We were early adopters when Microsoft launched Office 365, the online services that would become Microsoft 365. Up to then we had been purchasing Microsoft Office licenses each time a new version of Office was released, which was a substantial cost to a small IT company, but we needed to comply with the rules if we were to have credibility with our clients. At the same time we knew of businesses and organisations, including telecoms and IT support companies, who were either using hooky copies of the software or were abusing the Microsoft TechNet licenses to save money and give themselves a financial advantage.
Now we were paying monthly for the licenses we needed, we got access to more services than just Office, and the playing field was becoming more level for everyone. We also retired several servers and got rid of some office space. We could also start to work from anywhere – and we did. Online services were the way forward.
Online Services and Cyber Security
But with this new world of online services – because Microsoft was not the only online service on offer – came a new risk. If we did not have secure passwords, threat actors might hack our information.
I have a whole series on the use and abuse of passwords in business:
Back to Basics – Password Primer
Two-factor authentication (2FA) and then multi-factor authentication (MFA) came along to address that problem, but it was not perfect – have a look at my MFA Primer to understand some of the strengths and weaknesses of MFA.
Even with its issues MFA is always the first step in securing any online service and if the online services you want to use do not have MFA, think twice about using them.
Securing Online Services
For the next part of this article I am going to hand you over to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). They have an excellent article looking at how to secure your online services which I recommend you read. It takes you through the steps needed to be able to state that the online services you use are secure. Note the NCSC uses the term 2 Step Verification (2SV) – for that read MFA.
Using online services safely – NCSC.GOV.UK
Of course, if you do not have time to read and implement the NCSC recommendations, because you and your team are busy making money, then get in contact with us and we will do it for you.
Next Week
Clive Catton MSc (Cyber Security) – by-line and other articles
Further Reading
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
