It’s not uncommon for businesses in the UK to be targeted by online criminals. Cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated in their methods, researching potential victims before attacking them. Business email compromise (BEC) is one example of this more methodical approach. An unsuspecting victim is duped or hijacked into communicating with someone impersonating a business via a spoofed or hijacked account, resulting in the loss of credentials, data, and money. BEC scams have resulted in billions of dollars in potential losses for organisations. Despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies, recovering BEC financial losses is not always possible.
In today’s technologically savvy world, email is as important as any other form of communication. Office 365 and other virtual workplace platforms rely on email to successfully connect employees. To ensure email-based collaboration in Office 365 is secure and protected, follow these tips.
Microsoft Office 365 email security
There are several ways you can ensure email security and privacy in Office 365 is maintained to make your organisation more secure.
Multi-factor authentication
Maintaining a robust level of protection is simple and quick to achieve by utilising multi-factor authentication. To access Microsoft Office 365, users will be required to enter a code from their mobile device to prevent hackers from taking over their accounts. This approach prevents almost all attempts to breach email accounts.
Separate admin accounts
Because of the elevated privileges allocated to admin accounts in an Office 365 environment, cybercriminals can exploit them to perform malicious acts. Admins should maintain separate user accounts for work and use their admin account only for necessary tasks. Furthermore, emergency access accounts may also be desirable. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) can assist in assigning access rights.
Ransomware protection
Ransomware either encrypts data or locks user interfaces to limit access to it. In exchange for data access, malicious ransomware usually requests Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. The Microsoft 365 Defender security application includes the Safe Attachments feature that defends against complex ransomware.
Malware protection
The most commonly encountered malware file types are PDF and Office Documents. Although Office 365 provides malware protection, you can further boost your protection by blocking attachments containing these file types.
Message encryption
Microsoft 365 already includes Office 365 Message Encryption, which allows for encrypted email communications. You can send and receive encrypted emails using this feature. Only the intended recipients can read the message content using Office 365 message encryption.
Protect against phishing attacks
You can also configure targeted anti-phishing protection if you have custom domains for your Microsoft Office 365 environment. Businesses can avoid becoming phishing victims by using Safe Links for Office 365. It protects your company by providing time-of-click verification of web URLs in emails and other Office documents. This service ensures that phishing URLs are not accessible after being clicked.
Safe attachments
Users can attach documents, presentations, and sheets to their messages using SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams. Office 365 Safe Attachments protection is not turned on by default, so it should be turned on. This protection applies to all files in SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams.
User awareness
Human error is one of the most common causes of data breaches and one of the quickest-growing cybersecurity problems today. Employees may overlook standard security procedures, fail to recognise phishing email messages, or be tricked by social engineering scams. To reduce risk, invest in an employee security awareness program that covers cybersecurity best practices and security accountability.
External message warning
All external emails are tagged as “External” so that email recipients are warned about the attachments and contents of the message.
User alert policy
An alert policy defines when an alert should be triggered and who should be notified if an event occurs. An alert policy allows security teams to be aware of potential email security breaches and issues well before they become a company-wide problem.
Email security for your Microsoft email with the experts
Managing the security of your business data is a continual process, but you don’t have to do it alone. With the Microsoft consultants at INTELLIWORX, you can leverage your Microsoft solutions such as Azure, Office 365, and Microsoft Exchange and safeguard your business data, now and into the future.
