Office 365 is a complete cloud solution that allows you to store thousands of files and collaborate on them, too. In addition to its productivity features, the service comes with security and compliance solutions that will help businesses avoid the crushing financial and legal repercussions of data loss. However, even with its comprehensive security tools, the service has some data security risks that need to be addressed. The following tips will keep your business data private and secure.

Take advantage of policy alerts
Establishing policy notifications in Office 365’s Compliance Center can help you meet your company’s data security obligations. For instance, policy tips can warn employees about sending confidential information anytime they’re about to send messages to contacts who aren’t listed in the company network. These preemptive warnings can prevent data leaks and also educate users on safer data sharing practices.

Secure mobile devices
Since personal smartphones and tablets are often used to access work email, calendar, contacts, and documents, securing them should be a critical part of protecting your organization’s data. Installing mobile device management features for Office 365 enables you to manage security policies and access permissions/restrictions, and remotely wipe sensitive data from mobile devices if they’re lost or stolen.

Use multi-factor authentication
Don’t rely on a single password to safeguard your Office 365 accounts. To reduce the risk of account hijacking, you must enable multi-factor authentication. This feature makes it difficult for hackers to access your account since they not only have to guess user passwords, but also provide a second authentication factor like a temporary SMS code.

Apply session timeouts
Many employees usually forget to log out of their Office 365 accounts and keep their computers or mobile devices unlocked. This could give unauthorized users unfettered access to company accounts, allowing them to steal sensitive data. By applying session timeouts to Office 365, email accounts, and internal networks, the system will automatically log users out after 10 minutes, preventing hackers from opening company workstations and accessing private information.

Avoid public calendar sharing
Office 365’s calendar sharing features allow employees to share and sync their schedules with their colleagues. However, publicly sharing this information is a bad idea because it helps attackers understand how your company works, determine who’s away, and identify vulnerable users. For instance, if security administrators are publicly listed as “Away on vacation,” an attacker may see this as an opportunity to unleash malware on unattended computers.

Employ role-based access controls
Another Office 365 feature that will limit the flow of sensitive data across your company is access management. This lets you determine which user (or users) have access to specific files in your company. For example, front-of-house staff won’t be able to read or edit executive-level documents, minimizing data leaks.

Encrypt emails
Encrypting classified information is your last line of defense to secure your data. If hackers intercept your emails, encryption tools will make files unreadable to unauthorized recipients. This is a must-have for Office 365, where files and emails are shared on a regular basis.

While Office 365 offers users the ability to share data and collaborate, you must be aware of potential data security risks at all times. When you work with us, we will make sure your business keeps up with ever-changing data security and compliance obligations. If you need help securing Office 365, we can assist you, too! Contact us today for details.

Microsoft not only builds robust productivity solutions for its customers, but it also prioritizes their security above all else. This year, the company invested a lot of money to protect Office 365 subscribers from increasingly sophisticated phishing scams. Read on to learn more about what they did.

Effective anti-phishing solutions must be able to recognize the key elements of a phishing attack, which includes spoofed (or forged) emails, compromised accounts, unsafe links, and harmful attachments. In April 2018, Microsoft upgraded Office 365’s Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) features so it can better detect these elements and prevent a wide variety of phishing scams. These enhancements include:

• Anti-impersonation measures – ATP will now look for potential phishing indicators in an email, including the sender’s address, name, and links, to identify whether the user is being impersonated. You can specify high-profile targets within your organization, such as managers and C-level executives, so Office 365 can protect these users from email impersonation. Office 365 also utilizes machine learning to analyze a user’s email patterns and flag suspicious contacts that have had no prior correspondence with your company.
• Anti-spoofing technology – This feature reviews and blocks senders that disguise their true email address. You can even enable safety tips that flag certain email domains that have strange characters. For instance, if your real domain is Acme.com, a spoofed domain could be Acḿe.com.
• Email link scanning – Office 365 launched Safe Links, which scans emails for fraudulent links and redirects users to a safe page in case it does contain harmful materials. This feature also applies to email attachments, ensuring you’re protected against all types of phishing scams.

Due to these improvements, Office 365 had the lowest phish rate among other well-known email services between May 1 and September 16, 2018. The company has stopped over five billion phishing attempts and protected users against seven billion potentially malicious links. If you’re looking for a secure email platform, Office 365 is the best option for your business.

That said, it’s not a substitute for good security awareness. No matter how secure Office 365 is, employees still need to be adequately trained to recognize a phishing email when they see one. Hackers are constantly changing their tactics to evade Office 365’s detection systems, so it’s important that everyone is alert at all times.

If you need a well-fortified email service, we can implement and manage Office 365 for you. We even offer practical security advice to make sure your business, employees, and assets are safe and sound. Contact us now.

Sending phishing emails is the most common method hackers use to distribute malware and steal information. In fact, there are billions of phishing emails sent every year, and millions of people keep falling for them. However, if you’re subscribed to Office 365 there’s a good chance that you won’t see harmful messages in your inbox, and here’s why.

Effective anti-phishing solutions must be able to recognize the key elements of a phishing attack, which includes spoofed (or forged) emails, compromised accounts, unsafe links, and harmful attachments. In April 2018, Microsoft upgraded Office 365’s Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) features so it can better detect these elements and prevent a wide variety of phishing scams. These enhancements include:

• Anti-impersonation measures – ATP will now look for potential phishing indicators in an email, including the sender’s address, name, and links, to identify whether the user is being impersonated. You can specify high-profile targets within your organization, such as managers and C-level executives, so Office 365 can protect these users from email impersonation. Office 365 also utilizes machine learning to analyze a user’s email patterns and flag suspicious contacts that have had no prior correspondence with your company.
• Anti-spoofing technology – This feature reviews and blocks senders that disguise their true email address. You can even enable safety tips that flag certain email domains that have strange characters. For instance, if your real domain is Acme.com, a spoofed domain could be Acḿe.com.
• Email link scanning – Office 365 launched Safe Links, which scans emails for fraudulent links and redirects users to a safe page in case it does contain harmful materials. This feature also applies to email attachments, ensuring you’re protected against all types of phishing scams.

Due to these improvements, Office 365 had the lowest phish rate among other well-known email services between May 1 and September 16, 2018. The company has stopped over five billion phishing attempts and protected users against seven billion potentially malicious links. If you’re looking for a secure email platform, Office 365 is the best option for your business.

That said, it’s not a substitute for good security awareness. No matter how secure Office 365 is, employees still need to be adequately trained to recognize a phishing email when they see one. Hackers are constantly changing their tactics to evade Office 365’s detection systems, so it’s important that everyone is alert at all times.

If you need a well-fortified email service, we can implement and manage Office 365 for you. We even offer practical security advice to make sure your business, employees, and assets are safe and sound. Contact us now.

There are plenty of things to love about Office 365. For a small monthly fee, it gives you the latest cloud-based version of Microsoft Office apps and robust communication tools that improve collaboration and productivity. But it’s also an extremely secure platform that can defend against the most cunning phishing attacks.

Effective anti-phishing solutions must be able to recognize the key elements of a phishing attack, which includes spoofed (or forged) emails, compromised accounts, unsafe links, and harmful attachments. In April 2018, Microsoft upgraded Office 365’s Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) features so it can better detect these elements and prevent a wide variety of phishing scams. These enhancements include:

• Anti-impersonation measures – ATP will now look for potential phishing indicators in an email, including the sender’s address, name, and links, to identify whether the user is being impersonated. You can specify high-profile targets within your organization, such as managers and C-level executives, so Office 365 can protect these users from email impersonation. Office 365 also utilizes machine learning to analyze a user’s email patterns and flag suspicious contacts that have had no prior correspondence with your company.
• Anti-spoofing technology – This feature reviews and blocks senders that disguise their true email address. You can even enable safety tips that flag certain email domains that have strange characters. For instance, if your real domain is Acme.com, a spoofed domain could be Acḿe.com.
• Email link scanning – Office 365 launched Safe Links, which scans emails for fraudulent links and redirects users to a safe page in case it does contain harmful materials. This feature also applies to email attachments, ensuring you’re protected against all types of phishing scams.

Due to these improvements, Office 365 had the lowest phish rate among other well-known email services between May 1 and September 16, 2018. The company has stopped over five billion phishing attempts and protected users against seven billion potentially malicious links. If you’re looking for a secure email platform, Office 365 is the best option for your business.

That said, it’s not a substitute for good security awareness. No matter how secure Office 365 is, employees still need to be adequately trained to recognize a phishing email when they see one. Hackers are constantly changing their tactics to evade Office 365’s detection systems, so it’s important that everyone is alert at all times.

If you need a well-fortified email service, we can implement and manage Office 365 for you. We even offer practical security advice to make sure your business, employees, and assets are safe and sound. Contact us now.

With major improvements like Calendar.help, Outlook, and Surface Pen, you would think that Office 365 has already reached its full potential. With the Office Insider feature, you’re bound to be proven wrong as you’ll have access to new features that make Office 365 better with each update. These nitty-gritty improvements give a competitive edge to businesses that rely on Microsoft’s productivity software.

Early Access

Subscribing to Office Insider gives you access to new innovations, security updates, and bug fixes months before they are released to the public. This insider feature is available in two levels: the fast ring where updates are rolled out more frequently, but come with a few bugs, and the slow ring where updates are released slower, but come with little to no software bugs.

What’s new for Office Insiders?

1. Ideas in Excel
   Ideas is a bolt-shaped icon at the top right corner of the screen that helps you understand your data through high-level summaries, trends, and patterns. It will analyze your data and create attractive visuals about it in the task pane.
2. Animated 3D graphics
   Animated 3D graphics like beating hearts, orbiting planets, and rampaging T-rex are now available on Powerpoint. You can insert 3D models from the internet and animate them with the Runner badge to spice up your PowerPoint slides.
3. New proofreading tools
   Editor can now mark issues on spelling, grammar, and style with red, blue, and gold underlines. It provides suggestions to improve your writing in the Editor pane, which even explains the suggestions to better help you pick the best one.
4. New look for the ribbon icons
   Ribbon icons now have crisp, clean lines, are visually optimized for all devices, and automatically updated.
5. Coming Soon
   Outlook occasionally releases dramatic new features and for some people, it can be a little bit overwhelming. The Coming Soon feature allows you to have a window of time to try out new features before they become permanent.
6. Competitive Advantage

By being an Office 365 Insider, you can test the waters and get acquainted with the features way ahead of your competition.

Reserving a meeting room can be a lot easier now through Outlook. Misspelled search terms are now automatically managed by Outlook. Also, with the new supercharged VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and MATCH functions, you can easily find answers to your queries.

Feedback

Subscribing to the Insider program also allows you to give your feedback directly to the Microsoft product team. It will help you to accustom yourself with the features earlier, and you’ll contribute to making Office 365 better for other users worldwide. You’ll be a part of the ongoing process of Office improvement.

Office Insider can open up your company to a wide variety of productivity-boosting features. The only question you have to ask yourself now is: Do I want to be at the cutting edge of tech innovations?

Contact us today to find out how you can get on the inside and know the latest Office updates.

Office 365 is already packed with the latest productivity features, but for premium perks, opt for the Office Insider program. This gives Office subscribers a heads up on upcoming Microsoft releases and updates before other companies do. Here’s why Office Insider is perfect for business owners.

Early Access

Subscribing to Office Insider gives you access to new innovations, security updates, and bug fixes months before they are released to the public. This insider feature is available in two levels: the fast ring where updates are rolled out more frequently, but come with a few bugs, and the slow ring where updates are released slower, but come with little to no software bugs.

What’s new for Office Insiders?

1. 1. Ideas in Excel
      Ideas is a bolt-shaped icon at the top right corner of the screen that helps you understand your data through high-level summaries, trends, and patterns. It will analyze your data and create attractive visuals about it in the task pane.
   2. Animated 3D graphics
      Animated 3D graphics like beating hearts, orbiting planets, and rampaging T-rex are now available on Powerpoint. You can insert 3D models from the internet and animate them with the Runner badge to spice up your PowerPoint slides.
   3. New proofreading tools
      Editor can now mark issues on spelling, grammar, and style with red, blue, and gold underlines. It provides suggestions to improve your writing in the Editor pane, which even explains the suggestions to better help you pick the best one.
   4. New look for the ribbon icons
      Ribbon icons now have crisp, clean lines, are visually optimized for all devices, and automatically updated.
   5. Coming Soon
      Outlook occasionally releases dramatic new features and for some people, it can be a little bit overwhelming. The Coming Soon feature allows you to have a window of time to try out new features before they become permanent.

Competitive Advantage

By being an Office 365 Insider, you can test the waters and get acquainted with the features way ahead of your competition.

Reserving a meeting room can be a lot easier now through Outlook. Misspelled search terms are now automatically managed by Outlook. Also, with the new supercharged VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and MATCH functions, you can easily find answers to your queries.

Feedback

Subscribing to the Insider program also allows you to give your feedback directly to the Microsoft product team. It will help you to accustom yourself with the features earlier, and you’ll contribute to making Office 365 better for other users worldwide. You’ll be a part of the ongoing process of Office improvement.

Office Insider can open up your company to a wide variety of productivity-boosting features. The only question you have to ask yourself now is: Do I want to be at the cutting edge of tech innovations?

Contact us today to find out how you can get on the inside and know the latest Office updates.

With Office Insider, subscribers have the privilege of viewing and testing new Office 365 features before other users. This insider feature targets tech-savvy business owners who want to get ahead of the competition and take their software game to the next level.

Early Access

Subscribing to Office Insider gives you access to new innovations, security updates, and bug fixes months before they are released to the public. This insider feature is available in two levels: the fast ring where updates are rolled out more frequently, but come with a few bugs, and the slow ring where updates are released slower, but come with little to no software bugs.

What’s new for Office Insiders?

1. 1. Ideas in Excel
      Ideas is a bolt-shaped icon at the top right corner of the screen that helps you understand your data through high-level summaries, trends, and patterns. It will analyze your data and create attractive visuals about it in the task pane.
   2. Animated 3D graphics
      Animated 3D graphics like beating hearts, orbiting planets, and rampaging T-rex are now available on Powerpoint. You can insert 3D models from the internet and animate them with the Runner badge to spice up your PowerPoint slides.
   3. New proofreading tools
      Editor can now mark issues on spelling, grammar, and style with red, blue, and gold underlines. It provides suggestions to improve your writing in the Editor pane, which even explains the suggestions to better help you pick the best one.
   4. New look for the ribbon icons
      Ribbon icons now have crisp, clean lines, are visually optimized for all devices, and automatically updated.
   5. Coming Soon
      Outlook occasionally releases dramatic new features and for some people, it can be a little bit overwhelming. The Coming Soon feature allows you to have a window of time to try out new features before they become permanent.

Competitive Advantage

By being an Office 365 Insider, you can test the waters and get acquainted with the features way ahead of your competition.

Reserving a meeting room can be a lot easier now through Outlook. Misspelled search terms are now automatically managed by Outlook. Also, with the new supercharged VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and MATCH functions, you can easily find answers to your queries.

Feedback

Subscribing to the Insider program also allows you to give your feedback directly to the Microsoft product team. It will help you to accustom yourself with the features earlier, and you’ll contribute to making Office 365 better for other users worldwide. You’ll be a part of the ongoing process of Office improvement.

Office Insider can open up your company to a wide variety of productivity-boosting features. The only question you have to ask yourself now is: Do I want to be at the cutting edge of tech innovations?

Contact us today to find out how you can get on the inside and know the latest Office updates.

Both SharePoint and OneDrive help business owners manage and share data. But selecting the best platform can be difficult and give anyone a big headache. For instant relief, here’s a quick reference to help you choose wisely.

Looking for a secure platform to manage your files? Where do you go for help? Should you choose SharePoint or settle for OneDrive instead? If any of those terms sound Greek to you, don’t worry. You don’t need a degree in computer science to figure it out. This article will give you the lowdown on what to expect from these services.

Both SharePoint and OneDrive are cloud-based services from Microsoft that allow you to store, share, and sync files across different devices. SharePoint was released in 2001 and reportedly has over 190 million users. OneDrive, on the other hand, was launched in 2007 and has more than 250 million users.

SharePoint is marketed mainly as a document management and storage system, but it can be configured to do much more than that. OneDrive, which was previously known as SkyDrive and Windows Live Folders, is part of the Office suite of online services.

What the two have in common
For starters, both platforms make use of Office 365 to help companies organize information and share this with others. To keep things secure, documents go to a cloud drive, so employees can easily track changes in a single file that is stored in one central location. One of the main reasons these platforms are so popular is because users can add comments and notes using real-time collaboration. Since data can be synchronized and is readily available, everyone sees the most up-to-date information regardless of how they view the document.

With OneDrive, it’s personal
OneDrive makes use of a SharePoint backdrop to work. This connects the two programs. The difference is that OneDrive is made for an individual, and the user remains in control even if the file is shared to different people. This means multiple teams can collaborate simultaneously as long as the original owner shares the document via a secure link. That person determines who can edit and view the file.

There’s more to SharePoint
With SharePoint, employees throughout the company can view and edit the stored file. Changes are tracked and higher-ups will know who is working on the document. This is ideal for human resource surveys or updates that need the attention of other team members.

With SharePoint and OneDrive, businesses can improve the way they work. If you want to learn how online document sharing programs can improve your company’s visibility and productivity, get in touch with us now. We’re here for you.

Storing files in the cloud is common nowadays, making things convenient for business owners who want to manage their data on the go. But the number of ways to do this can be daunting, especially to the uninitiated. Don’t get lost in the sea of options. This handy guide will tell you whether SharePoint or OneDrive is right for you.

Both SharePoint and OneDrive help business owners manage and share data. But selecting the best platform can be difficult and give anyone a big headache. For instant relief, here’s a quick reference to help you choose wisely.

Office 365 comes with different storage and sharing options to make business owners more productive. Two of these are OneDrive and SharePoint, both of which have a long list of features and benefits. Which option is best for you? Keep reading for the answer.

Looking for a secure platform to manage your files? Where do you go for help? Should you choose SharePoint or settle for OneDrive instead? If any of those terms sound Greek to you, don’t worry. You don’t need a degree in computer science to figure it out. This article will give you the lowdown on what to expect from these services.

Both SharePoint and OneDrive are cloud-based services from Microsoft that allow you to store, share, and sync files across different devices. SharePoint was released in 2001 and reportedly has over 190 million users. OneDrive, on the other hand, was launched in 2007 and has more than 250 million users.

SharePoint is marketed mainly as a document management and storage system, but it can be configured to do much more than that. OneDrive, which was previously known as SkyDrive and Windows Live Folders, is part of the Office suite of online services.

What the two have in common
For starters, both platforms make use of Office 365 to help companies organize information and share this with others. To keep things secure, documents go to a cloud drive, so employees can easily track changes in a single file that is stored in one central location. One of the main reasons these platforms are so popular is because users can add comments and notes using real-time collaboration. Since data can be synchronized and is readily available, everyone sees the most up-to-date information regardless of how they view the document.

With OneDrive, it’s personal
OneDrive makes use of a SharePoint backdrop to work. This connects the two programs. The difference is that OneDrive is made for an individual, and the user remains in control even if the file is shared to different people. This means multiple teams can collaborate simultaneously as long as the original owner shares the document via a secure link. That person determines who can edit and view the file.

There’s more to SharePoint
With SharePoint, employees throughout the company can view and edit the stored file. Changes are tracked and higher-ups will know who is working on the document. This is ideal for human resource surveys or updates that need the attention of other team members.

With SharePoint and OneDrive, businesses can improve the way they work. If you want to learn how online document sharing programs can improve your company’s visibility and productivity, get in touch with us now. We’re here for you.

Office 365 comes with different storage and sharing options to make business owners more productive. Two of these are OneDrive and SharePoint, both of which have a long list of features and benefits. Which option is best for you? Keep reading for the answer.

Looking for a secure platform to manage your files? Where do you go for help? Should you choose SharePoint or settle for OneDrive instead? If any of those terms sound Greek to you, don’t worry. You don’t need a degree in computer science to figure it out. This article will give you the lowdown on what to expect from these services.

Both SharePoint and OneDrive are cloud-based services from Microsoft that allow you to store, share, and sync files across different devices. SharePoint was released in 2001 and reportedly has over 190 million users. OneDrive, on the other hand, was launched in 2007 and has more than 250 million users.

SharePoint is marketed mainly as a document management and storage system, but it can be configured to do much more than that. OneDrive, which was previously known as SkyDrive and Windows Live Folders, is part of the Office suite of online services.

What the two have in common
For starters, both platforms make use of Office 365 to help companies organize information and share this with others. To keep things secure, documents go to a cloud drive, so employees can easily track changes in a single file that is stored in one central location. One of the main reasons these platforms are so popular is because users can add comments and notes using real-time collaboration. Since data can be synchronized and is readily available, everyone sees the most up-to-date information regardless of how they view the document.

With OneDrive, it’s personal
OneDrive makes use of a SharePoint backdrop to work. This connects the two programs. The difference is that OneDrive is made for an individual, and the user remains in control even if the file is shared to different people. This means multiple teams can collaborate simultaneously as long as the original owner shares the document via a secure link. That person determines who can edit and view the file.

There’s more to SharePoint
With SharePoint, employees throughout the company can view and edit the stored file. Changes are tracked and higher-ups will know who is working on the document. This is ideal for human resource surveys or updates that need the attention of other team members.

With SharePoint and OneDrive, businesses can improve the way they work. If you want to learn how online document sharing programs can improve your company’s visibility and productivity, get in touch with us now. We’re here for you.

Microsoft used its Ignite conference in Orlando, Florida, today to announce a number of new features that are coming to Office 365. Given the company’s current focus on AI, it’s no surprise that most of these new features are powered by AI in one form or another. That means all of your Office apps, on- and offline, will soon become a little bit easier to use and offer you more assistance.

The most interesting of these new features is called Ideas. With Ideas, Microsoft is rolling out a unified experience in tools like Excel and PowerPoint (with others to follow), that aim to help you save time on everyday tasks. That may be figuring out a specific design and layout in PowerPoint, or finding images for your presentation. In Excel, Ideas may suggest which charts to use or help you discover outliers in your data. This feature is now generally available in Excel and coming to PowerPoint Online as a preview in the near future. Chances are we’ll see it pop up in other Office apps soon. And yes, feel free to insert your own favorite Clippy joke here.

Excel is getting a few additional new AI features, too. Microsoft previously announced data types in Excel at Ignite 2017 — and launched into preview earlier this year. Now this feature, which helps you turn references to stocks and geographies into rich data that you can easily extend and manipulate in a spreadsheet, is generally available. The company is also bringing image recognition to Excel. This nifty new tool lets you convert a picture of a data table into… you guessed it… an Excel file. The name of this tool? Data from Picture. It’s now available in public preview.

Microsoft also notes that it is making Excel faster by speeding up lookup-type functions.

There’s another new feature here, too, that isn’t directly about AI but will still make using Office easier. Microsoft Search is a new search capability that will soon roll out to Bing and Office.com (and later to Microsoft Edge, Windows and Office) and use data from the Microsoft Graph and AI tech from Bing to offer a better and more cohesive search experience.

Microsoft notes that these new search features will also be able to index internal documents so that you can now ask questions like “Can I bring my wife and kids on a work trip?” and see an HR document that tells you that you can’t.

If you’ve ever attended a video meeting and wished that the speakers used really expensive cameras and lenses that allowed for that soft classy background blur of a portrait photo, then Microsoft wants to make that wish come true. The company announced a number of updates to Microsoft Teams today, and one of those is a feature that automatically detects faces and blurs the background behind a speaker.

While background blur is nice (or at least we have to assume it will be because we haven’t been able to try it yet), the more useful new feature in Teams is intelligent recordings. Teams can now automatically generate captions and provide time-coded transcripts for the replays. This feature is coming to Office 365 commercial customers now.

Microsoft first demoed these new transcription capabilities at its Build developer conference earlier this year. In that demo, the transcription service was able to distinguish between speakers and create a real-time transcript of the meeting.

If you want to create live streams and on-demand video for a wider audience inside your company, Teams is also getting that capability next month, together with Microsoft Stream and Yammer (which seems to be lingering in the shadow of Teams these days).