How Secure is Microsoft OneDrive for Business?
Explore how to secure Microsoft OneDrive for business against cyber threats with encryption, real-time monitoring, and DLP solutions.
OneDrive integrates with Windows, offering AES 256-bit encryption and two-factor authentication.
Common Security Risks
Best practices to enhancing security in OneDrive
In August 2023, it was discovered that Microsoft OneDrive, which holds over half of all sensitive Microsoft Office documents, could be exploited by hackers through a ransomware attack. This exposed a significant security flaw between Windows and security systems, highlighting concerns about the safety of storing sensitive information on cloud services.
As we explore the security features of Microsoft OneDrive, a question arises: Can we trust that our data is truly secure in the cloud, or are we potentially putting ourselves at risk without even realizing it?
Besides serving as a cloud storage, Microsoft's OneDrive enables users to easily manage their documents, contacts, notes, passwords, and photos across all Windows devices.
Due to this broad integration, Microsoft prioritizes securing your data with AES 256-bit standard for all uploads, downloads, and backups, providing a high level of encryption. Additionally, they offer two-factor authentication to further protect against unauthorized access. To ensure the safety of your information during transmission, OneDrive also implements the SSL/TLS encryption standard.
But the question is, is this enough?
However, OneDrive faces the same security risks as other cloud applications, which can lead to data corruption, loss, or theft. Below are the security concerns related to Microsoft OneDrive categorized into five key areas:
Also read: Strac DLP Shields Office 365 Data from Breaches
Organizations can implement the best practices below to minimize cyber threats and breaches:
Implementing Data Loss Prevention (DLP) in OneDrive is essential for protecting sensitive information within your organization. By setting up DLP policies, you can monitor and control the sharing of sensitive data, ensuring compliance with various regulatory requirements.
Implement this by requiring a password and a verification code from an application like Microsoft Authenticator during account logins, including services like OneDrive. The verification code can be delivered via phone call, SMS, or a third-party app, adding an extra layer of security. MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) significantly improves the protection of login credentials and encourages practices that mitigate the risk of phishing and other cyber threats.
Ensure all company devices that can access OneDrive are equipped with encryption. This way, if an employee misplaces their phone, the data on OneDrive will stay protected and inaccessible to unauthorized users.
Conduct quarterly cybersecurity training for employees that educates them on phishing attack simulations and how to identify, report, and evade phishing. Advise against storing sensitive information like passwords and payment details on OneDrive, particularly within shared folders and stress the importance of vigilance with links and attachments from unfamiliar sources.
Implement a system that automates the deployment of security updates Regularly update operating systems and applications to avoid any security gaps or software vulnerabilities. Enabling the auto-update feature for Windows will ensure that all necessary updates are installed automatically, reducing the risk of any potential issues arising from outdated software.
The Office 365 admin center implements and enforces security policies that can automatically disable accounts with suspicious activity, such as repeated failed login attempts. This tool is valuable for security administrators who need to manage Office 365 and configure OneDrive security settings. With these measures in place, potential issues and vulnerabilities can be detected and addressed without extensive manual intervention.
While OneDrive's built-in security tools are not enough to fully protect your data and ensure recoverability, installing a third-party solution will provide the necessary backup and restore capabilities in the event of a disaster or breach. Set up a strong backup system that automatically saves your OneDrive data. This will allow you to recover any lost or compromised information without having to pay a ransom if you experience a ransomware attack.
Strac OneDrive DLP Solution offers real-time monitoring, automated data classification, redaction capabilities, intelligent alerting system, and compliance management. Strac simplifies compliance management, provides audit trails and reporting features, and offers a user-friendly and customizable interface. One of our clients on G2 stated,
Strac One Drive DLP solution protects businesses with the following core features:
Strac OneDrive DLP solution keeps track of user activity, identifying and alerting any unauthorized or suspicious access to sensitive information in real time. With real-time monitoring and data classification features, Strac DLP protects confidential information on OneDrive.
The Strac OneDrive DLP feature automatically categorizes data according to its level of sensitivity and compliance, effectively managing and tagging information to protect sensitive data.
With Strac's advanced automated redaction capabilities, you can ensure the security and privacy of your data is well-maintained. This feature lets you easily remove or mask any sensitive information in documents before sharing or downloading them.
Strac OneDrive DLP provides efficient and reliable alerts for potential data leaks or breaches. It utilizes advanced machine learning algorithms to ensure high accuracy and reduce false positives, avoiding alert fatigue.
Strac OneDrive DLP is a powerful compliance management tool specifically designed to ensure regulatory compliance on the OneDrive platform. Its ability to identify regulated data and enforce regulatory policies simplifies the process of staying compliant. Additionally, it offers useful features such as audit trails and detailed reporting to help demonstrate compliance during audits.
Strac is a highly customizable tool designed to cater to your specific needs on OneDrive. It offers a user-friendly interface with detailed reporting and analysis of all sensitive data stored on OneDrive, including information on shared files and their distribution over time. With Strac, you can easily manage and monitor your OneDrive data in a way that suits you best.