6 steps to building a holistic security strategy

First published on CloudBlogs on Feb 07, 2018
Today's business and IT leaders have quite a balancing act on their hands when it comes to security. Between managing a wide universe of devices and applications, the need for innovation and agility, and an ever-evolving landscape of threats, companies need a holistic approach to security. You need a multi-faceted security approach that helps protect endpoints, detects early signs of a breach, and responds quickly to minimize possible damage. Microsoft 365 Enterprise has security solutions for third-party antispam, encryption, mobile device management, and other challenges built in. It includes advanced analytics powered by the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph to help you detect and respond to attacks quickly and effectively. Protection for your users, devices, data, and infrastructure is integrated throughout Microsoft 365 to provide the comprehensive security today's digitally driven enterprise needs. The following six tips include characteristics an enterprise should look for in building their security strategy.

1. Seek out products designed to work with others. This makes it easier for your security team to quickly see and combat threats holistically.
2. Look for solutions with robust identity and access management controls. With an identity-driven security strategy you can focus less on tracking an ever-growing number of endpoints and more on managing users accessing corporate data.
3. Adopt an “assume breach” and risk management approach to your security. Then invest in solutions that help you detect and recover from incidents quickly.
4. When evaluating cloud service providers, ensure that they adhere to international standards . Look for vendors that publish detailed information about how they operate their services and handle data.
5. Regarding apps and shadow IT, focus on visibility and risk. Look for solutions that allow you to monitor and assess for risk. With better visibility, you can more effectively set policies that track and control how employees use these apps.
6. Focus on security at the data level. Looks for solutions that enable data classification and labeling at the time of creation, allow security teams to monitor activities on files and respond quickly.

Persistent threats demand a holistic approach to security that makes data and systems a top priority. Learn more about creating a strong security foundation in our e-book, "6 steps to build a holistic security strategy with Microsoft 365."