I recently watched a Jimmy Kimmel skit regarding cyber security in which he sent a TV crew out on the streets to interview folks like you and me about their passwords. I admit, it was pretty funny, but I was also alarmed at how easily people were manipulated into telling a complete stranger their passwords. It’s no wonder cyber attacks have been on the rise in the last few years – so much so that the FBI ranks cyber crime as one of its tops law enforcement activities. If you don’t think it can happen to your organization, you need to think again.
Companies as large and diverse as Anthem, Target, Sony Picture, Home Depot, and Staples have all recently fallen victim to cyber crime – and the list doesn’t end there. Millions of social security numbers and credit card numbers are at these attackers’ fingertips. If these types of attacks aren’t keeping you and your stakeholders up at night, you’re not paying attention. Maybe you’ve felt like you’ve had more pressing IT matters to deal with, but I’m telling you: nothing is more important than ensuring your organization and your data are secure.
So where do you start? There are a few products you should look into ASAP, especially if you’re looking to make the transition to the cloud.
Azure Active Directory (AD) along with Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) has many great features to help you secure, protect, and manage all of your company resources – such as multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA requires more than one verification method, adding another layer of security to user sign-ins. You select two of the three methods, (password, verification code to another device, or biometrics – yes, really, biometrics). MFA is extremely easy to set up, and it’s scalable, as it can be integrated with your on-premises AD. You can ensure you’re always protected, and it is extremely reliable.
Azure AD Advanced Threat Analytics is a newer feature that is included with the Enterprise Mobility Suite. What it does is identify any suspicious user and/or device activity with built-in intelligence, which provides clear threat information. It will not only detect malicious attacks, but will let you know any abnormal behavior, such as anomalous logins and password-sharing via behavioral analytics. It can also identify broken trust, weak protocols, and more.
As I wrap this post up, I’ll point out that I just saw another article regarding cyber security. Looks as though another data breach has affected 273 million email accounts of Mail.Ru, Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail. So I encourage you to really consider a Microsoft EMS solution – I promise that you will sleep better at night once you have.
