17 Jan Securing Your Microsoft 365
Business owners have experienced a lot of stress recently; it’s safe to say that nobody has had it easy. The security of your data must remain at the very top of your list of business-related concerns despite the fact that these additional anxieties consume a lot of time and energy.
Most business owners are unaware that one of the largest daily hazards they face is the exponentially expanding cyber threat, despite it. This is especially true after the Covid-19 outbreak. This is driven by the dynamic digital environment of the modern workplace, as advances in technology also give rise to more sophisticated cyberattack techniques.
Because of the general public’s and, most crucially, company owners’ distraction during the Corona virus pandemic, cybercriminals have taken advantage of the opportunity to target them when they are most susceptible.
Regardless of the sector in which your company operates, your IT system is likely to be the key to your success. It contains all of your company’s critical tools, sensitive data, communication channels, and ultimately everything that makes your company run. But it’s being attacked! Cybercriminals will do anything to obtain your data, no matter what it is.
Small businesses aren’t invulnerable
Because “you aren’t worth the effort,” just because your business is modest doesn’t mean that you are immune to attacks. In actuality, the opposite is true because being small makes you appear to be a more attractive target because they assume you will lack proper defences, adequate funding, and technical infrastructure. Would you rather launch an attack on a major organisation with sophisticated defences and run the chance of failing, or would you prefer to target a small organisation that is woefully unprepared with defences that are either non-existent or simple to breach? I am aware of which I would pick.
Securing Microsoft 365
To make sure that you and your team are safe, a number of various tools, rules, and procedures are on the market, along with IT user education tools that must be adopted. Small firms have been making every effort to at least offer some security against internal cyberattacks. This can be a dangerous path to take because they have such little understanding of what they are looking at, and because there are so many tool alternatives available, they frequently just choose the least expensive one. Is this enough to protect your systems? Most firms begin with anti-virus software, a password policy in place, and possibly a firewall configured.
The Vulnerabilities of Email
One of the few constants in the technological world is email. Although there are currently alternative means of corporate communication that are as as, if not more, effective, it has had a long and storied career at the pinnacle of business communication.
Cybercriminals target specific user accounts and con them into granting access to or giving over control of corporate cash by taking advantage of our reliance on email and our ignorance of the possible issues that can arise from it.
It is now incredibly difficult to distinguish a malicious email from a legitimate one. Let’s examine two of the most prevalent types of phishing attacks, in which online predators pose as other entities to coerce their victim into giving them information.
Masked as a brand or company
Although this type of assault has always been common, in recent years, partly as a result of the pandemic, its popularity has increased rapidly. The most widespread and ambitious impersonation assault during the pandemic targeted HM Revenue and Customs. Cybercriminals preyed on the public’s needs and anxieties by luring their target with tax breaks and support monies, which many people during the epidemic were in urgent need of.
Masked as a company employee or director
This method is not quite as popular but remains one of the more prominent ways cyber criminals are successfully completing cyber attacks.
An ambitious strategy, but given how crafty cybercriminals are, it may also be one of the most profitable. Criminals posing as the finance director have attacked large corporations via the internet. One method for achieving this is to send an email to the financial team pretending to be the CFO’s personal inbox and ask for money to be transferred to an account. If the email includes a full “E” signature, why wouldn’t you pay money if they are so willing to do so? It is not the fault of your staff because anyone who lacks the necessary training would fall for it if the email had the required “E” signature and appeared to be from the legitimate source.
Ransomware – The dangers
Malware (vicious software), and Ransomware in particular, abounds on the internet. The goal of ransomware is to prevent you from accessing data by encrypting your files with a secure key that only the cyber attacker has. After obtaining your data, the cybercriminal holds it for ransom (hence the name Ransomware).
Keeping your 365 Safe
At Vostron we know how important Office 365 is to businesses so if you would like help to secure your Office 365 please get in contact today and we can help you with it.