Phishing is known to be financially devastating and exposes confidential information. Microsoft 365 Defender is a security solution to mitigate this risk with its built-in malware protection and firewall.
Phishing attacks can be detrimental to your company. These incidents can cause personally identifiable information of internal employees and customers to be sent to criminals to launch identity theft scams.
How does phishing happen?
Usually, attackers impersonate credible and trusted sources such as the local authorities, banks, and regulatory bodies. Their approaches are well crafted and modeled after real situations to deceive unsuspecting victims. As a result, your employees may not have second thoughts about giving out sensitive information and corporate data.
Phishing emails continue to be widespread even with continuous efforts to raise user awareness. These are the usual starting points of most hacking activities and can cause companies millions of losses. At times, victims may even face legal action, diminished reputation, loss of customer confidence, and disruption to usual business.
Protecting your business from potential phishing attacks is important. Your best option will be to utilise Microsoft 365 Defender, an enterprise-grade security solution to protect your devices, data, and identity. Microsoft 365 Defender is a comprehensive security solution with built-in malware protection and a firewall to safeguard your company against phishing attempts. Below are seven key features of Microsoft 365 Defender that is crucial in protecting your company from phishing.
7 Key Features of Microsoft 365 Defender
#1 Phishing Email Protection
The most dangerous type of phishing are senders who pose as an actual entity, such as law enforcement, local authorities, or financial institutions. They would often address the victim by their actual name or nickname to establish familiarity. Sometimes, real accounts are used to trick companies. To prevent this, Microsoft Defender 365 uses Machine Learning (ML) technology to list the contacts that you regularly communicate with. It will then use advanced tools to differentiate suspicious vs acceptable behaviours. This helps detect phishing emails from genuine ones.
#2 Malware Defense
Phishing emails is also one of the easiest and fastest methods to spread diverse types of malware. Ransomware can immediately lock all your files and systems until the attacker receives a ransom. Failure to comply means inaccessibility to crucial files that can affect the business operations. Spyware can steal information by copying clipboards, taking screenshots, or even recording keystrokes. All these can severely impact business continuity. Microsoft Defender 365 addresses malware with state-of-art safety mechanisms:
- Layered malware defence – The platform incorporates scanning technologies using different algorithms to proactively hunt for malware. This enables protection for your system at the beginning of a malware outbreak. Due to this, it is more effective than using a single anti-malware program.
- Real-time response – During security breaches, the platform enables you to swiftly access resources and forensic tools to investigate and contain threats in real-time. This enables you to collect and analyse data to proactively combat malware.
- Rapid definition deployment – The Microsoft 365 Defender team works closely with various anti-malware engine developers to get malware definition on time. Users of the platform get the latest protection against malware with constant definition updates.
- Common attachments filter – The platform automatically blocks some file types that are not meant for emails. Some files include .ace, .exe, .app, .ani, and .scr. This prevents accidental clicks on executable files that may contain malware, viruses, or trojans.
#3 Spam Block
Blocking spam emails is an excellent way to shield your company from potential phishing campaigns. Microsoft 365 Defender includes a powerful anti-spam technology that addresses spam emails by examining the email source and its contents. Emails from non-trustworthy sources that contain suspicious information or links go automatically to your spam folder. The platform also examines your employees’ activity to make sure that they do not spam others.
#4 Safe Links
Phishing emails do not only contain attachments but also suspicious links that lead to fraudulent websites. These websites often look legitimate and require the victim to provide some information. It can be a login page or an online form requesting critical information to be keyed in. In some cases, the website automatically downloads and installs malware on your computers. The safe links function in Microsoft Defender 365 shields your system by using URL detonation. It scans email links, checks for suspicious behaviour, and warns you not to open malicious websites. However, you can still override the warning and visit the website if you need to. You can then rescan the service thereafter to look for any security problems. This feature also works on documents uploaded to SharePoint and Microsoft Teams.
#5 Sandbox Isolation
The sandbox isolation functions as a shield against users who open malicious email attachments without a second thought. Microsoft Defender 365 isolates these attachments, containing these malicious files to the sandbox and not your entire system. Once the program isolates the malware, there will be a warning to not open it. However, if the attachment is safe, you will be able to use it normally.
#6 Enhanced Filtering
Enhanced filtering is suited for companies that route emails to on-premises environments via third-party services before sending them to Microsoft 365 mail server. There are inbound connectors to verify the trustworthiness of the email sources. Complex routing scenarios increase the chance of email connectors not reflecting their real source. This feature in Microsoft 365 Defender preserves the authentication signals that may have been lost while routing emails. It also enhances the filtering capabilities of the email server, allowing it to detect phishing and spam emails more effectively.
#7 User Submissions
Microsoft 365 Defender offers the function that allows you to set up specific mailboxes where you can send any emails you consider harmful. Your administrators have more control over email flagging and reporting them to Microsoft for further action.
Microsoft 365 Defender is a Sure-Fire Solution
Phishing attacks can very quickly spiral into a larger disaster for any company. To protect your company, integrate your computers with Microsoft 365 Defender. This platform provides reliable safeguards to keep your system intact. It can detect malicious activity on time, enabling you to address it before it spreads and compromises your privacy.
Using Microsoft 365 Defender is one of the many cybersecurity measures you should employ for your company. Get started today! Schedule a chat with us to determine potential risks in your network and systems.
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