Cloud computing has revolutionized the way we work, collaborate and access information. However, it also comes with new challenges and risks for data security and privacy. How can you ensure that your cloud data and identity are protected from cyberattacks, data breaches and compliance violations?
Learn how to safeguard your cloud data and identity by leveraging the advanced security features of Azure and Microsoft 365. With numerous options at your fingertips, it requires expertise to determine the optimal configuration beyond the Microsoft defaults. Failing to do so may expose you to cybersecurity incidents and frustrate your end users. However, when executed flawlessly, not only will your systems remain secure, but you'll also ensure a seamless and delightful user experience.
Azure Identity Security Data Permissions and Conditional Access
Azure Identity Security Data Permissions and Conditional Access help secure your cloud resources and identities from unauthorized access, compromise, or misuse. You can use these features to:
Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all or selected users, groups, or applications. MFA adds an extra layer of verification to the sign-in process, such as a phone call, a text message, or an app notification. You can also configure MFA settings such as trusted devices, remember devices, fraud alerts, and bypass options.
Enable self-service password reset (SSPR) for your users to reset their passwords without contacting the helpdesk. SSPR reduces the risk of password-related attacks and improves user productivity. You can also configure SSPR settings such as authentication methods, registration requirements, notifications, and password writeback for hybrid identities.
Define authentication and password policies for your users, groups, or applications. Authentication policies control how users sign in to Azure AD, such as requiring MFA, blocking legacy authentication protocols, or restricting sign-in locations. Password policies control how users create and manage their passwords, such as enforcing complexity requirements, expiration periods, or banned passwords.
Manage enterprise applications admin consent requests and approvals. Admin consent is a feature that allows users to request access to applications that require permissions to access data or perform actions on behalf of the user or the organization. You can review and approve or deny these requests from the Azure portal or via email notifications.
Monitor and respond to risky users and sign-ins with identity protection. Identity protection is a feature that detects and alerts you of potential identity-based threats, such as compromised accounts, leaked credentials, or sign-ins from unfamiliar locations or devices. You can also configure risk-based policies to automatically block or challenge risky users or sign-ins with MFA or password reset.
Manage privileged identities and access with privileged identity management and conditional access policies. Privileged identity management is a feature that helps you reduce the risk of excessive or unnecessary privileges by providing just-in-time (JIT) access to resources for eligible users. You can also configure JIT settings such as approval workflows, expiration times, or notifications. Conditional access policies are rules you can apply to control who can access resources under what conditions, such as requiring MFA, device compliance, or location-based restrictions.
Review and audit access to your resources with access reviews. Access reviews are periodic checks that you can perform to verify if users still need access to certain resources, such as groups, applications, or roles. You can also configure access review settings such as frequency, duration, reviewers, recommendations, or actions.
Manage external and cross-tenant access to your resources with Azure AD B2B collaboration. Azure AD B2B collaboration is a feature that allows you to invite external users from other organizations or domains to access your resources securely and easily. You can also configure B2B settings such as invitation policies, redemption options, guest user permissions, or lifecycle management.
Microsoft 365 Security
Microsoft 365 offers a comprehensive suite of security features that can help you safeguard your cloud data and identity. Here are the features and how they can help you:
Retention policy: A retention policy allows you to specify how long you want to keep your data in Microsoft 365 services, such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Teams. You can also delete or preserve your data after a certain period or based on specific events or conditions. Retention policies can help you comply with legal or regulatory requirements and manage your storage space and costs.
Information protection: Information protection helps you classify, label and protect your sensitive data across Microsoft 365 services and devices. You can use built-in or custom labels to mark your data according to its sensitivity level, such as confidential, internal or public. You can also apply encryption, access restrictions and visual markings to your data based on the labels. Information protection can help you prevent unauthorized access, sharing or leakage of your data and track and audit its usage.
Defender for 365 email and collaboration protection: Defender for 365 is a cloud-based solution that provides advanced protection against email and collaboration threats, such as phishing, malware, ransomware, spoofing and business email compromise. It uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and behavioral analysis to detect and block malicious messages and attachments, as well as malicious links and domains. It also provides real-time visibility and reporting on the threat landscape and your security posture.
Data loss prevention: Data loss prevention (DLP) helps you identify and protect sensitive data in Microsoft 365 services, such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Teams. You can use predefined or custom policies to detect and prevent sensitive data from leaving your organization via email, web or apps. You can also configure actions when a DLP policy is triggered, such as notifying the user, blocking the content or reporting the incident.
Teams compliance policies: Teams compliance policies help ensure that your Teams chats and channel messages comply with your organization's policies and regulations. You can use Teams compliance policies to apply retention, litigation hold, eDiscovery and audit capabilities to your Teams content. You can also use Teams compliance policies to control who can create teams, what features are available in teams, and how guests can access teams.
These security features can fortify your cloud environment. With our extensive experience from numerous projects, we have the expertise to guide you through these configurations. Since every enterprise has unique requirements, please get in touch with us to ensure a seamless experience.
