4 Security Features to Consider for Microsoft 365

‍Today, businesses face digital threats on an almost constant basis. Whether it’s hackers trying to steal customer data, phishing schemes designed to trick employees into giving up sensitive information, or another malicious attack, enterprises must be ready to respond and recover from any threat. Regardless of whether you use Microsoft as your primary productivity suite or just one of its many services, you should take security features into account when evaluating new software. In this blog post, we’ll introduce you to the benefits of Microsoft 365 for business users and describe some of its security features in detail. Read on to learn more about the different security features offered by Microsoft 365 and how they can help protect your business from cyber threats.

Office 365 Security Features

There are a variety of security features available with Office 365, including- - Strong authentication: Passwords can be incredibly easy to hack, but two-factor authentication can help mitigate that risk. With MFA, you can use a PIN, an app, or a security key to authenticate yourself and access your account. - Data protection and control: There are a few ways you can control who has access to what data, such as user-based security, role-based security, auditing, and more. Data protection features, including eDiscovery, retention policies, and the Information Rights Management service, can help you protect sensitive information from unauthorized access. - Data privacy and compliance: Microsoft complies with a variety of regulations, including GDPR (European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation). With its Office 365 compliance certification, the company proves that its services meet certain criteria. - Hybrid identity: Your business’s IT staff and end users can access Microsoft’s online tools and apps, including Office 365, by using a single sign-on. This hybrid identity feature keeps your organization’s data safe while also making it easy for people to access the tools they need to do their jobs. - Azure security: You can use Microsoft’s cloud-based services to secure your email, data, and identity management systems. Azure includes a number of security features, including machine learning, identity protection, and more.

Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

Multi-factor authentication is a second form of authentication that confirms your identity in addition to logging in with a username and password. With MFA, users can choose from a variety of authentication methods, and those methods can vary depending on the service. MFA is highly recommended for all Microsoft 365 users, especially those who manage sensitive data or deal with financial transactions. A strong password will probably keep hackers out, but it won’t keep them out forever. Passwords have a short lifespan before they start to decay—especially if you re-use them across multiple accounts—and they are often the first line of defense against malicious attacks.

Conditional Access Policies

Conditional access policies give administrators control over who can access company data and systems. You can create different policies based on the type of user, the device they’re accessing your systems with, and more. Once you’ve created your conditional access policies, you can assign them to individual users or groups of users. You can also have Microsoft 365 enforce these policies automatically, which means users won’t have to take any extra steps to access your systems. Integration with Microsoft 365 also allows you to use Azure Active Directory Identity Protection (IDP) to help identify anomalous user activity. IDP detects suspicious login attempts, fraudulent account sign-ups, and other potentially malicious activity. If a user tries to access your systems with suspicious activity, they’ll receive an error message that can help them identify and address the issue before they try to log in again.

Configure Anti-phishing

You can use Microsoft 365’s anti-phishing features to protect your users from malicious emails. You can enable anti-phishing for your entire organization or just specific users. Anti-phishing works by checking incoming messages against Microsoft’s database of fraudulent emails. If your system detects a suspicious message, it will display an alert asking the user to report the message so the Microsoft team can investigate it. If a user gets a message that isn’t listed as fraudulent but still doesn’t seem legitimate, they can report it to the Microsoft team for investigation. Microsoft 365 will then let your users know if the email is fraudulent or not, so they can make informed decisions about clicking the links and attachments in the message. Anti-phishing also allows you to customize the message your users see when they report a fraudulent email. You can include your company name and logo, along with helpful information like what types of emails your users should report. This can help your team respond more efficiently to user-submitted alerts.

Train your users to detect phishing attacks

Another way to protect your business from phishing attacks is to train your users to recognize fraudulent emails. When they receive a suspicious message, they can report it to the Microsoft team so they can investigate it. You can also train them to use Microsoft 365’s phishing detection features to report messages themselves. You can add a phishing filter rule to any inbox, which will automatically detect questionable messages and prevent them from reaching the Inbox folder. You can also use the Phishing Response page to report fraudulent emails to the Microsoft team so they can investigate them. When users report a suspicious message, you can use the Reporting Actions section at the bottom of the page to let them know what happens next. You can also ask them to help educate their coworkers on how to report fraudulent emails so your team can investigate them more efficiently.

Conclusion

As you can see, Microsoft 365 offers several security features that can help protect your business. Strong authentication will keep hackers out of your accounts, and conditional access policies will prevent unauthorized users from accessing your data. Anti-phishing will help you avoid malicious attacks, and training your users to recognize and report fraudulent emails will help keep your team safe from threats. To keep your business protected, you should use Microsoft 365’s security features and make sure each employee is aware of how they work.