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HomeMicrosoft Security6 Things You Must Know About Microsoft Office 365 Security

6 Things You Must Know About Microsoft Office 365 Security

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Microsoft Office 365 Security

With Microsoft 365, it says to be more creative and achieve what matters with Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Yammer, and more. But, as soon as Microsoft has launched its new office 365 security, some organization and countries have shown concern about its protection ability. In some of the European countries like Germany, they have banned the Microsoft Office 365 Security in school for kids.

On the other hand, there are some concerns, as the experts say that Organizations that are applying Office 365; must ensure that, it is secure. But Microsoft says that they use advanced AI to analyze 6.5 trillion global signals detect and respond to threats. But how the insecure issues happened, it happened when Microsoft reveals that some hackers have access to some Outlook.com accounts, some countries and organizations have shown some serious concerns about the security. The tech giant further said that the hackers could have accessed account email addresses, folder names, and subject lines of emails. But on the other hand, the content of emails or attachments is safe and hard to hack.

While, having a closer look at Microsoft office security, Microsoft has added many features from time to time. Earlier, Microsoft updated its AI-focused Cortana and Bing, and also added different new tools for Word, Excel, and Outlook. That features are there to help the user to make the most of the data, organizational content and more. Microsoft said, that its Office 365 uses, Security powered by intelligence, whereas the Security Intelligence report shows the analysis of the cyber threat landscape from our unparalleled signals and global scale.

But the most important part is protected from cyber attacks, for that the company has made some serious security changes in Office 365. For that reason, Microsoft introduced new security features for the Home and Personal versions of its Office 365 suite. These features are purposefully introduced to protect customers from the usual viruses and phishing scams as well as the increasing threat of ransomware and more advanced cyber-attacks.

Speaking of these new tools, the 30-day OneDrive backup feature Files Restore, initially it was built for the business or introduced in business version but Microsoft brought it to Home and Personal Office 365. So, the suite can now detect ransomware attacks and guide users through the recovery process, which identifies the time and date of the incident and restores OneDrive to its state before that. Other than that, the tools also cover sharing files between users, too. Thus, the user can now set and require a password to access a shared OneDrive file or folder, which protects it if the link to the document is inadvertently forwarded.

Well, it is not limited to that, newly added security features extend to outgoing messages. Outlook.com now offers end-to-end email encryption, which includes security mechanisms on the recipient’s end. If they aren’t opening the message in Outlook’s browser login, mobile app or Windows Mail, they’ll be directed to a trusted Office 365 web page to receive a one-time passcode.

 

Extra Security Layer

On the other hand, Microsoft is adding extra layers of security to OneDrive for your most important files. It’s setting up a protected section called OneDrive Personal Vault that requires another method of authentication to access it, such as a PIN, fingerprint, face scan, two-factor authentication code or Microsoft’s Authenticator app. Currently, the company ensures that Microsoft 365 is a complete, smart solution, but it also integrates well with other security products.

Besides that, for Windows 10 PCs, the company uses a BitLocker-encrypted area of a local hard drive to sync the Personal Vault files, and all OneDrive files are encrypted at rest in Microsoft’s cloud and transit to a device. The Personal Vault will also automatically relock on a PC or device after a period of inactivity, and you’ll need to then re-authenticate to get access again. With that, Microsoft is offering this feature to the web version of OneDrive, the iOS, and Android mobile apps, and Windows 10 PCs initially in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Security Features

  1. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds a layer of protection to the login process. Normally, the user just uses one way to verify the way who you say you are – a password – to log in to most services, including Office 365. But this feature uses more than one way. It combines two or more of something you know (a password), something you are (biometrics like a fingerprint or retinal scan), and something you have (like a passcode on a dongle or your phone). If a cyber-criminal can get your password, they still won’t be able to access your files without the other verification method(s) are two options for MFA for Office 365 users: Office 365 comes with a basic, built-in option, which will work well for many companies. It gives you the ability to activate at the user level and several different options for the second verification method.
  2. Then there is Mobile device management (MDM, it’s about controlling access to your company’s data. Regardless of whether your company has a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, your employees are likely accessing company data with their phones and tablets. It is another feature with multiple options, depending on what level of control you need. So, the built-in MDM for Office 365 is a good entry and works well for companies where employees will only be accessing email via their company-issued mobile devices.
  3. The Microsoft Office 365 security uses Advanced Threat Protection; this protection is there to stop countless malevolent links and attachments before they get to your inbox. It opens the attachments and links in a virtual environment (completely separate from your environment) and checks for malicious activity before the email gets to your inbox. This feature deals with the protection from threats to the companies, who deal with important financial and responsive information like credit card information, social security numbers and/or health records. So, to this need to stop this information from leaking outside their organization, companies need to use Microsoft security service. This is where encrypted email and data loss prevention come in.
  4. On the other hand, the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) guarantees sensitive information to hack or to leak to other organizations. It started with (applies to more than just email – also include SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business and Office programs like Excel and Word). The policy monitors the environment for sensitive data and prevents users from sending that information outside your organization. The Encrypted Email and Data Loss Prevention is available on Office 365 ProPlus and Office 365 E3 plans and higher. It can also be added as part of Azure Information Protection
  5. Then there is Azure Identity Protection, which uses machine learning to understand how you work and flag unusual activity. For example, it will learn where and when you typically login, so if you log in from an unusual place and time, it can flag that. It’ll also detect multiple log’ ins’ in a short amount of time from multiple locations. So, if suspicious activity is detected, there are steps you can take to keep the hacker out. You can force the user to perform multi-factor authentication to verify their identity or stop the sign incomplete.
  6. Last but not least, the Privileged Identity Management, it allows the users with the ability to assign users as what’s a temporary admin (“Just in time” admins). It works by marking specific users an ‘entitled admins’, who can request admin privileges when needed. The request is customizable, so you can control how long they will have access to admin privileges and what information they need to provide (like why they need admin access) before it is activated. Privileged Identity Management works with Office 365 and other Microsoft Cloud Apps (including Intune, mentioned above) is an add-on and available in the Azure Active Directory Premium P2 plan.

 

Microsoft Secure Score

With the latest development, for the individuals or small enterprises, the company has revealed some security guiding lines or manuals as well. It says that before you start, the user must check the Microsoft 365 Secure Score in the Microsoft 365 security center. From a centralized dashboard, users can view and improve the security for your Microsoft 365 identities, data, apps, devices, and infrastructure. For that, the user will be given points for configuring recommended security features, performing security-related tasks or addressing recommendations with a third-party application or software. With additional insights and more visibility into a broader set of Microsoft products and services, you can feel confident reporting about your organization’s security health.

 

Other Protection

While talking of other security advantages the Microsoft 365 suite is access to threat analytics in the introduction of Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection. It provides the analysis of the recent and emerging threats, not only that it also recommends actions users can take to protect. Besides that users will learn how a user can use the suite of advanced threat protection products available with Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 to assess and manage the current threats to the network.

Hariom Jindal

Hello, I’m Hariom Jindal, a seasoned IT professional with over 21 years of experience in the industry. I am currently working as a Principal Consultant at TECHOM Systems, a leading provider of Microsoft Modern Workplace solutions in Melbourne, Australia.

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