There is no doubt that a Microsoft 365 subscription can provide your organisation with everything you need to boost workplace productivity and enhance operational acuity. But regardless of the positives that Microsoft 365 can bring to your business, you’ll get the most benefit if you ensure that you and your employees engage in the right security best practices. There needs to be more than just enhanced email security in Office 365, so we have put together 4 key behaviours which will guarantee your Microsoft 365 experience is both more secure and more rewarding.
1. Configure Conditional Access
Cybersecurity is a big issue these days and attempts to access company data is on the rise. In fact, it is highly likely that your company has been subjected to a suspect remote login attempt more than once, and you may never have even known. The truth is that if you had no idea that the suspect login happened, then it was because Microsoft filtered the event by labelling it as a botnet attack. In these instances, Microsoft has managed to keep your company and critical data safe, but this doesn’t mean that their system can catch suspect actions every single time which is why you should configure conditional access policies.
Conditional access allows administrators to set controls to specific applications, actions, or authentication procedures. By defining access policy and enforcing controls around certain actions, an additional layer of security is provided to both data and access in applications.
2. Use Mobile Device Management (MDM) & Mobile Application Management (MAM)
A lot of applications nowadays allow the user to wipe endpoint devices if they are lost or stolen, which can provide the owner with at least a little peace of mind when it comes to security. But when you increase the number of users, endpoints, and the data and applications to enterprise levels, wiping a device – or many devices if every user has been given access to every piece of data or application – after the fact no longer seems like a viable or preferred option.
With Microsoft Intune, which is a part of Microsoft Endpoint Manager, you can not only manage all your mobile devices from one single location but can also choose what applications and corporate data the device has access to. Policies can also be regularly updated and deployed to the device, meaning users only have to log in through their work account to access them.
3. Enable OneDrive Folder Protection
Backups are an essential part of ensuring your organisation’s critical data remains safe and accessible at all times. So, by enabling the OneDrive Folder Protection, you can be assured that each user’s desktop and document folders are backed up to the Cloud, meaning there is no VPN tunnelling or latency issues in the event of poor connectivity. OneDrive is also the smart way to protect your data files because if a device does become infected in some way, OneDrive retains 100 variants of each file meaning that file variants can be rolled back, the device reimaged, and business can continue easily.
4. Use Role Based Access Control
Microsoft 365 allows your organisation to designate ‘roles’ to those employees who have specific tasks to complete or data to access. Assigning roles to employees should be done with care and only on necessity, especially when it comes to ‘Global Admin’ access. As a global admin, the user has the ability to access most management features and data across Microsoft online services and giving too many users this kind of access can be a huge security risk.
To keep your organisation more secure with Microsoft, review your users’ need to access certain information and assign them roles based on their individually required access. This practice ensures that should a threat actor breach the system in any way, they will be automatically restricted due to the access controls previously installed for that specific user.
Security is also your responsibility
Security online is no longer just the responsibility of the manufacturer, so it is always a good idea to find out where your organisation may be at risk, and what you can do to improve. If you think your business could do better on the security front, contact the team at Linktech Australia today and see what their experts can do for you.