How to Protect Your MS Office 365 Data in 2021

More organizations and companies are adopting MS Office 365 with time. Thus, the need for cloud-based security and backup solutions is also increasing with time. Every organization is looking for good cloud-based security and backup solutions. MS Office 365 offer various security features to their clients. These security features are already included in MS office 365. The importance of organizations’ digital data has increased with time. Thus, it is important to use robust solutions for protecting your data from damage.

MS Office 365 security and backup solutions will help you in eliminating the probability of human error. It will also help you in dealing with external or internal security threats like malware or viruses. This will ensure that your migration efforts are secure. It will add an additional security layer. Therefore, you can use it for eliminating the chance of data loss. In this article, we are going to talk about the best security measures that can help you in protecting your MS Office 365 data in 2021.

1. Use MFA

MFA will help you in quickly increasing the protection of your applications. You can avoid most of the hacks and breaches by using MFA. If you are using MFA for protecting your Office 365, then your users need to download a separate authentication app on their phone. This app will generate a code whenever your users will try to login into their accounts. They need to enter this code for entering their account.

This can help you in protecting your users from attackers as they can’t get access to these codes. Almost every big organization is using this method for protecting their data. Attackers can sometimes steal your user’s credentials. However, they still can’t access your data if you are using MFA.

2. Protection against ransomware

Ransomware is probably the worst malware available in the market. Attackers can use this malware for locking your systems. Thus, you can’t access your important files until you pay some ransom to the attacker. It is delivered by using suspicious email attachments.

However, you can easily prevent this attack by educating your users. Make sure that your employees can differentiate between real and fake emails. They should never open .exe files on their systems. If they think that some email is malicious, then they should report it to the IT security team. Your IT security team can verify the email. There are many email security solutions in the market that will help you in solving these problems. These security solutions will automatically block all malicious email attachments. Thus, you don’t need to worry about ransomware.

3. Improve your malware protection

You can block some file extensions like .exe for protecting your systems from malware. MS is already providing some security tools to the users. You can activate the MS anti-malware policy from the admin dashboard. It will help you in blocking some specific file extensions.

If you are not providing software to your clients, then you should block .exe and .bin extensions. These files can directly execute in your systems. Make sure that these files never reach your employees and managers. However, sometimes attackers can also bind malware with PDF files, word documents, and images. These common file extensions are used by your employees and you can’t block them. MS Office built-in security features will help you in detecting malware and malicious email attachments. This will ensure that they can protect your data from attackers.

4. Use rights management for protecting your documents

Most organizations only focus on increasing the security level of their organization. They want to protect their organization from unauthorized data breaches. Thus, they will direct to block harmful incoming files. However, sometimes organizations forget about the files that your organization is sending out. For example, your employees might be saving your files in their own cloud storage.

You can use the right management for protecting your MS office data. It will ensure that your organization’s data will never your systems. If your data leaves your main systems, then it will easily get stolen. Your data can only stay protected in your main systems. Rights management will help you in protecting various files. It is not limited to the Office 365 files. Thus, you can protect a wide range of data using rights management. For example, you can send email attachments to your authorized users only. However, normal users can only read your email text.

5. Use encryption

If you are using MS Outlook, then you will have access to in-built data encryption features. You can use it for sending sensitive emails to your employees and managers. These encryption features will ensure that you can prevent emails from being forwarded or shared with outsiders. This is very important for your business as it will help you in protecting your data from insider attacks.

You can also set different domains for vendors, clients, and employees. This will ensure that recipients can check the emails that you have sent. You can use Office Message Encryption for protecting your messages. It will even allow you to lock your emails by using a passcode. Thus, only authorized employees that have access to the passcodes can check the encrypted email. This is a perfect security feature as it will help you in protecting your sensitive data from outsiders.

Conclusion

These are some of the best methods that you can use for protecting your data. However, you should also consider using an MS Office 365 backup solution as it will ensure that you can restore your data if it gets accidentally deleted. There are various Office 365 backup solutions available in the market that can help you in protecting your data from attackers. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in protecting your Office 365 data from attackers. They will also help you in finding the best backup solution for your business. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about managing your Office 365. If you need more tips regarding Office 365 security, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.