How to take the stress out of securing your business

Running a business can be stressful – especially if you’re worried about cyber security. According to the NCSC Cyber Security Breaches Survey, 42 percent of SMBs identified at least one breach or attack in the last 12 months.

The average cost per incident is £3,100. But the cost of an attack isn’t just financial, with businesses also suffering from a loss of reputation and customer trust when a breach occurs. By using devices, tools, and applications that have built-in security, not only is it easier to safeguard your business, but it gives you more time to do what you love.

Microsoft Cyber Defense Operations Center

Improving your security through data protection

However, if you ensure that you protect valuable business and customer data with good security, your risk of a cyber breach goes down significantly. And with an integrated solution, you can align your security with compliance and device management capabilities, to help safeguard your business.

Recruitment company Affinity Workforce uses Microsoft 365 with a combination of Office 365, Windows 10, and Azure Active Directory to ensure that compliance standards are adhered to, and to keep their data safe.

Microsoft 365 strikes the balance between mobility, security and being very agile and fast. We handle a lot of sensitive client and candidate data, much of which is personally identifiable,” says McCall. “Now we’ve got tools in place to monitor what’s happening, and we’ve got peace of mind that our data is safe and secure.”

Chris McCall, Affinity Workforce CTO

See how Affinity Workforce are securing their business

Compliance is key

Woman professional working on the goNot only are you managing customer and company data, but user access, identities, where information is stored, and more. So it’s important your organisation stays compliant – not just with GDPR, but with any other regulations, too

iSalon, a software developer, uses Microsoft 365 to unify its security requirements. Management is streamlined so all IT policy and compliance monitoring is done from the admin centre, instead of signing in to multiple systems.

“We now have all we need in one portal—I sign in and manage everything from one place. I can track and control what I need to meet GDPR standards and implement IT policies across the company in minutes,” says Ryan Taylor, IT Manager.

Make device security a priority

With an increasingly mobile workforce, employees are accessing data across multiple devices, making it vital to keep your security up-to-date. And with 88 percent of breaches caused by human error, the most important part of your cybersecurity is education.

Hold regular on-demand training, refreshers, and create a robust cybersecurity policy that everyone understands. Ensure people know about the importance of user access, data storage, phishing emails, and other security risks. The stronger your front-line defence, the less likely leaks will happen.

Security to help productivity and collaboration

Microsoft 365 provides businesses with a complete, intelligent and secure solution, including Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise-level mobility and security. And through a single ID, employees can access all the tools they need, without having to waste time signing into multiple systems.

And thanks to Microsoft 365, iSalon has not only seen positive affects to their bottom-line, but to their employee’s productivity too.

“Collaboration is faster and simpler. With everyone’s apps available in Microsoft 365, remote workers have the same experience as people in the office. Everything is saved to, and accessible in, OneDrive.”

Ryan Taylor, iSalon IT manager

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