In our previous blog, we broadly discussed how our webinar Top five tips for Office 365 security and compliance will help you learn how to tackle some of your biggest security and compliance challenges. In this blog, we’ll discuss those five tips in greater detail.
Tip 1: Audit user and administrator access.
Auditing user and admin logons is an important step to ensure the security of your Office 365 setup. Logon data can help you identify users who haven’t logged in to Office 365 in a long time. Disabling or deleting these inactive accounts can eliminate the possibility of hackers gaining access and stealing sensitive business data like PII and PHI. Auditing logons is also an important requirement for adhering to most IT compliance standards.
Tip 2: Monitor administrator activities.
The second step in securing your Office 365 setup is monitoring admin activities, including who did what, when, and where. This information enables various stakeholders such as IT managers and auditors to look for anomalies in crucial administrative activities, such as security group membership modifications and license modifications, so they can take necessary action. With constant tracking, your organization can also ensure compliance with established security policies.
Tip 3: Create custom audit profiles to isolate and monitor events.
Why waste time browsing through volumes of audit logs? Create custom audit profiles instead to ensure you don’t miss any important activities in your Office 365 setup. Audit profiles help you monitor events closely, and keep stakeholders informed so they can act quickly to avert a massive security mishap.
Tip 4: Monitor file access and sharing.
Office 365 provides a platform for easy data sharing. While this is good for end users, it also means business-critical files such as financial records, patient information, and contracts are vulnerable to data leaks. Unauthorized access to files and folders can threaten the security of sensitive data, as well as lead to hefty fines for non-compliance.
Tip 5: Set up MFA for Office 365.
If an unauthorized user manages to breach your Office 365 setup, passwords will do little to stop them. When a serious security threat occurs, having a second layer of authentication, such as verification through text message, phone call, or app notification, helps protect your organization’s sensitive data.
All five of these tips are a great starting point for better security, but you’ll find even more in-depth information on how to accomplish all these IT management tasks in our upcoming webinar on October 25th. If you’re busy the 25th, go ahead and register anyway. We’ll send a recording of the webinar right to your inbox.
