Microsoft Teams Security Updates August 2020

Communication giants worldwide are adding new security features almost daily to inspire trust in their users.

 

So it comes as no surprise that Microsoft has gone above and beyond when it comes to enforcing compliance and security for its Teams app.

 

 

 

With millions of users globally, keeping the community safe for cyber threats has been at the forefront of Microsoft's commitments. Teams Security measures now cover the following:

 

2FA, SSO, and data encryption – Access to the app is protected by team-wide and organisation-wide authentication. You can use single sign-on through Active Directory, and there is also encryption of data both in-transit and at rest. Note that private channels on Teams are yet to receive the full set of security features – Microsoft is reportedly working on it.  

2 Factor Authentication - Access to the Teams app is protected by both team and organisation-wide authentication.

 

Single Sign-On - Single sign-on is available through Active Directory.

 

Data Encryption - Encryption of data is both in-transit and at rest. 

Teams private channel security features are currently in development.

 

Advanced Threat Protection - ATP applies to all apps that deal with content, giving you the ability to block access immediately if the content is malicious. When configuring Teams ATP Microsoft recommends you consider as many apps as possible to increase your level of protection.

 

Safe Attachments - This feature allows administrators to create policies for tackling malicious attachments.

 

Safe Links - Coming soon, this will allow you to share ATP-verified safe links via Teams. 

 

Microsoft also pays close attention to compliance. Administrators are given several ways to manage compliance when using the app, for example, barriers can be set to prevent individuals or groups form communicating with one another.

 

Data retention policies can be configured to store information for a mandated time period and unrequired data can be retired.

 

Other Microsoft Teams compliance capabilities of note include:  

 

• Communication compliance – Scan internal communication to ensure compliance with internal policies  
• Data loss prevention (DLP) – Prevent users from sharing sensitive data with inappropriate parties  
• e-Discovery (standard and advanced) – Surface historical data in response to the regulatory summons  
• Legal-hold – Preserve data as immutable during ongoing litigations  
• Compliance content search – Export searched and filtered data to a container for compliance support  
• Auditing and reporting Set alerts and report on audit events through audit log search  
• View data locations - You can view the physical location of your hosted data from within the Teams admin centre.
• Compliance standards - Teams follows the ISO 27001, ISO 27018, SSAE16 SOC 1 and SOC 2, HIPAA, and EU Model Clauses (EUMC) compliance standards

 

 

Why Atlas Support?