Frequently Asked Question - How Can I improve Office 365 Security?

Having proper email security in Microsoft Office 365 is necessary, as more organizations rely on the platform for online communication within their business operations. There are a few built-in features on the server that can prevent specific email threats, but, ultimately, these services do not do enough for companies, and the security gaps in Microsoft Office 365 can leave organizations at risk of significant downtime, data loss, phishing email attacks, and reputational harm. This article will discuss Microsoft 365 strengths, where it falls short, and best practices for email security that can help you reduce risk on your server.

Is Microsoft Office 365 Email Secure?

Microsoft Office 365 is a popular cloud email platform with several cybersecurity vulnerabilities that can leave users susceptible to credential phishing, malware infections, and dangerous ransomware attacks. Cybercriminals prefer to exploit email weaknesses in Microsoft 365 since they can repeat such cyberattacks multiple times on different businesses. In fact, ninety-five percent of attacks resulted from spear phishing emails.

What Are the Most Important Security Concerns in Microsoft Office 365?

Microsoft users can download the Exchange Online Program (EOP) to bolster security and reduce the chances of facing various email threats. However, EOP does little to improve an organization’s email protection and prevent attacks. Here are the security concerns to acknowledge when considering EOP for your Office 365 server:

• Email protection does not factor in human error when preventing phishing attacks, malware downloads, and malicious URLs from penetrating a server. The single-layered email security software needs to do more to combat such threats.
• You cannot customize the system to meet your business needs. Unique issues that cross your company will enter servers since EOP does not have the configuration options to avoid business email compromise, account takeovers, and targeted spear phishing attacks.
• Attackers can easily replicate email security breaches on other businesses using the same cybersecurity platforms since Microsoft has a homogenous architecture for all companies.
• Proper configuration and monitoring are difficult to achieve with EOP since the required security knowledge does not exist in small- and medium-sized businesses without a complete IT team.

These critical email security gaps on Microsoft 365 can permit phishing email attacks, malware ransomware infections, and other sophisticated email threats to bypass security and harm your entire organization. The traditional email filtering services Microsoft 365 offers users are ineffective against the malicious threats that emerge every day.

How Do I Make My Microsoft Office 365 Email More Secure?

Once you recognize the shortcomings of Microsoft Office 365 and the weak solutions that EOP offers users, you must consider other ideas for strengthening your server. Here are a few tips and best practices we recommend:

• Enforce email security policies that require employees to formulate strong, varying passwords across platforms.
• Enable multi-factor authentication everywhere your employees navigate so you can ensure only reliable, trustworthy people can access sensitive files.
• Configure Azure AD password sync correctly.
• Set up your Security and Compliance Center to have mailbox auditing and unified audit logging to see everyone who enters your server in a given period.
• Disable legacy email protocols.
• Turn on audit data recording for Microsoft 365.

These best practices for email security are the first steps toward guaranteeing a higher level of protection for your business, employees, clients, and data.

What Solution Does Guardian Digital Offer to Microsoft 365 Users?

If you want to improve your security posture but need the team to do so efficiently, consider Guardian Digital's Microsoft 365 advanced cloud email security software. These cybersecurity platforms are industry-leading solutions businesses can deploy to keep the data, brand, and employees safe from known and emerging email threats. Here are the main benefits Guardian Digital offers to users:

• The secure design permits more robust email protection and frequent updates so you always know the condition of your server and the issues you might encounter.
• Guardian Digital security professionals act as an extension of your IT security team so that you can focus time and energy on daily operations instead of your risks.
• Stay updated regarding the newest threats and how Guardian Digital plans to mitigate them.
• Simplify your management needs, personalize them to your organization's requirements, and oversee all procedures from an easy-to-navigate Dashboard.
• Thrive on 24/7/365 email monitoring services from our IT security team.

All these email security best practices can help your business be the most reliable, trustworthy organization clients can utilize, knowing it has adequate Microsoft Office 365 email protection.