This blog was originally published by Empower IT Solutions here

Why your company should take advantage of Microsoft Secure Score

As cyber threats become more dangerous and sophisticated, Australian businesses must continually adapt their cybersecurity strategies to stay safe. You must implement advanced security measures and ensure your operations comply with data security regulations. However, achieving these can be challenging. Fortunately, Microsoft Secure Score makes it easy to measure and assess your company’s cybersecurity posture.

What is Microsoft Secure Score?

Microsoft Secure Score provides a clear, numerical value that reflects how well your organisation has implemented security controls. The score is determined by assessing the configurations, behaviors, and other security-related activities within your Microsoft 365 tenant.

Microsoft Secure Score is a service that evaluates and rates the security measures your company put in place to protect the following elements:

1. Identity – pertains to Azure Active Directory accounts, access privileges, and account security settings
2. Device – focuses on endpoint security features like anti-malware, advanced threat detection, and vulnerability management.
3. Apps – looks at email filtering, data loss prevention policies, and cloud app configurations like Microsoft Teams.

Secure Score may give your company a low mark if you don’t meet specific baselines — for instance, if multifactor authentication is not enabled or if devices don’t have the latest updates.

Based on periodic assessments, Secure Score lists recommended actions to improve your company’s security posture. These may include setting up advanced ransomware protection, encrypting devices, enabling strict firewall policies, etc. If you have a licence for Microsoft services like Microsoft 365 and Azure Active Directory, you’ll get security recommendations related to those services.

Moreover, completing recommendations will earn you points. These points are based on an action’s potential impact on your company’s security. This means certain activities will grant more points, helping you prioritise which safety measures to implement first. Secure Score writes the company’s total security score as a percentage and updates it in real-time. Overall, the higher the score, the more robust your company’s cybersecurity posture is.

How do you access your security score?

You can access Secure Score through the Microsoft 365 Defender dashboard. Look at the left navigation panel and select ‘Secure Score’. This service is available to enterprises with Microsoft 365 E5 subscriptions.

If you have the subscriptions but do not see the option to access Secure Score, you might not have the correct permissions. Only global, security, Exchange, and SharePoint administrators have read-and-write access to Secure Score. These administrators, like security analysts, can also assign read-only access to a few users.

What is a good Secure Score?

How do you interpret and understand your security strategy based on Microsoft Secure Score? We’ve compiled an industry-based benchmark that can be a good starting point.

• A Secure Score of 30% and below needs more focus. Your data might be highly vulnerable at this point.
• Anything between 50% means you have to check and implement best practices.
• A Secure Score of around 65% indicates that all security features are active and your company is doing well regarding best security measures. As a rule of thumb, a score of 65% or higher is recommended as a minimum benchmark score.
• While 80% is a score that everyone should target. Additional configurations are required at this point. Above 80% is the industry-recommended score.

However, these numbers are just indicators to tell the business where to improve and to review policies. Ensure that you understand the risks.

You can always talk to Empower IT to review your secure score and suggest appropriate steps for applying security policies.

How to improve your Microsoft Secure Score?

Improving your Microsoft Secure Score is an ongoing process that requires attention to detail and a proactive approach to security management. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Review the secure score dashboard: Examine the Secure Score dashboard to identify your current score and areas needing attention.
2. Implement recommended actions: Microsoft provides a list of actions to boost your score.
3. Regular IT security assessments: This practice improves your Secure Score and enhances your overall security risk management strategy.
4. Focus on cloud security: Make sure your cloud configurations are secure and compliant with the latest standards.

Microsoft Secure Score for Businesses

Whether you are a small business or a large enterprise, Microsoft Secure Score offers tailored insights to help you assess and learn more about your overall business security. It is a cost-effective way to monitor your security without extensive resources. Investing in Microsoft Secure Score not only helps you identify and address IT security gaps. Integrating this tool into your regular security practices ensures that your business is always prepared to tackle emerging threats.

Microsoft Secure Score offers a comprehensive way to understand and mitigate your vulnerabilities. You will make the most of this powerful security tool by partnering with Empower IT. We’ll not only help you set up a highly secure Microsoft 365 environment, but we can also provide customised and professional cybersecurity services. Reach out to us to increase your Secure Score today.