Email was not designed with security as a requirement. In fact, all "security" that involves email was bolted on after the fact. Here are four areas that were bolted on that should be part of your secure email basics.

Utilize MFA, for real

We have beat on this drum for over five years now, and people are still not using it.

The remote work shift puts the management of devices, applications, and data front and center in the security discussion. The firewall, local Active Directory, and VPN solutions typically don't scale or take into account the vast number of variables when users want to work from any device at any time.

The question is not whether or not you are using Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), but rather, are you using it securely? Microsoft has steadily improved the default security settings but it still requires some experience to get it 100% there. The amount of attacks on the M365 is astounding, specifically with phishing attempts to gain user passwords.

Collaboration is the act of working with someone to produce or create something. In today's workplace the words "in real time" need to be added to this. Sending emails back and forth is not collaboration, and it is certainly not productive! When working remotely it is critical to standardize on a collaboration application across your organization.

Going from servers to services is a lot like playing a game of Jenga. You have to pull out all the various blocks (apps) without knocking over the tower (your business). You can go for the slow methodical method, or the "turn if off and see who complains" method.

The new Microsoft Edge browser has finally caught up to Google's Chrome browser, and the timing is great. The #wfh transition means that more personal devices are being utilized to access corporate resources. Often this is done via a web browser, which means your corporate security could depend on what browser they are using!

Microsoft transitioned to the Chromium-based engine for the new Edge browser which was released in January 2020. The move to the Chromium engine means that your favorite Chrome extensions will work in addition to the enhanced speed and page loads it provides.

Workforce collaboration has changed. We aren't going back to conference rooms full of people, and that's a good thing. When you are recalibrating your technology plan enabling cloud collaboration should be a part of it. This is more than video conferencing and screen sharing.

Many companies will eventually need to decide whether they should keep customer and other highly confidential information on their on-premise servers or in the cloud. When the time comes to make this type of decision it can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, this is where Azure Active Directory (AD), an identity management tool comes in to play.

All of us have deadlines to meet, projects to implement, meetings to attend, and a lengthy to-do list on hand. Keeping track of all the tasks you must take care of in the workplace is without a doubt challenging as daily responsibilities start piling up.

There are many features of Microsoft 365 that some users don't know exists as part of their subscription. In fact, a lot of individuals with access to this plan are aware it includes all Office applications, Microsoft Teams, and OneDrive, but not much else.