Six Microsoft Office 365 Security Tricks to Protect Your Company
Companies utilising Microsoft 365 need to figure out how to safeguard confidential data and company information. Fortunately, the suite comes with a tonne of security capabilities to assist you in preventing both internal and external threat actors from causing damage to your company
To further safeguard your accounts, you may also focus on the numerous Microsoft Office 365 security recommendations provided by cybersecurity professionals. Combining the two will make it simpler for you to safeguard your company as a whole.
However, that raises a query. Which Office 365 security advice from experts ensures complete protection? Do not worry; we will provide you with advice and best practices for safeguarding company data.
All right, let’s get going.
Six Rules For Complete Protection With Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft advises adopting a number of security precautions, ranging from mobile device control to Office 365 tenants. These procedures can add several security layers to your apps and services, and they work with different areas of Office 365.
The top advice for M365 complete protection is provided here.
A Multi-Factor Authentication Approach
The first and simplest security feature you can add to your Office 365 tenant is a multi-factor authenticator. MFA requests a code each time you connect into your account, adding an extra degree of protection to authentication.
MFA may seem laborious at first, especially since you have to enter the code each time you log in, but data security is worth a modest price. With Microsoft 365’s extensive collaboration features, one mistake might spell the end for your security capabilities.
Thus, it becomes essential to use multi-factor authentication to prevent unwanted access. MFA is, to put it simply, the first security element that each and every renter should have. You need to sign into Microsoft 365 using a code or authentication app on your smartphone in order to add MFA. That is how easy it is to restrict unauthorised access, without sacrificing effectiveness.
Safeguarding Administrator Accounts
Many essential Office 365 functions are handled by admin accounts. Administrators also possess special accounts that enable them to set permissions for other accounts. Since these accounts have access to all of Office 365’s data, they are extremely valuable and vulnerable to cyberattacks.
A target admin account will be specifically targeted by potential cybersecurity attacks. For this reason, it’s critical to protect these accounts in particular in order to stop data breaches. How then should one go about doing that?
As an additional layer of protection, we may use Azure Active Directory to provide responsibilities to these accounts in addition to the MFA we can already use. Furthermore, only allow users access to the data and functions they require in order to complete their tasks. By doing this, you reduce the possibility of accounts being compromised.
Just before we go, make sure administrators have their own user account. A separate one for administrative and non-administrative use.
Utilise the Microsoft Preset Security Policies
Microsoft provides a set of pre-configured security policies to every account, which enforce the suggested security configurations. These options include everything from data loss prevention to anti-phishing security.
Utilising these security policies is crucial because they contain the suggested actions to stop malware from damaging your suite. Additionally, you can draft unique security guidelines to better meet the demands of your company. However, if you have little to no experience with cybersecurity, we advise against adopting bespoke policies.
You can apply custom policies to any Office 365 programme or service, including OneDrive, SharePoint Online, and others, if you so want.
Employee Education
Offering cybersecurity personnel training is essential if you genuinely want to safeguard confidential company information. Sadly, because hackers are aware of employees’ lack of cybersecurity expertise, they are frequently the targets of cybercrimes. Furthermore, trained administrators are considerably more likely to identify cybersecurity concerns than untrained employees.
However, what should be the main objective of the training? Regarding cybercrime, there is one thing that staff members need to be aware of: email protection. The most common attack vector used by cybercriminals is email.
By including harmful files or links in email communications, they specifically target organisations. Therefore, in order for staff members to recognise risks like ransomware, malware, and phishing attempts, you must equip them with crucial email protection training.
Make use of Microsoft 365 Apps.
All of the Microsoft applications that you can use online or download to your computer are included in Microsoft 365. You’ve probably used all of the M365 programmes, which are also known as Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
Security Advice for Microsoft Office 365
We have more control over document sharing across devices with Office apps. For instance, you can begin working on a document on your laptop at work and finish it on your home computer. Sending these papers as email attachments was the only method for sharing them between devices prior to Microsoft or Office apps.
Avoid doing this at all costs because important information on attached documents could be stolen by threat actors who have access to your email account. Share links to documents that are saved on OneDrive or SharePoint Online instead.
Adding documents to your OneDrive cloud is the simplest method to share them with others, including on mobile devices.
Employ Stronger Passwords
The next piece of advice is quite basic, yet it will allow you to immediately go around Microsoft security safeguards. In particular, everyone has experienced the need to reuse their passwords. Even though remembering all of your passwords and accounts may be challenging, you need to choose a strong password for your Office account.
A hacker just needs to know your login address to obtain user access to your Office tenancy if they already know the common password you use for all of your accounts. As a result, be careful and set a unique password for your Office 365 tenant. Always use a strong password, and don’t use it on any other user accounts.
In summary
The Microsoft Office 365 security advice for protecting your company’s data is now complete. You will be closer to complete protection if you put these suggestions and the built-in Office tools into practice.
However, the primary cause of hackers’ success is still user error. Hence, out of all the advice on the list, educating staff members about cybersecurity is a wise investment. To fully ensure Microsoft Office 365 security, you can also experiment with third-party advanced threat prevention products.