Microsoft 365 Business Premium Secures Remote Working with Free Security Updates

As the COVID-19 pandemic causes business owners to reimagine their work environment, device security can fall to the back burner. Small and medium size businesses (SMBs) are especially vulnerable to cyber-attacks in the modern work-at-home environment. Microsoft is working to combat these incoming threats with free security updates that directly target these problems. Paired with new updates to key collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, the Microsoft 365 Business Premium package is a cost-effective option essential for businesses forced to go remote.

What does the new security update include? Microsoft 365 Business Premium already includes useful security features such as Conditional Access, self-service password reset, and Multi-Factor Authentication. However, this new update includes a full Azure Premium P1 license. Some highlights of this addition include:

Cloud App Discovery

Remote working and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environments lead to the use of a variety of cloud applications. Use of these applications by employees outside the secure company network could lead to unauthorized access to company data, data leaks, or other security issues. Cloud App Discovery is feature available in the Azure Premium P1 license that identifies these at-risk applications and which users from your company are accessing them. This information is then analyzed by Cloud App Discovery, ranked in according to risk factor, and reported to your organization to inform you of potential vulnerabilities created by these applications.  

Application Proxy

Applications essential to your business are likely run on-site. With employees working remotely, how will they access these applications without compromising your network security? Look no further than Azure Application Proxy included in the Azure Premium P1 license. This solution to remote application access offers more security than a VPN and reverse proxy solutions while also allowing simplified access to your on-site applications without compromising your firewall or network. By simply signing into Azure, users can access a host of applications provided by Microsoft as well as organization-specific apps.

Dynamic Groups

Organizations are made up of individuals with different responsibilities and access levels. Dynamic Groups can be useful in managing this per-individual access within an organization. Dynamic Groups can allow your organization to restrict or allow access to specific applications. Dynamic Groups streamlines the process of assigning access to different individuals. Now, if multiple individuals need to be allowed access to a specific application, they can be added or removed from a group assigned with specific permissions.

Passwordless authentication

Passwords are not only difficult to keep track of, but they can also be easily compromised if users do not maintain best security practices. As companies utilize multiple applications to remain functional, passwordless keys can allow individuals to easily access their accounts without having to memorize multiple complex passwords. In this new update, Microsoft offers a variety of secure methods to access accounts without entering a password, including Windows Hello for Business, Microsoft Authenticator app, and FIDO2 security keys.

In the modern reality of the pandemic, SMBs are threatened more than ever by hackers and cyber-attacks. New security additions to the Microsoft 365 Business Premium package ensure your business can operate securely from anywhere. As a Microsoft partner, Infotect can ensure these tools are utilized in the most effective way for your business. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of the Microsoft 365 Business Premium package, email us at info@infotectdesign.com or call our office at (813) 630-2400.

Sources

Microsoft 365 Business Security Update Community Post