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Microsoft Secure Score: A Simple Tool to Better your Security

As data becomes more valuable for businesses, security ranks high among their concerns. Though it is a nagging problem that concerns organizations of all sizes, most of these occurrences are security-hygiene-related and most likely preventable.  

Because of this, businesses should continue and must continuously adapt their security strategies. Implementing advanced measures on top of complying with security regulations should be done. Unfortunately, staying ahead of these important adaptions can be challenging. Thankfully, tools such as the Microsoft Secure Score make it straightforward to check your posture. Let’s dive in and learn more about how you can up your cybersecurity game! 

What is Microsoft Secure Score?  

Microsoft Secure Score is an analytics tool used to assess your organization’s security measures and calculate a score accordingly. The score gives you an idea of your status, which you can eventually act on. A high score means that you have many security practices implemented. On the other hand, a lower score, indicates that you are more vulnerable to threats.  

It is important to take note that these scores are not absolute. Instead, they are relative and evaluated based on your organization’s security practices.  

Ultimately, it will help you to:  

  • Report on the existing state of your security posture  
  • Boost your security posture through discoverability, visibility, guidance, and control  
  • Examine your posture, compare with industry-standard benchmarks and create key performance indicators  

What is a Good Security Score?  

In the Microsoft 365 Defender portal, you can view your Secure Score. And now that you can view the percentage value, it’s also essential to know how to interpret it. From this, you can investigate existing security policies and implement strategies. Listed below is a list of compiled industry-based standards to refer to:  

  • If your Security Score is 30% or below- It may mean that you are highly vulnerable.  
  • If your Security Score is between 50% and 30%- you need to check and implement best practices.  
  • If your Security Score is around the 65% mark, your security features are all active.  
  • The industry-recommended score is above 80%. However, this may require additional subscriptions such as Azure AD P2, E5, etc.  

If you are unsatisfied with your Secure Score, you can always seek the help of security partners like ECF Data. They can advise you and provide a roadmap for applying security policies.  

What is the product Coverage of the Microsoft 365 Secure Score?  

Currently, Microsoft 365 Secure Score covers these products:  

  • Microsoft Office 365  
  • Microsoft Teams  
  • Microsoft Defender (EndPoint and Identity)  
  • Defender for Cloud Apps  
  • Azure Active Directory  

Are there ways to boost Secure Score?  

If you are initiating to improving your overall security, you can follow these to increase your baseline:  

  1. Implement a Password Expiration Policy : Passwords are usually an easy entry point for hackers. You may be guilty of this, but the same passwords are typically reused for many systems. Requiring your team to change passwords at a set number of days may be simple. But it’s crucial to avoid compromised credentials.  
  2. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for Administrators: The recent Cybersecurity Awareness month pushes MFA. At the very least, you should require accounts with assigned administrator roles to have MFA enabled. Adding an extra layer of protection prevents credential leaks and the proliferation of phishing attacks. If possible, it should be a minimum standard for all organization users.  (If you need more information about multi-factor authentication, we a post that details everything here. )
  3. Turn on Safe Attachments: Safe Attachments help avoid messages with detected malware attachments from being sent. These messages are placed in another location where only administrators can investigate, release, or remove them. Suspicious attachment types can be determined and can be established for dynamic delivery. This way, the email body will be forwarded while the attachment is being scanned.  
  4. Enable Impersonated User and Domain Protection: Preventing specified internal or external and specified domains from being impersonated is possible. It is strongly recommended to add key roles for user protection.  
  5. Disable accounts that are not used in the last month: You may not realize this, but dormant accounts can be potential entries for breaches. Examining and disabling these patches for this security flaw simultaneously increases your Secure Score. You can read this report through the Office 365 Admin Center Mailbox Usage Report. Simply sort it by clicking “Last activity date” in ascending order.  

Should I get help in navigating my Secure Score?  

Should I get help in navigating my Secure Score?  

While some companies choose to D-I-Y, it is essential to work with an expert regarding your cybersecurity needs. ECF Data is a Microsoft Gold Security partner, and we’ve worked with businesses to enhance their security.  

Realizing that different companies have various needs and goals, ECF Data offers a one-on-one Microsoft 365 Security Score Assessment to help you give an overview of your security posture. Our team will work with you to:  

  • Conduct a comprehensive Microsoft Cloud Assessment  
  • Evaluate missing or overlooked security controls in your ecosystem  
  • Provide recommendations to prevent the identified risks  

Did we also tell you that it’s FREE? Click the button below to avail your assessment.  

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