In this article, I will explain the best ways to secure Outlook 365 mailboxes. Have you ever heard that data in an Office 365 environment requires security? That’s correct. No data can be considered secure on any platform, regardless of any security measures taken. In the online environment, data breaching through hacking techniques has become a serious issue now that data is being hindered or lost in minutes.
Microsoft 365 allows you to save a large amount of data on it, so there is a strong need to follow certain methods to ensure that the data saved in the cloud is completely safe. Microsoft spends a lot of money on security applications and features to protect Microsoft 365 and other clients’ applications. As the topic of discussion is Microsoft 365, we will learn more about the measures or practices that the Outlook 365 administrator can follow to secure outlook 365 mailboxes.
Table of Contents
Best Ways to secure Outlook 365 Mailboxes
Microsoft Latest Security Updates
The administrator must have the most recent security updates provided by Microsoft 365 to secure the Microsoft 365 mailboxes. Microsoft 365 provides regular updates with features and security services that are quite easy to install.
Manage Access Rights
Users can set up different settings to protect important documents from being sent accidentally by restricting it with read only rights or providing some encryption. Access rights can be set up by assigning content expiration rules or imposing restrictions, such as license requirement, on accessing certain documents or mails sent to unauthorized recipients.
Set up a Strong Password Policy
The most common method is for the administrator to choose the best and strongest password for the Microsoft 365 account. Avoid common passwords, short passwords, and repeated password at any other location. Instead, create a password with a combination of alphabets, digits, and symbols so that it becomes impossible for any intruder to crack it and access it. Additionally, administrators can adopt the multi-factor authentication process to make it difficult for any outsider to access the account without permission on all services.
Microsoft 365 Cloud App Security
It is an in-built feature in Microsoft 365 that sets certain policies to protect Microsoft 365 mailboxes from unwanted, harmful activities. Users can set notifications for each strange activity performed by any individual within or outside the organization. This will help identify situations such as multiple unsuccessful login attempts to the account, non-recognized IP address for login, etc.
Utilize Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
With Data Loss Prevention feature in Microsoft 365, administrators can decide the classification data and establish policies that do not permit sharing your data externally. It will help you determine the likelihood of any data leakage to the outside environment. This feature includes SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and OneDrive within Office, requiring users to comply with the policies.
Enable Sender Protection Framework (SPF)
Sender Protection Framework allows the other mail channels to determine whether the mail they are receiving is from an authenticated source system or not through a message. As a result, the other mail channels are unable to accept any spam or spoof. Users can enable this SPF with DKIM and DMARC while creating a custom domain.
Perform Mailbox Audit Logging
The Mailbox Audit Logging feature is available in Microsoft 365, which you must activate (as it is not set by default), and which you can visit under audit log in the Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance section. It provides information such as user access the mailboxes and actions performed by users with permissions or administrators.
Analyze with Microsoft 365 Secure Score
Microsoft has provided this analytical software, Microsoft 365 Secure Score, which compares the current activities and settings in Microsoft 365 account to the standard security requirements set by Microsoft. It helps to analyze what is going on with the current settings and where there is a need for improvement in data security. It delivers a score on the performance of currently adopted security standards by the administrator and encourages the use of the available security controls in a perfect manner.
The methods mentioned above to secure outlook 365 mailboxes can help, but the best way to prevent any future disaster that could harm the data is to take a recent backup. Taking regular backups of Microsoft 365 data is the most effective way for any administrator.
For the backup of Microsoft 365 mailboxes, you can use the third-party Microsoft 365 backup tool. It synchronizes all the Office data, whether mailboxes, groups, public folders, or archive mailboxes, in a swift manner and also offers data selection for backup. The advanced tool offers many more advantages that you can learn on its website. It offers all Microsoft 365 plans and subscriptions for backup. Data remains integrated and secure throughout the backup process using this tool.
Summary
The blog is about security of Microsoft 365 mailboxes. Some general methods are used for users to secure Microsoft 365 data. It includes numerous in-built features and services provided by Microsoft. A third-party tool is also introduced at the end to provide a secure backup of Microsoft 365 data.
