6 Benefits Of Microsoft 365 Security

Published on: 24 March 2021 Last Updated on: 27 December 2024

If you’re considering investing in Microsoft 365 or need a little more convincing, read through the list of benefits below.

Here, we cover details of Microsoft Office 365 security and compliance, enterprise-level mobility, and powerful solutions that help to optimize productivity – wherever your team is working. To get a clear picture of the benefits of Microsoft 365, we’ve sought the help of IT experts in the know.

Microsoft Office 365 Security Features:

When your employees work remotely, they carry a lot of sensitive data on their laptops and mobile devices. For business owners or managers, you want to rest assured that this data is securely stored while still being easily accessible to your workforce.

The key security features included with Microsoft 365 are:

Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection
Azure Information Protection P1
Intune
Data Loss Protection

These features protect against external threats such as hackers, phishing emails, and malware and prevent sensitive customer information – email addresses or credit card details – from leaving the organization.

By purchasing all these features in a single package, you will also save a significant sum of money on your monthly subscription.

1. Layered Security Approach:

Microsoft 365 provides three levels of security:

Threat protection. You will be protected from common external threats, such as spam, phishing emails, and malware, while also receiving cutting-edge defense from more sophisticated threats, such as zero-day ransomware.
Data leak protection. As previously stated, 365 prevents sensitive data from leaving your system, providing peace of mind to any employer with a remote workforce.
Control data access. You can customize your level of security regarding sensitive data by applying restrictions such as ‘do not copy’ or ‘do not forward to certain information. You can also remotely wipe data from lost or stolen devices.

2. Seamless Integration & Collaboration

The best feature of Microsoft 365 is always its capability to help users collaborate. It breaks down the silos that different tools work in. Thanks to OneDrive integrating different apps and software under Microsoft 365, users can work together, document process in real-time, and do more.

It allows users to communicate effectively through video, chat, and share files on a single platform. Thanks to this seamless integration, it’s easier for someone to streamline workflow and improve their productivity.

Also, OneDrive and Sharepoint of Microsoft 365 make it easier for users to access data and work information from any device.

The features of Teams make it easier for inter-team collaboration and communication. The efficient features of Outlook Mail, PowerPoint, and Excel Sheets are doubtlessly important in the professional environment.

Also, the Microsoft 365 environment makes it easier for users to remember different apps under the Microsoft 365 umbrella. Every single app has a unique and memorable logo. Also, all the apps are easy to use.

3. Advanced Threat Protection:

If you suffer a malware attack, it could spell the beginning of the end for your business by resulting in lost work hours, loss of income, and an undermining of public trust.

With Microsoft 365, links are checked in real-time to warn you if it will take you to a malicious website. Email attachments are scanned for malware, and your devices are monitored for any suspicious strings of communication that might indicate the beginning of a ransomware attack.

Also, users can secure the flow of emails and mailbox audit logging using Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

All of this means that the future of your business won’t rely on your employees’ ability to spot a suspicious email or attachment before they can click on it. Office 365 has a threat and attack monitoring and prevention response.

4. Data Loss Prevention:

Keeping all the sensitive information, your business holds secure is a difficult task and a constant battle that never goes away.

With 365, you can apply data loss prevention policies to prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, encrypt devices to protect data if that device is stolen or lost, and manage all your company devices remotely; handy for when an employee leaves, and you need to wipe all company data from their phone and laptop.

5. Control Data Access:

Identity and access management through the MFA and PIM gives Microsoft 365 users peace of mind. Its security features for control and access are unparalleled.

It doesn’t assign the global admin role to everyone. Instead, Contosco creates three different Global Admin accounts using strong passwords. Microsoft Entra Authentication and PIM ( Privileged Identity Protection) are responsible for protecting the accounts.

The Azure Information Protection Feature allows you to manage and control how data is accessed and shared across your business.

You can require your employees and customers to sign in to sensitive information with a fingerprint or PIN and classify that information as ‘sensitive’ to restrict how it is shared both inside and outside the business.

6. Powerful Tools For Enhanced Productivity

The apps and additional tools in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem are efficient and productive. Most apps come with amazing productivity features. Microsoft’s suite of apps includes the best word processors like Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and other tools with AI features.

The AI-powered Designer under Powerpoint provides you with different design features. You can use Excel Insights to find out patterns in your data. The grammar assists in the writing tool and also helps to write effectively inside words.

Also, the co-authoring features of Microsoft Word allow multiple users to use the same document at the same time. This enables a new gateway for seamless collaboration.

Windows 10:

By upgrading to Microsoft 365, you get the added bonus of standardizing your employee workstations on Windows 10.

Windows 10 is the most secure Windows platform ever, coming with its own range of security innovations that significantly reduce your business’s risk profile, as well as adding cloud-based management to ensure that all your devices are properly configured.

Microsoft and its suite of apps are a vast world, opening a huge world of opportunity for the professional environment. Users find more hidden tricks and techniques as they delve deep into the world of Microsoft 365.

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Soumava Goswami

A passionate writer and an avid reader, Soumava is academically inclined and loves writing on topics requiring deep research. Having 3+ years of experience, Soumava also loves writing blogs in other domains, including digital marketing, business, technology, travel, and sports.

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Internet Safety: How To Spot And Avoid Scams

Individuals and businesses are at increasing risk from online scams. Let’s set the scene. According to International Data Corporation, there will be more than 40 billion connected devices worldwide by 2025. Cyber Ventures reported that almost four million records are stolen daily due to data breaches, which is about 45 per second. And a study from Maryland University demonstrated that there is a new victim of cybercrime every 39 seconds. Online scams are costly and potentially fatal. While many dangers exist online, raising your awareness and adopting good habits can improve your information security and internet safety. How to Spot (and Avoid) a Scam Phishing attempts are the primary ways people are scammed online. Scammers may send these communications via social media and text, but the overwhelming majority use email. While phishing attacks can be specific - known as spearphishing attacks - the vast majority are sent indiscriminately. Fortunately, this spam will tend to have some giveaways. Spotting these can help protect us and our data. Demands for Personal Information Reputable businesses don’t ask for personal information via email or social messaging. Delivery drivers that need you to confirm your full name and address are normally bogus. Banks and government departments never ask their clients to send sensitive data such as bank account information, usernames, or passwords via email. Offers Too Good to Be True (Probably Are) Be suspicious when offered extremely low-price goods, services, or holidays. If it makes you wonder how they can afford to make such a deal, the answer is that they expect to add hidden fees, or the offer doesn't exist. The sender expects to gain valuable personal information from people eager to sign up. Claims You Have Won Something It's exciting to win a contest or lottery draw but ask yourself if you even entered a competition. Messages like these generate excitement and prompt people to act quickly to claim their prize. Such communications may also suggest that you have been personally and individually selected. In a way, you have been selected, but so have thousands of other people, and not for anything good. Terrible Spelling and Grammar Spam is renowned for its major spelling and grammar issues. To avoid scams, remember that businesses spend thousands on marketing. They work hard to ensure their communications are attractive and error-free. If you notice spelling and grammar errors, it's unlikely to be from a reputable business. Fake Addresses and Other Impersonation Attempts Scams often use impersonation to benefit from a brand’s authority. People are more likely to believe a message if it seems to be from Microsoft or the Government. To avoid falling for this trick, check the URL or email address carefully. A scammer typically alters a business name slightly to make it seem authentic, such as the Facebook instead of Facebook or Microsoft instead of Microsoft. If the sender claims to be from a big organization but uses a generic email account, like Gmail or Hotmail, this is also a warning. High-Pressure Tactics Most scams work best for criminals when the victims don’t think too deeply about their actions. Communications that insist on an urgent, immediate response should be read very carefully. Verify the details where necessary. More on Avoiding Scams Now that you know how to spot and avoid specific scams, here are some more tips on how to avoid scammers in general. Use Reverse Phone Lookup Services to Verify Senders’ Details One reason the internet is such a hotbed for crime is that it’s easy for criminals to maintain anonymity. Cybercriminals can stay off the radar by using a virtual private network and dealing in wire transfers and cryptocurrency. They can pretend to be someone else, of course; your bank manager; a delivery driver; or an IT help desk technician. Or a friend or family member. If you’re not sure who you are communicating with, use the internet to your benefit. Go to PhoneHistory or any other reverse phone lookup site to verify people’s contact details. You can do this whenever you have suspicions or simply because you’re dealing with someone you’ve not met in a physical location. Block and Report Spam Don’t hit reply, no matter how much you’d like to hit the sender. Giving them a piece of your mind tells them you have an active email address and that other spammers should probably target you. Most email service providers enable you to block and/or report spam. Ideally, do both. Depending on the email system, you might need to choose “block” before you see the option to report it, or vice versa. Blocking and reporting spam helps your email provider eliminate spam emails from your inbox. And it can help them protect other users from potentially harmful communications. Do Not Interact with Potential Scammers Resist the temptation to click on a link within the message if you are suspicious about the sender's intent. Clicking a link can signal to the sender that your email address is active and cause malware to be downloaded to your device. Malware can cause many issues, including: locking you out of your machine (a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS)); encrypting your data unless you pay a ransom for the decryption key (ransomware); installing software that allows a third party to track your activities and/or keypresses (spyware). Read Privacy Notices Since the implementation of GDPR cybersecurity regulations, a pop-up frequently appears on visiting a website, inviting you to read their privacy policy and asking you to confirm your preferences regarding cookies. Most websites are reputable with good intent. Sometimes, however, they are willing to sell the information they learn about you to third parties, who may send you anything from unsolicited marketing emails to harmful, targeted scams. If you don’t have the patience to read every privacy notice, it is still worthwhile saying no to all but essential cookies. It’s quicker than it seems. And make sure to deny the company’s permission to contact you or share your data unless you trust them. Conclusion Internet safety can seem daunting, but most people don’t think twice about improving their car security, home security, and personal safety. Stay observant, check out the identities of people you haven’t developed relationships with yet, and employ a few other good internet habits to keep you, your friends, and your family safe online. Additional: What Is Zero Trust In Cybersecurity Context? Top 6 Cybersecurity Trends Everyone should Know Everything You Need To Know About PKI In Cybersecurity Top 10 Cybersecurity Features That Are A Must-Have In An Ecommerce Store

What are the things you need to know while choosing Antivirus Software?

Choosing antivirus software is not an easy job. As all antivirus software doesn’t provide what they promise. Using antivirus software is highly essential to protect your computer files and data against viruses and malware. Since these dangerous files can infect your device and destroy everything in it. Malware files can even leak your personal and highly valuable data online. There are a lot of things that are to be kept in mind when you choose good antivirus software. A lot of parameters, features are to be checked like; Security Protection: Antivirus software should have the best grade of security protection to ensure full protection, on all types of files, drivers and connected devices. Real-time System Guard: Real-time protection is highly important and you should check how efficiently and properly antivirus software does its job. Compromising real-time protection will leave your device partially protected, as strong malware files can still infect it. The Extent of Files and Data Security: Protecting files and personal data, passwords, browser history, cache data and cookies should be kept safe by the antivirus software. Know this from the retailer as more the protection level, better is the security provided. Internal Performance: Antivirus software should not slow down the performance of a computer, even in the least resource powered computers and other devices. As decreasing performance is a negative effect on the antivirus utilities potentially interfering with the work environment, it should provide all the needed protection while utilizing under the limit resources. Control Settings: Antivirus software should have manually alterable control settings that work according to how the user wants. As one might keep a few settings to be turned off, due to user circumstances and work strategies. Online Threat Guard: Online protection is one of the most common discussions about antivirus software protection levels. Thus, an antivirus should have proper online protection from technical malware, virus, Trojan files, and other threats. Auto Features: Antivirus software should be able to remove all infected files by itself without the assistance of the user. These are the things you need to know when choosing antivirus software. Else, you can directly go for Segurazo antivirus which has all of the protection and features that are mentioned above. It is one of the best antivirus software available in the market with incredible features. Segurazo antivirus provides intense real-time protection against all kinds of system threats, unauthorized entries through wireless connections, network data leak and data guard, passwords, personal digital data, all in one package. It comes with an efficient threat detection engine that silently runs in the background and keeps you protected. The software also ships in with its protected browser zone and online web plug-in to offer its stiff and advanced guard against all kinds of internet threats. Being one of the most top listed antiviruses, Segurazo excels out in the privacy keeping boundaries while dealing with safety. It potentially keeps your files, folders, personal data individually protected by running deep scans silently in the background, thus protecting you all the time. Read Also: Bitdefender Antivirus For Mac Review 3 Encryption Trends And How They Make Communication More Secure

Starting an Ecommerce Website? Take 5 Steps to Make It Secure

Cybercrime cost businesses $3 trillion in 2015 and it’s expected to cost $6 trillion by 2021. A single cyberattack can ruin your online shop completely, so it’s essential to improve your eCommerce website security right away. Luckily, you can do this fast and with only a small investment. How to Improve Ecommerce Website Security Quickly and Affordably : 1. Install security software : Installing software that will monitor your website for SQL injection and other vulnerabilities is the first thing you need to do. SQL attacks (where hackers attach parts of SQL commands to your code) and malware are the most common types of cybersecurity hazards. These issues must be prevented at all costs, and a specialized security product will do that. Such programs can guard you against a variety of attacks, so choose one with the widest range of protection. Be sure to invest in top-quality software updated frequently as new types of malware appear daily. 2. Switch to new hosting : Are you 100% confident in the reliability and security of your hosting? If not, you should start looking for one that meets specialized e-commerce website requirements. The number one of those is having an SSL certificate, which is a proof of security. Hosting matters greatly for an e-commerce website not only because of the cyberattack threats but also because uptime is essential for these businesses. If you use a shared server and it crashes every time traffic to your website surges, you’ll be losing business and ruining your reputation with customers. Today leading software providers offer many discounts and great terms for signup deals, so be sure to get the best one you can afford. 3. Switch to HTTPS : A switch to a more secure protocol HTTPS is not only a way to improve e-commerce website security. It’s a necessary step if you want to rank higher on Google search engine result pages. The search engine assesses use this parameter when ranking your website, so using plain HTTP will lower your SEO. Today, many browsers do not only mark HTTPS websites with a green ‘secure’ label, even they go out of the way to post a warning that your connection is not secure when visiting HTTP pages. As a business that makes online money transactions, you must have the most basic layer of SSL/TLS security for your e-commerce site. In such cased, Extended Validation SSL certificate would be a better option to make e-commerce website more secure and trustworthy, because once you install EV SSL on your server, it establishes HTTPS secure connection to protect online information during data transition and displays a green address bar and your company name in popular web browsers. To learn more about the EV SSL certificate, Visit this website. 4. Keep all your plugins updated : No matter how good your security software is, vulnerabilities might come from the inside if some of your plugins are old and don’t have the necessary levels of safety and performance. The apps, plugins, and extensions on your website should update automatically. However, you should double-check in case some issue prevents an update. Bear in mind that an old plugin is not only a security vulnerability. It’s also a risk factor for the website crash, which can lose you a lot of money. 5. Change your passwords and username often : Hacking into your admin panel will give cybercriminals complete control of your business. To prevent it, you must have a strong password and a non-standard username. The latter you can change to anything you like. As to the password, the best one should have no less than 20 symbols with letters in different registers, numbers, and symbols. Most importantly, it must be completely random. Read Also : Would Your Ecommerce Website Pass The Cybersecurity Test? Here Are 3 Things You Could Be Doing Wrong How To Create An Effective FAQ Page For Your Website 8 Key SEO Strategies For E-Commerce Websites

6 Benefits Of Microsoft 365 Security