What organization doesn’t want a better IT security posture? There’s no denying that the number of attacks is on the rise, and those attacks are getting more and more sophisticated, too. We’ve seen many organizations scrambling to protect their environments.
However, a lot of these organizations are cobbling together solutions that, while adequate, aren’t effective. This is typical because of one of two reasons: 1) either they’re selecting solutions that don’t “talk” to each other (and thus, they’re cumbersome and counterproductive), or 2) they’re implementing too many solutions overall (and those solutions, therefore, become more of a hindrance than a help). This blog discusses 3 key principles to follow in order to effectively increase your organization’s IT security posture.
Visibility, the 1st Principle for a Better IT Security Posture
Do you have visibility into your current IT environment to know what’s a potential vulnerability? Are you able to identify risks that you might be facing?
Think of it as though you were trying to protect your home from intruders. If you were trying to design a security system for your home, you’d most likely want full visibility into where the access points are (doors, windows, exterior crawlspaces), so that you could implement the correct security measures, right? This is the same with your IT infrastructure.
Of course, in the event that you’re trying to secure your home, you’re probably going to call in an expert to assist you in setting up that system, and the same can be said for your IT environment. Microsoft 365’s security management solutions can help you to understand what state your current IT environment is, and what users, data, apps, or devices might be vulnerable.
For instance, Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) can provide you with access, usage, and security reports, which will help you to see the integrity and security of your current directory. And Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) will show you what devices are affected so your IT team can quickly assess the scope and root causes of incidents and, if necessary, investigation and remediation tools to fix issues that have come up.
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Control, the 2nd Principle for a Better IT Security Posture
In order to create control in your organization and your environment, you need to make sure that you have consistent security policies in place. Have you defined security management solutions for your users and devices?
The Office 365 security and compliance centre can help your IT team to configure security groups, which helps you control access to compliance and security features that they need while protecting your data by ensuring that people have just the right amount of access.
One tool that can help with this is Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EM+S), which can safeguard your organization’s resources, track any suspicious login activity, and, when needed, change user permissions to add or revoke user access. Plus, you can allow your employees single sign-on (SSO) access to your corporate resources, so that when they’re signing on through their mobile devices, it’s an easy yet secure way for them to access corporate data.
- Related: 7 IT Security Tools You Need to Know
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Guidance, the 3rd Principle for a Better IT Security Posture
How can you ensure that you have the right information to move forward and safeguard this protection that you’ve built for yourself?
With Windows Secure Score, you can see all available configuration options for each control you have in place and show which machines those configurations are applied to. Secure Score will also display a number next to each control, which will show you what additional configurations should be done, and how much doing those configurations will boost your overall security posture. And, when threats are detected, Secure Score comes up with recommendations on containment, mitigation, and remediation options.
But, it doesn’t just work when threats are detected. Secure Score can also show you recommendations on what security controls you can and should enable to protect your data, using machine learning to understand your users’ habits.
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Get A Better IT Security Posture Today
Is your organization scrambling to protect your environment from the threats that are facing you today? Do you feel like you’re grasping at straws, patching various solutions together to try and protect yourself? We are here to help. Here are three of our security offerings that can be your starting point to effectively increase your IT security posture.
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Our Office 365 Security Assessment has been designed to ensure that you’re adopting Office 365 security solutions within your organization, which will increase your security posture and reduce your risks. |
Does your organization have employees who are using mobile devices on a regular basis? Interested to learn how to include mobile device management in your comprehensive security policy? Check out our Mobile Security Jumpstart offer. |
Ever wondered how your organization can stop ransomware attacks and prevent the possibility of becoming a statistic? Do you know how to protect and secure your devices to make sure your data stays safe? Then, ProServeIT’s Breach Prevention Workshop is for you! |
This blog post content is from the ebook titled “A Crash Course in Security Management: The Keys to a Better Security Posture” by Microsoft. You can download the ebook here.
