Managing cybersecurity has never been easy, but it was certainly more focused.
In the early days, having a firewall to protect your network was usually enough to prevent the majority of attacks. That’s because most business systems were primarily accessed from inside the office network.
Now, thanks to the widespread adoption of cloud-based technologies like Microsoft 365, modern business has moved far beyond the confines of a single office space. Workforces today are highly distributed. With a single login, employees can access networks from multiple offices, their own home, and even overseas.
That inherently changes the focus of IT from strictly network security to securing the identities of authorized users. Today, user identities are among the most common attack targets.
The Shift From Network Security to Identity Security
The traditional approach to cybersecurity focused on keeping attackers outside office networks. That’s why tools like firewalls worked so well. They worked in much the same way a moat protects a castle.
The perimeter was the edge of the network, and a physical hardware firewall, the gatekeeper. It filtered incoming and outgoing data according to manually configured rules designed to identify what was trusted and untrusted access.
But the shift to cloud-based technologies changed that dramatically. Now, employees work remotely. They use cloud apps to log in from phones and laptops that are no longer centrally located on the same premises as the network servers.
Platforms like Microsoft 365, used by millions of businesses around the globe, have multiple distributed tools like Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Outlook which effectively erase a single perimeter.
Now, all that is needed to access a business’s entire ecosystem of tools and data is the right credentials. Identity has become the perimeter.
Security attacks no longer need to focus on hacking a network to gain access. They can simply steal passwords. Phish employees. Exploit weak permissions. Once inside, the attacker can move through systems because they appear to be a trusted user.
For attackers, a compromised Microsoft 365 account might as well be a golden ticket to your organization.
What is Digital Identity Security?
Digital identity security is how businesses protect the digital identities and accounts of their employees from unauthorized access. It covers the protection of everything from user accounts and login credentials to user permissions and access to apps and data. It’s about making sure that the right person has access to the right tools, at the right time.
Every account that is connected to a company’s systems represents a potential attack path. When an account is compromised, attackers can quickly gain access to everything that the user is normally permitted to access.
That means digital identity solutions must continually verify trust. A password is not enough. They must constantly answer security questions like who is this user, and should they have access to this area? What device are they using and from what location? Is the behavior typical, or does it raise suspicion?
How Microsoft Entra Supports Microsoft 365 Security
One of today’s most popular business environments is Microsoft 365. It brings the classic Microsoft Office productivity suite into the cloud, and is the backbone of countless businesses around the world.
It also features a huge focus on identity security solutions, primarily through its Microsoft Entra ID security platform.
Formerly known as Azure AD, the platform treats identity security as its primary security layer. If an attacker can access a Microsoft 365 identity, they can potentially access emails, files, calendars, internal communications, and connected apps. That’s basically the entire business.
Microsoft Entra introduces a variety of tools to protect the digital identities of Microsoft 365 users based around the concept of zero trust security.
Zero trust security effectively means that no user or device is automatically trusted, even after they log in.
Instead, it assumes that an attacker may eventually get unauthorized access, so the best course of action is to continuously evaluate access throughout a session.
What does this actually look like?
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a starting point. A password isn’t enough. MFA requires a second form of verification beyond a password, which helps to confirm that it is actually the right user accessing the platform.
But even devices can become lost or stolen.
Microsoft Entra also uses conditional access to detect risky logins based on criteria like location, device, or other unusual behavior. For example, a user is known to live in New York, but their login suddenly originated from a European IP address. Entra can flag or block that account as a potential risk.
The platform also uses Single Sign-On (SSO) technology to securely manage how users access multiple apps within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. It eliminates the need for employees to manage multiple passwords for related accounts by acting as a master key for the user. Entra ID security evaluates the risk of the login and can quickly halt suspicious activity.
Why SMBs Are Increasingly Vulnerable to Identity-Based Security Attacks
If you’re one of the many companies that uses Microsoft 365, there are many account security solutions at your disposal.
The problem is, not every organization uses them effectively, or even at all. A common mistake we see, particularly with small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), is believing that Microsoft handles all your security automatically.
While the tools are there, businesses still need to configure and monitor them. They need to create policies for their own employees, provide training, and ongoing oversight around how these tools are used.
That can be difficult for the average SMB. They aren’t likely to have a dedicated in-house IT department and security team like their Fortune 500 counterparts. That often leaves businesses exposed, and a prime target for security attacks.
A Real-World Identity Protection Example
Imagine an employee in your business receives an email that looks like it comes from one of their supervisors. Only this email is a phishing email, designed to trick the recipient into inputting their Microsoft 365 credentials into a fake login page.
The user unknowingly hands over their email and password, which the attacker then uses to access the employee’s real Microsoft account.
Suddenly, they can access the company’s internal email platform, reset passwords, steal data, and impersonate other employees.
This wasn’t an issue that any firewall could have stopped. It’s entirely an identity and access issue issue, and demonstrates exactly why identity has become the new perimeter for cybersecurity.
How Managed IT and Cybersecurity Closes the Gaps
Businesses need cybersecurity, but not everyone has the resources to do this in-house. That’s exactly where managed IT and cybersecurity providers like ITque step in to fill a crucial need.
The Microsoft 365 security ecosystem has powerful tools to keep your business safe. We help you take full advantage of them. By outsourcing their IT needs to us, businesses gain 24/7 monitoring that reduces their susceptibility to security attacks.
All your systems become professionally configured, with threats monitored continuously. Our team can also help you implement a policy of least privilege that limits access for specific tools only to users who actually need them. We also help eliminate old or unneeded accounts that are prone to attack. We also help identify and remove unauthorized apps, devices, and accounts, what is known as shadow IT.
With managed IT and cybersecurity, you can remove the headache and complexity of cloud security with professional help at a manageable monthly cost.
ITque: Your Partner for Microsoft 365 Security and Identity Security Solutions
Time has changed the focus of cybersecurity from local network protection to account protection. When attackers can compromise digital identities, they open the gateway to your entire organization.
Microsoft 365 security solutions give you the tools to protect your business, but you need a skilled partner who can help you evaluate your current risks and strengthen access controls to protect your IT environments.
To get started enhancing your Microsoft 365 and identity security, contact ITque for more information on how we can protect your business with comprehensive managed IT and cybersecurity solutions.
