Top 6 Best Practices For Office 365 Security

Microsoft launched its productivity suite – Office 365 in 2011, and ever since then, it has gained popularity amongst working professionals all over the world. With its large set of features and applications, all on one platform, you can easily perform each and every task in an efficient manner.

This suite particularly promotes collaboration by providing a platform where you and your entire team can work together, share ideas, and collaborate on documents.

When it comes to security, which nowadays is the biggest concern of all enterprises, large or small, MS Office 365 provides various features to safeguard your data, such as – access control, multi-factor authentication, and a lot more.

A research study by Small Business Trends shows that 43% of cyberattacks happen to small businesses. Another report by Gartner suggests that worldwide spending on cybersecurity is going to reach $133.7 billion in 2022. This shows the importance of security in today’s world.

Even though Microsoft offers multiple security features at various levels, it is your responsibility as well to ensure data security.

So, here are the few best practices that you can take up in your organization for Office 365 security –

1. Use Strong Password

Passwords are the most basic yet the most useful and the easiest way of keeping your files and data safe from any unauthorized access.

While setting passwords, here are a few things that you should keep in mind–

• Set longer and complex passwords consisting of alphabets (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and special characters.
• Set different passwords for different applications.
• Change passwords of each application on a regular basis.
• For example, Michael is a weak password, on the other hand, Keep$%you*safe@8740 is a strong one.

Keeping in mind these simple rules while setting passwords can keep your important files safe from unauthorized access.

2. Set Up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a security standard that involves a combination of multiple methods of login through different means. MFA compliments passwords by increasing security and making it even more difficult to decode them.

MFA is setup for every individual user. It requires you to login with a phone number, email id, or a text message along with the password. It verifies the user logging in from anywhere around the world using any system, be it in office or home.

3. Monitor Activity With Office 365 Cloud App Security

Microsoft Cloud App Security integrates with the Office 365 suite to detect and prevent any suspicious activities. It provides visibility, control over data, and advanced analytics to protect your work against cyberattacks and other threats.

4. Use Microsoft Secure Score

MS Secure Score is an analytics tool that uses machine learning to track and compare activities and security features to a baseline set by Microsoft. It then gives out a score to improve your security practices to keep your files and data safe on the Microsoft cloud.

5. Enable Conditional Access

MS Office 365 gives you the option of giving access to the applications and tools only to people at certain locations. It enables you to block any foreign login access.

For example, if you do not have any business in a particular country, you can simply block access at that specific location. If, in case ever required, Office 365 gives you certain options to easily manage and give access as per your needs.

6. Enable Auditing and Reporting

Microsoft’s Security and Compliance Center gives you access to many auditing and reporting features to keep your Office 365 suite secured from any threat.

You can easily enable this feature and keep track of all the activities happening in the suite. You can set and manage security alerts across all applications, mailbox, and OneDrive.

Final Note

These are a few security practices that you can take up in your day-to-day work while using Microsoft Office 365. It helps in keeping your work secured, and thus, you can work carefree without worrying about any sort of data loss. These practices are easy to take up and enhance the security of your Office 365 suite.