Microsoft Secure Score Breakdown – Cyber Security Awareness Month 2024 Edition 

Month of October  
The month of cozy fall evenings,  
The month of Halloween,  

And most importantly, the month of Cybersecurity Awareness!  

After 2 successful years of helping Microsoft 365 admins with our series on: 

• Essential, frequently missed Microsoft 365 configurations – 31 Settings 
• Harden Microsoft 365 Security – 31 Advanced Settings 

We’re back and ready with a new approach this year!

Sure, we know some sysadmins bash on the Secure Score as just a sales pitch from Microsoft—but there is more to it than meets the eye! If you have not explored its full potential yet, that is exactly what we will do. 

Is Microsoft Secure Score Really a Sales Pitch? 

The ‘secure score recommendations based on assessments’ sound like a great help from Microsoft, right? And they definitely are! But many people online seem to buzz a lot, a few are: 

• Most security features recommended are only available with higher-tier licenses and are locked behind a price barrier!  
• Can you only increase your Microsoft Secure Score if you buy more advanced licenses? 
• Secure Score is merely a marketing tool – a “sales pitch” to upsell Microsoft products. 
• Some even argue that Secure Score is more about pushing Defender products—like Defender for Office 365, Identity, and Endpoint protection—than genuinely improving your security. 
• Many believe that to boost your score, you might take actions that could even be counterproductive. 

Microsoft Secure Score – A Free Security Assessment Tool: 

Microsoft Secure Score is all about how you see and use it. At its core, Microsoft Secure Score is a security monitoring tool, dashboard, or portal – however you want to refer to it! 

It’s free, easy to use, and a great starting point for Microsoft 365 security audits. Here’s what it does:  

Evaluate your organization’s security posture,   
Gives a snapshot of your overall security health,  
Calculate a score based on the protocols you’ve implemented,  
Shows you exactly how secure your organization is.  
It also offers ‘Actionable Recommendations’ to boost your security and score.  

The recommendations update over time, so even if you’re not keeping up with the latest security practices, Secure Score can guide you on what to improve. 

One more thing: A good Secure Score is often requested for Cyber Insurance, so it’s worth paying attention to!  

Focus on Recommendations, Not the Score: 

At AdminDroid, we suggest using Secure Score wisely: 

• Focus less on the score itself but more on the recommendations it suggests!  
• Review the Secure Score recommendations, prioritize the ones that are most relevant to your organization, and decide if they’re worth the upgrade for your setup. 
• Not every recommendation will fit your Microsoft 365 environment; always balance security with usability. 

Ultimately, we say: Act on the recommendations, not the score!  

It’s just a number! Don’t feel so INSECURE about your SECURE SCORE.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month Series – 2024

Now, let’s jump into our plan for this series! The end goal is not to chase the highest secure score but to increase security standards by selectively implementing recommendations tailored to your licenses, size, and specific needs. 

We at AdminDroid have planned to take off the series into two parts:  

• Part 1: We’ll categorize & compile the Microsoft suggested recommended actions in the secure score along with a step-by-step implementation guide.  
• Part – 2: This is different! We will provide a thorough list of security configurations missing from the secure score recommendations.  

This way, we can support everyone – from those looking to increase their Secure Score to those who just wish to strengthen their Microsoft 365 security. 

After all, A security configuration a day keeps the hacker away!   

Day 1: Boost Microsoft Secure Score by 12 Points with 3 Easy Configurations

Enhance your organization’s security with three easy Microsoft 365 configurations. Disable external calendar sharing, block third-party app registrations, and ensure only invited users bypass the Teams meeting lobby. These quick adjustments improve your Microsoft Secure Score by 12 points, providing stronger protection without needing extra licenses.

We’ll update the list daily, so subscribe now to get the latest updates!  

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