Encryption essentials: Learn how Office 365 uses encryption

First published on CloudBlogs on Apr 10, 2018
With each passing year—even each passing week—companies in all industries rely more and more on data to drive their success. And while this digital transformation offers huge business potential, the security risks have never been higher. As both the quantity and complexity of data keeps growing, so does the need for organizations to protect that data from growing threats, while also maintaining compliance in a rapidly-changing regulatory environment. While companies can—and probably should—use a variety of safeguards, encryption is one key method that most experts agree is a must. That’s why it’s built into Office 365. Let's take a look at a few key questions.

How does it work?

Encryption is the process of encoding information, such as your messages and documents, so that only authorized people can read it. Essentially, the encryption process converts information to ciphertext so that it’s unreadable to anyone that doesn’t have the right key.

Why should I use encryption?

The primary purpose of encryption is to help protect the confidentiality of data that may be stored in computer systems or moving across the network. It adds an additional layer of defense that helps protect against data theft or failures in physical security, as well as against eavesdropping of data in transit. Encrypting data can render it unreadable to unauthorized persons, even if they break through firewalls, infiltrate a network, get physical access to devices, or bypass the permissions on a local machine. And, for many compliance-minded customers, it can help you meet internal and external compliance requirements. Customer data within Microsoft’s enterprise cloud service is protected by a variety of technologies and processes, including various forms of encryption. Microsoft uses some of the strongest encryption protocols in the industry to help provide a barrier against unauthorized access to customer data. Office 365 uses multiple encryption technologies to help protect customer data at rest and in transit by default. Office 365 also provides additional customer managed encryption capabilities to further help protect and control your sensitive data. Encryption should be an essential part of your organization’s data protection strategy. Read our white paper to see how Office 365 uses encryption to help protect your data .