10 reasons why Microsoft 365 email security is challenging for your customers 

Organisations struggle to protect themselves properly from cyber threats for the reasons listed below:  

Denial / It won’t happen to me–syndrome.  One of the first challenges organisations have, is understanding just how vulnerable they are. Organisations using Microsoft 365 have a tendency to think they are blanketed from cyber threats. There is a presumption Microsoft have automatically put in place enough protection and they are untouchable. Ironically, experience shows all too often, organisations fail to turn on the Microsoft 365 cybersecurity features.  

Cyber threats are continually evolving.  There isn’t just one type of threat. So, even if you implement one type of solution, it is not a case of walking away and thinking the job is done. Cybersecurity measures need to be managed and updated to protect against new forms of threats. This is hard for organisations whose main business focus isn’t cybersecurity or even technology. Again, this is another area where the channel can step in and provide its expertise in the form of managed services to help organisations maintain a strong cyber posture. 

Cyber threats are driven by criminal organisations with lots of resources. There is a general perception that cyber attacks originate from a bored and disgruntled teenager sitting in their bedroom somewhere. Unfortunately, the true picture is far darker and sinister. Cyber criminals are well resourced and highly motivated with access to exceedingly skilled criminal experts. They will work together and collaborate on penetrating an organisation’s defences.  

Detection is hard. Cyber criminals deliberately designed their attacks so that the deployment of the payload won’t be detected. Consequently, to detect an attack in its early stages, you need to understand the signs and know what to look for. In many ways, you need to be able to outsmart the cyber criminals. This is where the right cybersecurity tools play a critical role. 

Organisations have many more attack surfaces. Today, the IT landscape is far more intricate and expansive than it has ever been. Mobile devices, IoT sensors, connected devices, smart screens, mobile field units, etc., are creating, processing and sharing data with the organisation. For a cyber criminal, each device could have an exploitable vulnerability. The channel can play an important role in firstly identifying the devices an organisation has interacting with its IT estate. Secondly, it’s about closing the door on vulnerabilities and making devices much harder to exploit.  

Organisations have many more stakeholders. As society and commerce have become more digital, it has become normal for customers, suppliers and employees to interact with organisational systems. This could be through a portal, a digital application, Microsoft 365, etc. For cyber criminals, this represents an opportunity to masquerade as a legitimate party.  The challenge for organisations is to only let the right people in to access the right data at the right time, all whilst keeping the criminals out.   

Organisational data and infrastructure are hiding everywhere. Protecting Microsoft 365 emails is one component part of an organisation’s cybersecurity posture. One of the challenges with modern data driven organisations, is keeping tabs on all the places an organisation’s data resides. Gartner studies have found that Shadow IT is between 30 to 40 percent of IT spending. Email data can easily find its way to Shadow IT infrastructure and applications. It is estimated a third of successful attacks are on Shadow IT resources.  

The fragmented nature of the cybersecurity market. The cybersecurity market is known for being highly fragmented. There are thousands of different technology vendors and products, each designed to help an organisation improve a particular aspect of its cybersecurity posture. Understanding what products to use, where to use them and how to implement them effectively requires detailed knowledge of the cybersecurity market.  

Access to cybersecurity skills and tools. It is well known, there is a global cybersecurity skills shortage. Organisations find it difficult to recruit cybersecurity experts with the right certifications.  

Combatting cyber threats requires a cultural change in most organisations. Technology is only part of the solution. Cyber criminals are deliberately deceptive and deceitful. Employees benefit from a constant programme of education and reinforcement, so they can better identify cyber threats.