policy has helped in ensuring unauthorized access is kept to a minimum. We routinely get targeted by malicious parties and our users are often getting tricked by phish and malware campaigns (even with training and routine simulation tests on the users), so I can’t exactly blame him for choosing this.

TL;DR: Just one less thing to worry about.