Understand What is Security and Compliance in Office 365 Cloud

People move to cloud systems like Microsoft’s 365 lineup due to the convenience that it offers, especially when compared to the traditional on-premise setups. However not knowing what is security and compliance in Office 365 can put them on the backfoot. Therefore, we came up with this writeup that contains all the logical connections to keep a M365 setup safe and sound. Let’s begin with the security template itself.

Table of Contents

• M365 Security Checklist
• Office 365 Security Practices
• Physically Secure Server
• Email Security
• ATP Security
• Data Loss Prevention
• If O365 Security Gets Compromised
• Conclusion

Microsoft 365 Security Checklist to Follow

This is similar to the one which is used to maintain Microsoft Teams Security 

Access Control:

• Grant access based on user roles and permissions.
• Application consent and permissions managed.
• Block all legacy authentication.
• Preset security policies implemented.

Data Protection:

• Encryption enabled.
• Backups established.
• Compliance labels and policies configured.

Threat Prevention:

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) enabled.
• Mailbox auto-forwarding to external domains disabled.
• Conditional access policies replace security defaults (for more granular control).

Monitoring:

• Unified audit log enabled for activity tracking

Best Microsoft Office 365 Security Practices

Microsoft always develop the great product, which is true and Office 365 is one of them. In Office 365, the security incorporates at every stage, from physical datacenters safety to end-user access. In fact, the level of cloud security is provided by Microsoft is not maintained by any other company at such cost. This is the reason, the more number of people is joining the Office 365 online suite.

Here are the top 3 Office 365 Security features;

1. Strong Datacenter Security
2. Outlook 365 Email Security
3. Data Loss Prevention

Facility & Security of Physical Server

The foremost level of security in any cloud-based application is Data Server Security & Availability. Hacker especially targets this kind of server and if he/she can get access, it will lead to a dangerous situation. Although, Microsoft ensures that no such type of thing happens with the Office 365 server as they provide high security to it.

All the customer data is in the Microsoft data centers, which are well distributed geographically. Also, it restricts access to the data centers and uses physical security measures such as Video Surveillance, Biometric Scanners, Security Guards & Officers, Motion Sensors, Employee Badges, and Smart Cards. This gives a good idea on what is security and compliance in Office 365.

On the network level, Microsoft strictly allows those connection which are extremely important for the system and block the rest of the connections. The Tiered Access Control to have more granular control over the network security. Adding to it, the firewall rules applied to put restrictions on the harmful connection. Multiple significant security measures are available at the network layer to secure the data center from vulnerabilities.

Moreover, Microsoft never discloses the location of its data centers to the public. So, it becomes difficult for hackers to first find the location and breach the information.

Office 365 Email Security Feature

Another great feature available in Office 365 is Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Basically, it is a cloud-based email filtering service whose motto is to safeguard the user from unknown malware, malicious links, and viruses. The ATP is designed in such a way that it provides a detailed report to the administrator about the external malicious attacks happening in the firm.

The Office 365 advanced threat protection also analyze who is being targeted by the unknown malware and harmful links in the organization. Adding to it, it is also capable to track those malicious URLs in messages that have been clicked.

The Advanced Threat Protection is available in Office 365 Enterprise E5, Microsoft 365 Business, and Office 365 Education A5. Furthermore, one can easily include ATP in the following plan too.

Techniques of Office 365 ATP Security Features

• Use Safe Attachment Feature

Office 365 has a feature known as ATP Safe Attachments. It aim is to safeguard the message system from the unknown malware and viruses. The messages and attachments that do not comprise the Virus signature are routed to a sandbox environment, where ATP analyse the message to find any malicious pattern. In a situation where no suspicious activity is found, the message is delivered to its destination mailbox.

• Safe Links Feature

The ATP Safe Links feature to secure the users from the malicious URLs that comes in a mail or a document. This feature automatically identified and blocked the bad links, even why they masquerade as normal URLs. Safe Links include in the below-mentioned applications-

• Office Online – Word / Excel / PowerPoint / OneNote

• Office 365 ProPlus (Windows or Mac)

• Office application on iOS and Android devices

Data Loss Prevention Security Feature

It can be seen that human errors are extreme issues for cyber security that creates a great risk to the data. Due to which, Exchange Online offers the Data Loss Prevention Policy. It is one of the greatest features of Office 365 Cloud security.

It prevents the accidental sharing of data such as bank details, credit card numbers etc. For example: If you applied DLP policy in the organization, so, whenever a user is sending a mail that includes confidential information is monitor by the DLP. And, it will send a ‘Policy Tips’ message before sending the email or document.

The Data Loss Prevention Policy actively identifies, monitors and safeguard the sensitive data to manage the data risk. Recently, the Office 365 Data Loss Prevention functionality included into Microsoft Teams chat & channel messages. However users must also know that MS Teams is now no longer a default part in many Office 365 subscription plans.

Steps After Office 365 Security Features Get Compromised

Despite the presence of many excellent protection mechanisms one cannot take the skillset of modern cybercriminals lightly. As a result, there is no shortage of news about organizations losing their cloud data. To think that such a situation cannot happen to your organization is naive. Therefore admins must put up a plan in place to minimize the damage done if such an unfortunate event occurs anytime in the future. The first task that admins should focus on is to get out as much critical data as possible. This is because once hackers have access to the data they may lock it and demand a hefty ransom in return. Ideally, such an export of data must be scheduled on a periodic basis and should be part of every Microsoft 365 security checklist.
To get the user data in a speedy manner admins can rely on SysTools Office 365 Export utility. Designed to extract data from any Office 365 business-grade subscription category, the tool is your helping hand. With it, you can set accurate filters and put certain users on the priority list to get their data first.
Here is a glimpse at the steps admins need to perform once they have a copy with them.

• Open, Choose Endpoints, Pick Workloads, and specify a timeline,
• Perform Source and Target level admin validation
• Make a user map to link the cloud source with its on-premise target
• Preview the user list, select, prioritize, and Start Export.

Another option that admins have is to change their Cloud environment, either by moving to a different O365 i.e. conducting either an Office 365 to Office 365 migration. Or leave Microsoft entirely and go to Google via Office 365 to G Suite transfer.

Final Thoughts on Office 365 Security Features

By using this writeup as the medium we were able to explain users what is security and compliance in Office 365. Not only that but we gave them a template to match out the best practices. Moreover, here they also got to that Data Security cannot be an afterthought.

Microsoft keeps this thing in the mind and includes all the possible security features that are flexible and easily implement by the administrator for protecting data on cloud. Therefore, whenever, a firm chooses to Office 365 cloud suite for the business, they know Microsoft understands the business security needs. So, they can easily trust O365 without any hassle.