As the rate of cybercrimes continues to increase, businesses have to keep security top of mind, and this is especially true for smaller businesses without enterprise-level security teams in place. With more than 180 million active monthly users, Microsoft is taking these kinds of cybersecurity threats very seriously when it comes to their Office 365 products. By continuously adding new security features to Office 365, Microsoft is helping to ensure that businesses, regardless of their size, have access to enterprise-level security features while using their products.
We recently covered some of these new and upcoming features in our Tech Tip series, but let’s dive into them here:
1. Attachment and Link Scanning
While Outlook has scanned links and attachments for a while, Microsoft is deploying this feature to its entire stack. This security feature will now scan all links and files stored in OneDrive and SharePoint to detect malicious or harmful links and attachments.
Many times, attachments are added and saved from different sources and locations without any proper vetting of their security being done. Depending on the level of subscription you choose, this feature will take care of that potential security threat for you.
Microsoft is also beginning to integrate this feature in the entire Office 365 suite, including apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
2. Microsoft Outlook Add-ins
In Outlook, new security features will help you detect phishing emails better and allows you to report them directly back to Microsoft. Instead of deleting emails or moving them to your junk folder, you can report these links and emails directly to Microsoft. By reporting a malicious email, you enable Microsoft to see who else in your organization may have received the same email and remove it from their inbox completely.
Microsoft can use this data to adjust the worldwide filtering so that people around the globe will be protected from the same phishing emails you may have received.
3. Multifactor Authentication (MFA)
This security feature is already built-in to the Microsoft Office 365 stack at a basic level. However, most of our clients want more security, and we can help provide mid-tier level MFA, which minimizes the inconveniences of using a multifactor authentication system.
Rolling out multifactor authentication can seem like a daunting process, but once it becomes a part of your IT security culture, your organization be thankful for this extra level of security.
IT security is at the forefront of everything we do, and we’re excited Microsoft is constantly making Office 365 more secure. Check out the full Security Features for Office 365 video to learn about all of the features that can help secure your business.
Want to get your money’s worth of Office 365? Check out 5 ways to get the most out of office 365 or talk to our IT consulting team to learn how we can help you get started on or optimize your Office 365 implementation.