While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 integrates with third-party solutions, our organization prioritizes Microsoft technologies for security. We only integrate external tools with explicit management approval. This focus extends to data backup. Even though Office 365 is a cloud service, we recently purchased Barracuda, a tool that seamlessly integrates with Office 365 for data backup. Prior to my arrival, our organization lacked a dedicated Office 365/Microsoft 365 security specialist, with IT admins relying on web searches for configuration. Upon identifying vulnerabilities, I implemented Microsoft Defender and other security measures. Our compliance score, which was around 30 percent a year and a half ago, now consistently ranges from 75 to 85 percent, thanks in large part to Microsoft Defender for Office 365. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 helps prevent advanced attacks like business email compromise by stopping lateral movement within the network. It also includes data loss prevention features, where our custom policies have helped block malicious emails, ransomware, and spam before they ever reach our servers. While not perfect, Microsoft Defender has significantly improved our email security, offering around 80 to 90 percent effectiveness, which we're quite happy with. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has significantly improved our security team's efficiency. The comprehensive security analytics dashboard provides insightful information on threats, including the number of phishing attempts and attacks on our servers. This data can be easily exported for clear reporting to management. Overall, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 saves us time and simplifies security analysis presentations.
