Microsoft 365 (M365) is an incredibly popular and stable cloud platform with over 400 million paid users. Many companies rely heavily on Microsoft 365 to run critical business processes. The subscription software suite has become the go-to solution for organizations that want to maximize their investment in Microsoft products.
The popularity of Microsoft 365 makes it an attractive target for cybercriminals and threat actors. For example, sophisticated phishing campaigns are exploiting the Microsoft 365 Direct Send feature to spoof trusted users and launch business email compromise (BRC) attacks. If you value the data in your M365 environment, you need to take the necessary steps to keep it secure.
VAST has a long-standing strategic partnership with Microsoft, focusing on the M365 environment. We understand the platform’s potential vulnerabilities and how to address them to protect your valuable data. Organizations should strongly consider adopting the following tips, strategies, and best practices to secure their Microsoft 365 environment.
Adopt a Zero-Trust Approach to M365 Security
Companies should enforce zero-trust security across the M365 environment. The Zero Trust cybersecurity framework is built around the idea of never trusting and always verifying interactions with the IT environment. Zero Trust assumes every access request is potentially malicious, even from users and devices already inside the network, until it is verified and authorized.
Zero Trust relies on three core principles.
- Verify explicitly – All access requests must be authenticated and authorized based on data points such as user identity, application, device, and data sensitivity.
- Least privilege access – Users are granted only the minimum permissions required to perform their requested task.
- Assume breach – Companies should assume threat actors are in their environment and take measures such as continuous monitoring for suspicious behavior and network segmentation to minimize damage from a successful incursion.
Teams can use several native M365 features to support Zero Trust security, including:
- Performing continuous user verification with Conditional Access;
- Monitoring threats with Microsoft Defender XDR;
- Enforcing device compliance with Intune;
- Protecting data with Microsoft Purview Information Protection.
Protect Your M365 Admin Accounts
Your M365 Admin accounts are valuable targets for threat actors. The accounts have elevated privileges, which are crucial for managing and operating the environment, but can also be exploited to compromise and damage it. Teams should take the following measures to provide stronger protection beyond multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Teams should have at least two admin emergency accounts. These accounts, also called “break glass accounts”, are not assigned to individuals and are only used in an emergency. They need to be excluded from MFA requirements and have long, complex passwords of at least 16 characters.
- Do not use admin accounts for regular work tasks. Administrators should use non-admin accounts as their primary sign-in method and only use the admin account when needed. Users should close unrelated apps and browser windows before using an admin account and sign out after completing their tasks.
- Teams should implement passwordless authentication for admin accounts. M365 Business Basic and Business Standard support passwordless authentication with the Microsoft Authenticator app, which utilizes PIN or biometric verification, Passkeys, or Windows Hello for Business.
Advanced Threat Protection
Organizations must protect themselves against the ever-increasing sophistication of threat actors with advanced solutions. Teams should use the AI-powered threat protection in the Microsoft Defender XDR suite. They should enable automated responses to quickly contain threats. The platform can integrate threat detection across your complete Microsoft environment.
- Defender for Office 365 stops phishing, ransomware, and business email compromise (BEC) attacks.
- Defender for Endpoint uses AI technology to detect and respond to lateral movement in the environment.
- Defender for Cloud Apps helps you manage risks from cloud apps and control shadow IT.
Data protection and governance
Companies must implement robust data protection and governance policies to safeguard information in their M365 environments. Teams should take the following specific measures.
- Classify and protect your sensitive data with Microsoft Purview Information Protection.
- Deploy data loss prevention policies and tools to prevent data leaks and breaches.
- Employ auto-labeling and sensitivity labels to data elements across the environment.
- Ensure data retention policies align with regulatory compliance regulations.
Your business may need more flexibility and control over data backup and recovery than offered by native M365 functionality. Third-party cloud backup solutions provide additional data protection and may support more granular recovery. VAST’s Cloud Backup-as-a-Service (CBaaS) solution is built with Druva’s cutting-edge technology. It offers multiple benefits contributing to enhanced data protection for M365, for example:
- Automated SaaS backups utilizing incremental forever backups, source-side deduplication, and supporting long-term archival;
- One-click integration with M365 and cloud-based centralized management;
- Information governance, including automated compliance monitoring and ransomware protection;
- End-to-end encryption and customer-only access to customer data.
Continuous Security Posture Monitoring and Management
It is essential for organizations to continuously monitor their M365 security posture to identify emerging threats and evolving vulnerabilities. Teams should take the following practical steps to improve M365 security.
- Review your Microsoft Secure Score regularly to gain visibility into weaknesses and receive intelligent guidance to mitigate threats.
- Integrate Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) solutions with Microsoft Sentinel for unified incident response and analytics.
- Implement Microsoft Defender for Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) to manage and protect hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
Let VAST Protect and Optimize Your M365 Environment
Our team of M365 experts is ready to help you keep your environment secure and optimize your subscription to maximize your IT investment. Our CBaaS solution is tailored to the needs of M365 customers and addresses the gaps in native data protection. We offer a broad range of Microsoft 365 support services.
- Our extensive M365 migration experience will help you get started on the right foot and provide continued support after the migration.
- VAST’s MyCloud Portal provides self-management capabilities for your M365 services.
- We provide a Microsoft 365 usage analysis to help you streamline utilization and maximize the value of your IT budget.
- Our team can perform a comprehensive review of your existing M365 environment to identify waste and optimize your M365 subscription.
Get in touch with VAST today and discover how we can help you secure and manage your M365 environment.
