Microsoft 365 security tools
Every week that goes by there seems to be another high profile data breach in the news. As more and more of our information becomes accessible from everywhere through cloud technologies, the amount of data that can be easily exposed, either by mistake or maliciously, has increased. While this may seem like a big business problem, every organization, of every size, has private or proprietary data that is at risk unless steps are taken to protect it.
For those organizations that use Microsoft 365, there is a growing set of tools included in the different licensing tiers to address security and data compliance issues. For Microsoft 365 Business Premium users Microsoft Defender for Business started rolling out as part of that plan on March 1, which is a new endpoint security package similar to the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint add-ons available for enterprise licenses.
All Microsoft 365 plans include at least some Multi-factor Authentication capabilities, which creates an extra hurdle for anyone trying to access your data maliciously. Depending on your plan you may also have access to additional features such as Conditional Access, Data Loss Prevention, and Retention Policies.
All those deploying Microsoft 365 in their organization should be familiar with the security and compliance offering. While some features are turned on by default, many require configuration, or, depending on how old your tenant is, need some further set up. Even if you use a managed service partner or other outsourced IT support, it is worthwhile to ensure that they know you want these features if other similar ones are not already in place.
Microsoft offers the following article that serves to get you started:
Top 10 ways to secure Microsoft 365 for business plans - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Docs
