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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How to Become a Hacker: X Steps to Follow

A hacker is a professional who focuses on the security mechanism of your network systems and computers. Therefore, don’t think of hackers as unethical people who break into the security system of your phone or computer to steal your valuable information. It is only that some people use their expertise in the wrong ways. Here are some 12 steps on how to become a hacker. 1. Learn UNIX-Like Operating Systems UNIX-like and UNIX are the operating systems of the internet. You can use the internet without knowing UNIX but you can never become a hacker without having the UNIX knowledge. There are several forms of UNIX-like OS but the most popular one is Linux. You can run Linux hand in hand with MS Windows on your machine. You need to download Linux and install it on your computer. The other UNIX-like OS is BSD systems that comprise of DragonFly BSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, and FreeBSD. You have to understand the difference between BSD and Linux. Even though we have other solutions like Open Indiana, it is good to rely on Linux, BSD, and MacOS because they are more popular and have several programs for your use. 2. Write HTML You have to build your proficiency in HTML especially if you are not a programming professional. HTML is used to code everything that you see on any website such as the design components, images, and pictures. You start by learning how to make a basic homepage and grow from there. You can open the source information in your browser to see the examples of HTML. You can either write basic HTML in simple text or processing programs like Notepad. 3. Learn the Programming Language If your goal is to become a hacker, you need to learn programming languages to write your masterpiece. The best language to start with is python because it is well documented, has a clean design, and relatively kind for beginners. Apart from being an excellent language for starters, python is flexible, compelling, and suites large projects well. Once you get into serious programming, you will have to learn Java, JavaScript, and PHP C, and C++. These programming languages will give you the right background that will help you to develop hacking skills. 4. Think Creatively Once you have the basic skills, you need to start thinking artistically. A hacker is like an engineer, philosopher, and artist all rolled up into one person. These professionals believe in mutual responsibility and freedom. The world has so many fascinating problems that are waiting for answers. Hackers delight in solving these problems, exciting their intelligence, and sharpening skills. Hackers have a broad range of intellectual and cultural interests outside hacking. Play as intensely as you work and work as intensely as you play. For most hackers, the boundaries between art and science or work and play tend to merge or disappear into a high level of creative playfulness. You can enroll in martial art training if you want to learn how to become a hacker. 5. Learn to Appreciate Solving Problems Hackers believe that it is a moral responsibility to solve problems. Once you solve a particular problem, put is in the public domain so that you can assist other people to solve the same issue. However, you will not be giving away all your creative product. You will begin to command a lot of respect when you share the knowledge that you have accumulated over time. 6. Learn Recognizing and Fighting Authority The main enemies od hackers are drudgery, boredom, and authority figures who use secrecy and censorship to stifle the freedom of information. Monotonous works discourage the hacker from hacking. You can embrace hacking as a way of life by rejecting the ‘normal’ concepts of property and work. Instead, choose to fight for common knowledge and equality. 7. Be Competent Any person who spends a lot of time on Reddit is able to write up a ridiculous cyberpunk username and pose to be a hacker. However, the internet is an excellent equalizer that values competence over posture and ego. Spend a lot of time to work on your craft and not the mage and you will gain a lot of respect quickly instead of modeling yourself around the superficial things that people think around hacking in the popular culture. 8. Write Open-Source Software Take time and write programs that other hackers believe are useful and fun. Give your fellow hackers the sources of these programs for their use. Hackers respect individuals who have written capable programs and share with their colleagues for use. 9. Help in Testing and Debugging Open-Source Software Reputable open-source authors know that good beta-testers are worth their weight in dollars. These beta-testers know how to localize problems well, describe symbols, can tolerate bugs in quickie releases, and are more than willing to apply few simple diagnostic routines. Try to get a challenge that is under development that you have interest in and strive to become a good beta-tester. 10. Publish Useful Information You also need to gather and filter interesting and useful information into documents or web pages like FAQs lists and avail them. The respect that those who maintain FAQs have is equal to that of open-source authors. 11. Assist in Keeping the Infrastructure Working It is volunteers who operate the hacking culture and the internet’s engineering development. You need to do a lot of unglamorous but necessary tasks to keep everything running. It includes the administration of mailing lists, moderating of newsgroups, maintenance of huge software archives, and the development of RFCs among the other technical standards. You will command a lot of respect by doing all these things with a high level of dedication. 12. Serve the Hacking Culture Itself You will not be able to do this exercise until you have been around for some time. The hacking culture does not have leaders to say but it has tribal elders, culture heroes, spokespeople, and historians. After being in the trenches for a long period, you can develop into one of these. Hackers don’t trust the blatant ego among their tribal elders and hence attaining such fame visibly is dangerous. Instead of striving for it, it is wise to position yourself so that it drops in your lap so that you can be gracious and modest regarding your status. Read Also: How Dangerous Is Ransomware Anyway? Why DRM Is The New Standard For Document Security How To Improve Workplace Security

How to Save Money on Your Maternity Wardrobe

Being pregnant is truly a blessing, even though it can be annoying and exhausting at times. This is the time when you spend hours doing research about what is best for you and your baby, and prepare your living space for an additional family member. Being a mom makes it a priority to stay healthy for the sake of you and your baby, but you also want to look good. Modern moms-to-be like to stay true to their unique style, and luckily this has never been easier. Do I Have to Change My Style? Remember seeing in the movies pregnant women dressed in what looked a flowy tent? This is because baby bumps were considered unattractive and women felt like they had to hide themselves until they get their pre-pregnancy bodies back. Luckily, those days are way behind us, and women all over the world are showing of their growing bellies and look amazing. You know that you will not be able to wear all of your clothes, but when going out to buy something new, choose items that wrap around your middle, since these will look stylish and will not restrict your movements. If you feel like hiding your stomach a bit, choose darker colors like navy or black because these will make you look slimmer. Read More: Yoga For Pregnant Women Layer Up! Listen, the more fabric, the less flattering it will look on you, so try to find a middle ground somewhere. The best decision is to layer up since you can choose the items and combine them to get the best look. All those lovely open-fronted cardigans and stylish denim or leather jackets can be worn over tunics, dresses, and jeans, and not only will they keep you warm but you can choose to wear ones in pastels or adorable prints which will show your sense of style and trends, but will still be wonderfully comfortable. The best thing is that you won’t have to go out buying new clothes, you can wear your old items and simply leave them open in the front. Remember, you will not be able to imagine life without your comfy maternity jeans, so choose them carefully. Thrift Stores? By All Means Yes! You are not going to be pregnant forever (thank God), so the clothes that you choose to wear n those months you will probably not wear later on. Instead of going out shopping and spending hundreds of dollars on clothes you will only wear for a few brief months. Try finding good maternity clothes on websites like eBay and swap.com; women who sell their maternity clothes probably didn’t wear them for a very long time and certainly don’t need them anymore. What you can do after childbirth is to collect all of your maternity clothes and simply give it to someone who needs it, or sells them to a thrift shop. This way you will not only be earning a few extra bucks, but you will allow someone in need to save a few as well. It is difficult not to compare yourself to so many celebrity moms and their perfect pregnancy and post-pregnancy bodies, but keep in mind that all of them have teams of experts to help them stay fit and get back in shape. What is important is to stay healthy and be comfortable, because your baby feels good when you feel good. Luckily, ‘comfortable’ does not exclude ‘stylish’, so go ahead experiment, and don’t hesitate to show off your lovely baby bump. See also 1. Wardrobe Dreams: Statement Pieces to Last

How Dangerous is Ransomware Anyway?

Ransomware alerts are a bit over-the-top. A victim might think the infection is a joke. The pop-up stating the computer owner must pay up a credit card-delivered ransom to regain access to a computer seems like something out of a sci-fi/espionage movie. Here's some news: ransomware is no joke. The infection doesn't exist solely in the mind of a creative filmmaker or novelist. Ransomware is real and, yes, the virus is dangerous. What is Ransomware? Ransomware is a virus that locks down a computer. As the name suggests, ransomware overrides a computer user's password access to his/her computer. Depending on the situation, being locked out of a computer proves troubling. Even a short lockout presents disasters. And the ransomware might not be the only virus infecting the computer. What if the hard drive's contents are being stolen and downloaded? Out of panic, some may think to pay the ransom will get them out of a bad situation. Ransomware architects probably aren't the most trustworthy of persons. Paying up money won't automatically lead to the desired outcome or stop ransomware threats in the future. The Dangers of Ransomware: Anyone who doesn't think a ransomware attack represents serious dangers should look at the 2018 attack on the United Kingdom's National Health Service. The NHS serves as the epicenter of healthcare in the U.K. The "WannaCry" cyber attack put hundreds of thousands of computers on lockdown. Thousands of appointments ended up canceled -- a dire situation. Not everyone booked to see a doctor requires only minor treatments. With the hackers demanding a massive Bitcoin payment to unlock the computer systems, many people were left unable to see a healthcare provider. By the time the situation concluded, the NHS lost £92 million in IT costs. The NHS also learned a valuable lesson: don't use outdated IT systems. Reliance on the archaic Windows XP system made things easier for hackers. Take Steps to Prevent a Ransomware Attack: Contacting a computer security expert to solve a ransomware attack makes sense. So does contacting the same experts to discuss methods to stop ransomware and prevent an attack. Keeping hackers out is a lot easier and less stressful than dealing with the aftermath of their attacks. Sometimes, preventive measures involve little more than not falling into the most common ransomware trap: opening an infected email file. Yes, the age-old concept of malicious fishing still works. So does taking common-sense security steps and updating all security measures. Ransomware Expands Its Targets: Although reports of sensationalized ransomware attacks may be down, the threat always looms over computer systems. Don't think solely relying on Linux OS will save you. Ransomware may hit any operating system. The designers of the virus want to hit as many targets as possible. More targets mean more potential ransom money. While no one should experience paranoia about ransomware-impending doom, it never hurts to be cautious. Learn about trends in ransomware and other viruses. This way, you can take steps to prevent and deal with the threat. Read Also: Bitdefender Antivirus For Mac Review Why DRM Is The New Standard For Document Security

6 Benefits Of Microsoft 365 Security