In the realm of modern enterprise productivity suites, Copilot for Microsoft 365 stands as a huge driver for efficiency, offering business users the ability to aggregate, summarize, and process data within the M365 suite of tools. However, for organizations with diverse infrastructure and applications, and the need for real-time data interactions, the out-of-the-box functionality requires augmentation to reach its full potential, not to mention secure controls for Copilot for M365.

In July 2022, the Pentagon’s acquisition office issued a memo reminding acquisition officials of the DoD’s requirements for handling controlled unclassified information (CUI). The standard which applies to Defense contractors is not new. The original Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) clause 252.204-7012 requirement went into effect in 2017.

Learn how businesses can strengthen their M365 data security with cost-effective backup and recovery solutions. According to Morgan Lewis, in 2023, the average cost of a data breach reached $4.45 million. This is 2.25% higher than the statistics in 2022. These numbers are a clear indication of why data security solutions are a must for enterprises. Protecting M365 data is crucial because threats like ransomware, data breaches, and insider risks can cause serious problems for companies.

There are so many exciting things happening in the AI space currently. One of them is the integration of Microsoft Copilot, a generative AI, with Microsoft 365 applications. This fusion brings Copilot’s capabilities into the suite’s comprehensive office productivity tools to transform daily workloads and enhance productivity efficiency through the automation of mundane tasks, alongside offering insights and analyzing data. Key features include.

Microsoft Teams has seen a remarkable surge in popularity and usage post-pandemic. With 320 million+ users spanning more than 1 million organizations, it serves as an important tool to keep teams connected and foster productivity. While MS Teams excels in real-time collaboration, conversational channels, online meetings, and video calls, it grapples with file management and accessibility stemming from its inherent design and architecture.

Organizations today store enormous amounts of data. To protect their business and comply with strict modern regulations, they need to manage and secure it properly. Ideally, every document would receive equal protection, but this approach is unrealistic both financially and operationally. Accordingly, organizations need to classify data so they can prioritize their critical and sensitive content.

Businesses across multiple industries, regardless of size, are at risk of being targeted with Microsoft 365 phishing campaigns. These campaigns trick users into visiting fake Microsoft login page where threat actors capture the user’s credentials. Even accounts with MFA can be victim to these types of attacks. There are several ways in which MFA is being bypassed with these types of campaigns.

On January 19, Microsoft issued an advisory disclosing a cybersecurity incident targeting their M365 tenants and attributing the attack to Midnight Blizzard, a state-sponsored actor also known as Nobelium and APT29. Following this, on January 24, the Microsoft team expanded on the initial announcement with a comprehensive blog post providing more insights about the attack and outlining specific tactics, techniques and procedures leveraged by the threat actor.