Key Takeaways
The completeness of vision and ability to execute highlight Microsoft's lead over it's competitors
Seamless integration of security across cloud services and "baked-in" protection
A commitment to education through initiatives such as Cyber Signals research report
Microsoft's investment in Security makes it the largest global security company
Recently I had a conversation with an Enterprise customer who was considering choosing Microsoft as their cyber security provider for their digital estate. The client asked me to justify why I would recommend Microsoft's security solutions and this prompted me to share my thoughts with my network and the wider community.
Here are my top two reasons why every business, large or small, should be considering Microsoft for protection of your estate.
The Investment
Microsoft have quadrupled their security investment to $4b per annum and this now asserts Microsoft as the largest global security company. However in my opinion, they are also the most critical player, as a vast majority of us all use some form of Microsoft's products. With a purpose built Cybersecurity Defence Operations Centre (CDOC) which undertakes significant ongoing research into threat evolution, as well as 24x7 security operations that monitor all Microsoft platforms (Bing, Xbox, Azure, 365, Windows), the company's commitment to improving cyber security is compelling. And compelling is the word that frequently comes to mind, when you understand Microsoft's capability and how it compares to its competitors.
The completeness of vision
Do I need to write anything further than what is presented in the infographic below?
I could easily write a thousand words on each of Microsoft's 40 categories, but to save you from the drone of my voice in your head, let me quickly focus on two that I think represent evolution - evolution of threat campaigns and evolution of mitigation tactics.
IoT Protection
Hear me out. While many may think of IoT as a mesh of sensors and raspberry PI's across global networks for large Enterprises, on the contrary, every person, everywhere has an impact in the IoT space. Check out this recent blog from Microsoft on how their CDOC analysts uncovered the evolution of the Trickbot malware over the past six years. The malware has evolved to target MicroTik routers - arguably one of the most deployed in-home routers, worldwide. The Internet of Things is at your doorstep and in your home and Microsoft are proactively helping to protect you.
User Education
And there's that word again, compelling. Microsoft have gone to significant lengths to improve the user understanding of risk and, just as importantly, help cloud engineers understand the threats and mitigation tactics that can be employed to reduce risk. They’ve baked it into the foundation of their platforms and they are making it super easy for you to consume the information available - right from within their security products. When you think of Microsoft, the term democratising, is never far behind. And like they democratised the Personal Computer, they are now on a path to democratise cyber security, demystifying the complex tactics employed by threat actors and empowering people to take action.
Integration of the Mitre Att&ck framework into the Defender tools is just the beginning of Microsoft's efforts to increase user understanding. Recently Microsoft announced the launch of Cyber Signals, a threat intelligence brief informed by the latest Microsoft threat data and research, released quarterly. In addition there is a truck load of relevant and significant documentation available through Microsoft Docs, Microsoft Learn and Microsoft Mechanics that provides Technical guidance to help security professionals build and implement cybersecurity strategy, architecture, and prioritised roadmaps.
Last year, Wrive was invited to partake in the Microsoft Cyber Accelerator Program, which is an incubator designed to upskill and support nominated partners to be able to deliver best-in-class Microsoft Security Solutions. As a Microsoft Certified Silver Security Partner, Wrive can offer a series of workshops with your team to help educate further on the capabilities of the Microsoft's Security tools. There are a number of workshops available in the catalogue including Compliance, Sensitive Data Discovery, Identity and Threat Protection.
The Threat Protection Workshop provides an assessment of your digital estates security posture, risk and compliance. This 30 day assessment of your environment helps to benchmark your infrastructure against industry standards and helps start your journey towards a more secure digital estate.
To understand more about the Security Workshops that Wrive can offer, pop an email through to myself or the team at workshop@wrive.io
PD