Microsoft continues to address vulnerabilities around user identity and has integrated a solution in Azure AD (currently in public preview) that enhances password policies to protect against common, weak passwords. Organizations can now configure their change/reset process to flow passwords through a sequence in which they are validated against banned passwords lists. If users attempt to use a banned password, they are notified that the password is vulnerable and will need to try a different password.

Tags: Technology, Microsoft, cybersecurity, Azure, Azure AD

 

In the previous post, we discussed why every organization, regardless of how sophisticated its IT security infrastructure and operations are, needs an incident response plan. The first goal is always to prevent a data breach from happening. However, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about data breaches during the past five years, it’s that even the largest retailers, financial institutions, Internet giants and government agencies can be victimized. 

Tags: Technology, Microsoft, cybersecurity, Windows Defender ATP

Authored by Steve Andrews (Director Cloud Platform Services) & Raul Perez (Senior Microsoft Systems Engineer)

Tags: security, Microsoft, cybersecurity, Office 365, E5, Adaptive Edge, Enterprise, O365, Secure Score

 

Many organizations have taken a more proactive approach to IT security rather than waiting for something bad to happen. Recognizing the immense cost of a data breach (an average of $3.86 million) and the time it takes to contain a breach (an average of 69 days) these organizations follow best practices and deploy security tools that reduce risk related to malware, zero-day exploits and other threats. 

But that’s not enough.

Tags: Technology, Microsoft, cybersecurity

 

There isn’t much an organization can do to reduce the number of security threats it faces on a daily basis. Hackers will be hackers. They constantly develop new techniques and tools that allow them to carry out as many attacks as possible. However, organizations can make the job of a hacker more difficult by reducing the attack surface.

Tags: Microsoft, cybersecurity, Secure Score, Attack Surface, Windows Defender ATP

 

Microsoft introduced Microsoft 365 in June 2017 as “a complete, intelligent and secure solution to empower employees” in the modern workplace. Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based solution that bundles Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security (formerly Enterprise Mobility Suite) to better serve today’s distributed workforce, meet high user expectations and enhance security across devices.

Tags: Microsoft, Office 365, Enterprise, Business, Licensing

 

In a recent survey of IT managers and directors in enterprises with more than 1,000 employees, 39.5% of respondents said that service providers take full responsibility for protecting applications and data in the public cloud. Another 33.8% said that customers are fully responsible for public cloud security. 

Tags: Microsoft, Office 365, Secure Score

 

The rise of mobility is pretty easy to explain. Employees demanded a more flexible work environment. Employers realized this flexibility would allow employees to be more productive. Then employees demanded to be able to use their personal devices for work stuff. Although this scenario is hardly new, organizations are still struggling to manage the onslaught of desktop and mobile endpoint devices, both company-owned and employee-owned. Unified endpoint management (UEM) has emerged to address these challenges.

Tags: Microsoft, UserVoice, Intune

 

In this age of mistrust, skepticism and general lack of loyalty, organizations are under intense pressure to not only generate new business but also manage and strengthen relationships with existing customers. This isn’t just the responsibility of account managers and salespeople. Every person who interacts with a customer plays a role in this critical business function.

Tags: Microsoft, Artificial Intelligence, AI, Microsoft Dynamics, CRM, Customer Relationship Management

 

In our last post, we began our deep dive into Microsoft Graph, a powerful API that enables developers to tap the power of Microsoft 365 applications to automate IT operational tasks and enhance security. Microsoft Graph also enhances collaboration and drives user productivity by connecting to data in email, calendars, documents and other sources across multiple devices.

Tags: Microsoft, Office 365, Search, Microsoft Graph, GitHub, API