Your team is more mobile than ever, which means they can work from nearly anywhere, at any time, as long as they have a connection to the internet.

As great as that may sound, it poses a bunch of new security challenges and raises the chance of a security breach. How about these stats:

  • The IBM-sponsored a study provided by the Ponemon Institute in 2017 puts the global average cost of a data breach at a whopping $3.6 million or $141 for every data record.  That value can be higher or lower depending on the size of the company (hint, its higher for smaller businesses).  The good news is that preventative measures cost less than a breach.
  • More than 80% of employees are using online cloud applications that have not been approved by management or IT. This has led to millions of records being leaked.
  • Attackers are lurking in networks for months (sometimes up to 9 months) before they are found.

How Does Microsoft help us out with security threats?

Microsoft is in a unique position due to being the path of a lot of data both coming to our desktops and laptops as well as through their Office 365 system

  • 1.2 billion devices every month
  • 2 million file samples every day
  • 400 billion emails monthly
  • and more…

These indicators provide intelligence that informs all levels of the Microsoft ecosystem including their consumer brands. Their researches then use the information from their Artificial Intelligence Systems to make informed decisions.

Is this Enough?

Unfortunately, if it was, there wouldn’t be a vibrant community of companies that are building companies to help reduce our risk further.  Although Microsoft has gone a long way to make their platforms as secure as they can, it is still useful to use additional solutions to complement that and get more insight into what is going on.  Some systems to consider are:

  1. Email filtering solutions such as spam filtering and Email Phishing Protection,
  2. Advanced Malware Detection and Prevention Systems that go beyond traditional antivirus,
  3. Commercial grade firewalls and security appliances to protect our networks at the edge,
  4. If you don’t have a traditional network, a cloud based centralized security management solution,
  5. A security team to monitor your network and take action,
  6. Off-network intelligence such as dark-web identity scanning
  7. Employee security awareness training AND testing

Conclusion

Using Microsoft Office 365 means that you’re leveraging these unique capabilities to increase your protection. Add in the additional layers of protection and a solid team to manage it and you have the makings of  world-class security is that it ensures your employees have the peace of mind to do their best work that will yield the most productivity for your organization.