Implementing Data Protection Strategies with Microsoft Solutions

Data protection is important for enterprises and the government. You don't want malicious actors to gain access to sensitive information. That could lead to financial loss and reputational damages and can even put people in danger. Microsoft, one of the biggest tech companies, understands this. Thus, it has developed and launched several products for cybersecurity.

In this article, you will learn about Microsoft solutions that can help protect your systems and your data.

Data You Need to Protect

To paint a picture of why data protection is important, let us identify the data types that must be protected.

Personally Identifiable Information

To prevent identity theft, you need to protect personally identifiable information. That includes your employees' and customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, and birthdays. In some cases, it may also include their passport or driver's license numbers.

Financial Information

You must also protect your companies' and your users' finances. That said, you must prevent malicious actors from stealing credit card numbers, bank account and payroll information, tax records, and expenditure reports.

Intellectual Property

You must protect your intellectual property to not lose your competitive advantage over your rival enterprises. It includes trade secrets, patents and designs, and research data. Also, it may include proprietary algorithms and software.

Legal Data

Enterprises often deal with contracts and non-disclosure agreements, which also contain sensitive data. On top of these, they also have to protect case files and regulatory filings.

Classified Information

Government agencies need to protect diplomatic communications data, as well as infrastructure vulnerability assessments. If the agency handles data about military operations, plans, and intelligence data, they need to protect them, too.

Microsoft Solutions for Cybersecurity

Here are the tools that Microsoft has developed and launched in order to help you protect sensitive information.

Microsoft Defender for Identity

Some users know the password best practices, while others don't. You can set password requirements to force your users to use complex passwords. Recommend using the best password managers, which would allow them to use strings of random characters and numbers without having to memorize them.

However, that may still not be enough, as cybercriminals are also gaining new tools for hacking. Microsoft Defender for Identity helps by adding another layer of protection. It offers the following:

• Identify attempts to use stolen credentials in your environment.

• Detect password spray attacks – a type of attack where hackers use common passwords, like "Password123," across multiple accounts.

• Detect brute-force attacks.

• Unusual and suspicious sign-in locations or IPs.

Azure Active Directory

Azure Active Directory is a cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) service. It acts as a central hub for managing and authenticating users, devices, and resources in a network. In simpler words, you can use it to manage passwords and access controls.

You can use Azure AD to enforce security settings, like password policies and restrictions on software or hardware usage.

Microsoft Purview

Microsoft Purview is a suite of tools focusing on data governance, risk management, and compliance. They help you:

• Discover all data assets across on-premises, cloud, and SaaS environments and enforce governance policies like access control, retention, and labeling.

• Automatically find and classify data, which allows you to quickly identify sensitive information. Administrators can apply sensitivity labels to these to control how they are accessed and shared.

• Monitor and restrict activities like copying, printing, or sharing classified data, preventing data leaks.

• Detects and mitigates insider threats based on behavioral analytics.

Microsoft Intune

Microsoft Intune is another cloud-based solution. It allows you to control how mobile devices, like phones, tablets, and laptops, are used. Furthermore, it allows you to configure specific policies to control applications. With this tool, you can:

• Prevent access to sensitive data if the login is from an unfamiliar location.

• Control how users access and share information.

• Allow IT administrators to manage and secure devices across a range of platforms.

• Ensure only compliant devices and users can access corporate apps.

• Enforce security requirements like encryption, password policies, and updates.

Microsoft 365 Compliance Center

This is a centralized platform that allows you to manage regulatory compliance. On top of that, it helps you protect data and mitigate risks.

For cybersecurity, it offers monitoring and enforcing rules for data sent via email, collaboration tools, and cloud storage. Microsoft 365 Compliance Center can block or warn users about activities that violate policies. For instance, a user sending credit card information via email will trigger this response.

Microsoft Compliance Center can also detect potential insider threats like data theft, policy violations, and unauthorized sharing of sensitive files. It leverages behavioral analytics to do that. By providing you with these insights, this platform lets you address risks before they escalate.

Get Started

Thinking of implementing data protection strategies with Microsoft Solutions? Contact Communication Square now! Communication Square is a Tier 1 cloud solution provider that works directly with Microsoft as a distributor and solution provider.

Communication Square is also a Microsoft Co-Sell Ready Partner that frequently receives invites from Microsoft's sales team to participate in events.

Since Communication Square is an official partner, you can rest assured that the solutions the company provides are legitimate. As such, your data will truly be protected. So, when it comes to Microsoft solutions for data protection and cybersecurity, there is no better choice than Communication Square.

Conclusion

Data security is important, not just for enterprises and government agencies but also for everyone. It helps prevent data leaks, which can lead to financial and reputational damages and even life-threatening dangers.

The problem is that cybercriminals' methods are becoming more and more advanced. As such, making your systems as secure as possible is a must. Fortunately, there is a plethora of tools that you can use to add more security layers.

Microsoft Solutions offers numerous tools that help you control how data is accessed, shared, and used. They also help authenticate users, detect threats, and mitigate risks. By utilizing these tools, you can create impenetrable ecosystems that deter malicious actors, giving you and the other users peace of mind.