Microsoft 365 Cloud Data Protection – How Does It Work?

Read below and learn how Microsoft 365 cloud data protection helps to defend your business from dangerous cyber attacks

Microsoft Defender for cloud apps is offered as a standard security app with a Microsoft 365 license. While most users know Microsoft Defender as an offline security application, it provides cloud data protection as well. Read more below to understand how Microsoft Defender helps protect your business’s essential data and assets in the cloud.

Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)

  • A cloud access security broker (CASB) is an application that acts as a barrier between cloud service providers and the users of such services. CASB can either be on-site or cloud-based. CASB has a primary function: to enforce the business’s data security and privacy policies.

Microsoft 365 offers Microsoft Defender for cloud apps as a CASB solution. It helps prevent security threats from damaging your business’s data in the cloud, as well as protects it from malicious attacks online.

Microsoft Defender for cloud apps offers the following services to businesses:

  • Visibility:

Microsoft Defender keeps track of all the users that access the cloud apps and services across the organization.

  • Data Security:

Detect the presence of sensitive and important information in the cloud. Protect such information from data breaches, unauthorized access, and malicious cyber attacks.

  • Threat Protection:

Protect the entire organization against cyber attacks.

  • Compliance:

Provide support for data governance in the cloud so that the organization remains fully compliant with local regulations.

Shadow IT & Real Time Gatekeeping

  • Certain cloud services and apps outside the scope and control of an organization’s IT department is included in Shadow IT. Shadow IT is a serious security risk for many organizations as the employees may be using such third-party apps and services and unknowingly causing security and compliance issues.

Microsoft Defender solves this problem by identifying all the apps and services that are being used by an organization’s employees. It catalogs all this information and by using its database of over 16,000 apps, assigns a risk score to each app and service. It then allows a real-time gatekeeping function to restrict access to certain apps and services for the employees.

Custom Policy Management

  • Microsoft Defender has a custom policy management feature that is useful for categorizing different types of information on the cloud. This feature allows granular control over what information is shared and accessed. By utilizing automated policies, Microsoft Defender will enable organizations to identify risky employee behavior in terms of information handling.

If the organization deals with sensitive data, Microsoft Defender’s data loss prevention (DLP) policies can monitor what happens to such data. These policies can be implemented in non-Microsoft apps and services as well. If the system detects suspicious activity, data access is halted to prevent damage and loss.

Conditional Access App Control

  • Microsoft Defender offers unmatched protection against cybersecurity threats and malicious attacks online. It continuously scans apps and services for suspicious activities and unusual behavior. If it suspects a compromised user or app, access is halted, and the system administrator is instantly notified.

Microsoft Defender’s conditional access app control goes beyond the organization’s scope and scans unmanaged devices and IP addresses for potential risky behavior. If required, activity and downloads can be blocked along with an encryption implementation to protect sensitive information.

Regulatory Compliance

  • microsoft 365 cloud data protectionMicrosoft Defender meets several international and industry-relevant compliance standards such as HIPAA, ISO 9001, and PCI DSS. These compliance standards ensure uniform and consistent protection policies across all levels of the organization.

If non-compliant apps or services are detected, their data and sensitive information access are revoked. To aid the system administrator with making the right decisions, dashboards and detailed reports are generated.

If you are an organization worried about whether your cloud data is secure, then why not give us a call? We, at Henson Group, are one of the best-managed service providers (MSP) for Microsoft 365. Our vast network of specialists and industry experts are ready to help you with all your cloud data security and Microsoft 365 needs.