How Secure is SharePoint Online for Your Data?

SharePoint Online, a prominent service offered by Microsoft, provides a secure data storage, collaboration, and management environment. It integrates seamlessly with various Microsoft tools, offering a unified and safe workspace. As businesses increasingly migrate to cloud environments, understanding SharePoint Online security and compliance becomes paramount.

Despite the robust security features, SharePoint Online is not immune to cyber threats. In June 2023, a ransomware attack successfully infiltrated SharePoint Online through a Microsoft Global SaaS admin account, bypassing traditional endpoint security measures. This blog post focuses on how secure Sharepoint Online is, highlighting its strengths and enhancing SharePoint Online security to improve data security in the cloud. Let’s begin.

Is SharePoint Online Secure?

SharePoint Online, part of Microsoft 365, offers a robust set of features to safeguard organizational data. It employs multi-layered protection, adheres to numerous compliance standards, and supports encryption both during data transmission and at rest.

Nonetheless, the June 2023 ransomware attack—a high-profile case where a Microsoft Global SaaS admin account was compromised—revealed that even substantial security investments may not fully deter sophisticated threats if administrative privileges are misused. By recognizing SharePoint Online’s potential vulnerabilities, organizations can implement a proactive data protection strategy that goes beyond native functionalities.

How Secure Is Sharepoint Online: Protecting Sensitive Data in SharePoint Online with Data Loss Prevention

Three Levels of SharePoint Security

SharePoint security can be viewed across three critical levels: infrastructure, user, and content. Each level demands particular attention and well-defined controls to ensure that sensitive information stays protected from internal mishaps and external attacks.

Infrastructure Level Security

At the infrastructure level, Microsoft handles server security, data center maintenance, and robust encryption measures like BitLocker drive encryption and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit keys for data at rest. 

Additionally, continuous monitoring is performed to detect potential anomalies in data center operations. While this foundational security is strong, administrators should still enforce multifactor authentication (MFA), conditional access, and regular vulnerability assessments to further strengthen the environment.

User Level Security

User-level security focuses on both authenticating legitimate users and regulating their activities. Organizations can rely on Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) for identity management, enabling MFA and conditional access policies to mitigate account compromise. 

Proper permission structures, including the principle of least privilege, ensure that authorized users have just enough access to perform their roles. Continuous auditing and insider threat monitoring tools can also detect abnormal or suspicious behavior more effectively.

Content Level Security

SharePoint Online stores diverse types of organizational content, from general documents to highly sensitive data. Native SharePoint permissions management and data classification can help restrict unauthorized access. 

However, organizations handling proprietary or regulated information often require more granular controls, such as advanced Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies, encryption at the file level, and strict external sharing policies. Administrators may also disable default external sharing features or restrict them on a per-site basis to reduce inadvertent data exposure.

How Secure Is Sharepoint Online: Strac DLP

How Does SharePoint Online Secure Data?

Microsoft uses several mechanisms to secure data stored in SharePoint Online. These mechanisms protect data:

1. At Rest: Through AES 256-bit encryption and BitLocker.
2. In Transit: Via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols, safeguarding data as it moves between users and servers.
3. Across Networks: With built-in measures to thwart malware, ransomware, and other infiltration techniques.

Additionally, compliance frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2 are supported by Microsoft 365, offering organizations a way to align SharePoint policies with broader legal mandates.

Key Components of SharePoint Online

SharePoint Online’s security framework encompasses four main components: Authentication and Access Controls, Data Protection and Compliance, External Sharing Management, and Microsoft 365 Security Practices. Each component offers distinct features that administrators can adjust to fit organizational needs and risk thresholds.

1. Authentication and Access Controls

SharePoint Online leverages Azure AD to authenticate users and manage authorization. By implementing multifactor authentication, the risk of unauthorized access is significantly reduced. Conditional access rules further tailor which users or devices can log in based on factors like location and device health. Administrators can employ:

• Privileged Access Management: Restricts who can manage critical tasks to minimize compromise risk.
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Ensures that team members only see and act on resources relevant to their roles.

2. Data Protection and Compliance

Microsoft’s native DLP features help detect and block the sharing of sensitive data (e.g., payment card information, social security numbers). However, some organizations may require more sophisticated controls. Third-party solutions, like Strac’s Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), augment SharePoint’s native capabilities with:

• Automated scanning and classification of files (including PII, PHI, PCI).
• Real-time policy enforcement for more granular DLP actions.
• Compliance auditing for regulations such as PCI-DSS, HIPAA, or GDPR.

How Secure Is Sharepoint Online: ISO 27001 Data Classification: Discover all PII Data in Cloud Storage Drives

3. External Sharing Management

SharePoint Online allows seamless document collaboration with external parties. While this accelerates business workflows, unregulated sharing practices can lead to data leaks. Administrators can impose restrictions at the tenant level, site level, or per individual. They can also leverage advanced scanning tools like Strac’s SaaS DLP to detect and redact sensitive information before it falls into unauthorized hands.

1. How to Manage Sharing Settings

• Configure tenant-wide sharing settings to the minimum necessary.
• Decide whether sharing links require authentication or if anonymous access is permitted.
• Earmark content that must never be externally shared and apply stricter DLP policies.

2. How to Manage External Collaboration

• Create guest accounts for trusted external partners.
• Apply time-bound access where collaboration is needed only for a specific duration.
• Audit external link usage regularly and revoke outdated or risky shares.

4. SharePoint Online and Microsoft 365 Security Practices

Shared security features across Microsoft 365 include threat analytics, endpoint protection, and advanced monitoring tools like Microsoft 365 Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). These solutions help detect phishing attempts and suspicious sign-ins in real-time. Integrating these services with products like Strac’s Sensitive Data Discovery and Classification ensures comprehensive controls over all data points, from endpoints to cloud repositories.

Limitations of SharePoint Online Security

While SharePoint Online offers a strong foundation for data security, like any cloud-based platform, it comes with certain limitations that organizations need to be aware of. Below are some key areas where SharePoint Online security may fall short and could require additional measures or third-party solutions for enhanced protection.

1. Limited Native Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Capabilities

SharePoint Online provides built-in Data Loss Prevention (DLP) features, but they are often insufficient for organizations with complex or highly sensitive data protection needs. The default DLP policies may not cover all data types, such as proprietary intellectual property, industry-specific data, or certain file formats, leading to potential data leaks. Additionally, DLP policies in SharePoint are typically rule-based and may lack the granularity required to monitor and remediate data sharing across diverse business workflows.

Potential Issues:

• Predefined DLP templates may not cover specific sensitive data unique to your organization.
• Limited remediation actions for non-compliance or unintentional data exposure.
• Ineffective in environments with complex data sharing and collaboration needs.

Mitigation:

Implement a third-party DLP solution like Strac that offers more customizable and granular DLP policies, real-time data scanning, and remediation capabilities.

2. Insufficient Protection Against Insider Threats

One of the significant challenges in securing SharePoint Online is the risk of insider threats. Employees or internal users with authorized access may intentionally or unintentionally expose sensitive data. SharePoint’s native security features do not provide advanced monitoring of user behavior or internal activity, such as unusual downloads, access attempts, or sharing of sensitive information.

Potential Issues:

• Authorized users can share or expose sensitive data without triggering security alerts.
• Lack of detailed activity monitoring or alerts for suspicious internal behavior.
• Limited visibility into real-time file movements across SharePoint libraries and user devices.

Mitigation:

Use insider threat monitoring solutions and behavioral analytics tools that integrate with SharePoint Online to detect unusual access patterns and alert administrators in real time. Implement privileged access management to limit access to critical files and areas of SharePoint.

3. Limited Visibility Into External Sharing

SharePoint Online allows seamless external sharing of files with third parties, which can introduce security risks if not properly managed. While Microsoft offers some controls over external sharing, these features may lack the granularity needed to manage large volumes of shared content securely. Organizations may struggle to track what is shared externally, with whom, and for how long.

Potential Issues:

• External sharing settings may not offer granular control, potentially leading to overexposure of sensitive data.
• Difficulty tracking all shared links and who has accessed them, especially over time.
• Files set to “public” access could be inadvertently shared, exposing confidential data.

Mitigation:

Implement strict external sharing policies and use third-party DLP tools like Strac to automatically detect and remediate shared files that expose sensitive data. Additionally, use SharePoint permissions management tools for granular control over who can share files and under what conditions.

4. Limited Audit Capabilities for Complex Compliance Needs

While SharePoint Online provides audit logs for tracking user activities, the native logging capabilities may not be sufficient for organizations with complex compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS). The default audit logs can be difficult to navigate, lack detailed information, and are retained for limited periods depending on the Microsoft 365 plan.

Potential Issues:

• Native audit logs may not capture detailed actions or provide long-term retention for compliance reporting.
• Difficulty filtering and analyzing large volumes of log data for specific incidents.
• Limited capabilities for meeting industry-specific compliance needs.

Mitigation:

Integrate SharePoint Online with more advanced logging and auditing solutions, such as Microsoft 365 Advanced Audit or third-party SIEM solutions, to extend logging retention, improve audit log analysis, and enhance compliance reporting.

Compliance and Regulatory Standards in SharePoint Online

One of the significant advantages of using SharePoint Online is its ability to help organizations meet regulatory and compliance requirements. Microsoft’s cloud services, including SharePoint Online, adhere to numerous industry standards, such as:

• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
• HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
• ISO/IEC 27001
• FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program)

Additionally, SharePoint Online provides tools like Audit Logs and eDiscovery to support compliance efforts, enabling organizations to track user activities and access historical data when needed.

Several key features complement SharePoint’s security and compliance framework:

• Data loss prevention: DLP in SharePoint Online helps organizations identify, monitor, and protect sensitive information in SharePoint.
• Customer key management: This feature allows organizations to control their encryption keys and meet specific compliance requirements that mandate control over access to data at rest.
• Compliance Center: SharePoint’s compliance center enables organizations to manage their compliance posture effectively. It provides insights into regulatory compliance performance, helps identify risks, and offers recommendations to improve compliance.

Best Practices for Strengthening SharePoint Online Security

While SharePoint Online comes with a range of built-in security features, organizations can further enhance security by following best practices:

• Implement a Strong Access Control Policy: Regularly review permissions and access levels for all users. Ensure that least privilege access is enforced and that only those who need access to specific data have it.
• Enable MFA for All Users: Multi-factor authentication should be mandatory for all users accessing SharePoint Online, ensuring that even if credentials are compromised, an additional verification step is required.
• Monitor User Activities: Use SharePoint's audit log reports and Microsoft 365 Security Center to regularly monitor user activities. This helps identify suspicious behavior or unauthorized access attempts early.
• Regularly Review DLP Policies: DLP policies should be reviewed and updated periodically to ensure they align with your organization's evolving security and compliance needs.
• Train Employees on Security Best Practices: Employees should be trained on recognizing phishing attempts, handling sensitive data securely, and following the organization’s security policies when using SharePoint.

Tips for Enhancing SharePoint Online Security

Organizations can combine Microsoft’s native functionality with best practices and third-party tools to create a multi-faceted defense. Below are some recommendations:

1. Implement Zero-Trust Principles
   Continuously validate every request made by users, devices, or applications—even if they are inside the organizational network. This approach ensures each access request is explicitly verified and authorized.
2. Automate Security Risk Reviews
   Automate tasks such as reviewing external shares, permissions, and user activities. Regularly auditing these settings prevents oversights that might lead to data exposure.
3. Bolster Data Loss Prevention
   Native DLP can be supplemented by more advanced solutions to detect and remediate data leaks instantly. Tools like Strac’s Integration with ChatGPT DLP or Strac Integrations help spot confidential information, correct misconfigurations, and reduce human errors.

Chrome Extension DLP. Chat GPT DLP: Detect & Redact PII and Sensitive Data like PHI, PCI

4. Enable Advanced Logging & Auditing
   Basic SharePoint Online audit logs may not capture detailed information required for rigorous compliance. Integrating with Microsoft 365 Advanced Audit or a third-party SIEM solution allows extended retention, more granular logs, and improved forensic capabilities.
5. Regularly Review Storage and Accessibility
   Periodic checks on site and document library structures can prevent overly permissive practices. Identifying stale sites, orphaned files, or expired guest accounts helps reduce potential attack surfaces.
6. Train Users and Administrators
   Human error remains a leading cause of data breaches. Educating employees about safe sharing practices, recognizing phishing attempts, and following password hygiene can mitigate threats.

By combining SharePoint Online’s built-in capabilities with specialized third party solutions, organizations can create a robust data protection framework. Proactive measures—ranging from user-level security enhancements to advanced DLP policy enforcement—ensure that SharePoint Online data remains secure and compliant, even if a malicious actor manages to bypass conventional defenses.

By following these best practices and leveraging advanced solutions, organizations can transform SharePoint Online into a highly secure and compliant platform for storing, managing, and collaborating on critical data.

How Does Strac Enhance Security and Compliance in SharePoint Online?

As organizations increasingly rely on SharePoint Online for collaboration and content management, ensuring the security of sensitive data and maintaining regulatory compliance becomes paramount. While SharePoint Online provides robust native security features, companies handling highly sensitive or regulated data often require advanced security measures. This is where Strac, a leading Data Discovery, Data Loss Prevention (DLP), and Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) solution, steps in to provide enhanced security and compliance capabilities that go beyond what SharePoint offers natively.

In this post, we’ll explore how Strac integrates with SharePoint Online to offer comprehensive protection, covering aspects like data discovery, classification, and remediation, as well as helping organizations meet complex compliance requirements.

1. Automated Data Discovery and Classification

One of the primary challenges organizations face is the inability to locate and classify sensitive data within SharePoint libraries. SharePoint’s native tools may lack the depth required to discover all sensitive content scattered across multiple sites, libraries, and documents. Strac excels in automated data discovery by scanning all files and identifying sensitive data, including Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Payment Card Information (PCI), and Protected Health Information (PHI), among other data types.

Key Features:

• Comprehensive scanning: Strac scans all documents, folders, and libraries within SharePoint Online to locate sensitive information.
• Pre-configured and custom classifiers: Strac uses both pre-configured classifiers for common data types (such as social security numbers, credit card details, and health records) and allows for the creation of custom classifiers to meet unique business needs.
• Real-time alerts: As soon as sensitive data is identified, Strac generates real-time alerts for administrators to take immediate action.

This automated discovery and classification capability not only improves visibility but also ensures that sensitive data is protected throughout its lifecycle, from creation to sharing and archiving.

2. Granular Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Policies

While SharePoint Online provides basic DLP functionality, it may not offer the level of granularity that organizations need to secure all their data effectively. Strac enhances DLP by offering advanced, customizable policies that can be tailored to specific regulatory requirements or business needs.

Key Features:

• Customizable DLP rules: Strac allows administrators to define highly granular DLP policies, including those that automatically detect and protect sensitive data based on content, user behavior, or context.
• Automated remediation: Upon detecting a DLP violation, Strac can automatically take action, such as redacting sensitive information, blocking file access, or restricting sharing permissions to prevent data leakage.
• User education and pop-ups: Strac also supports DLP policies that notify or educate users about potential risks without immediately blocking the action. This helps build a culture of security awareness within the organization.

By enforcing these advanced DLP policies, Strac ensures that sensitive information remains protected across SharePoint Online, whether during internal collaboration or external sharing.

3. Real-Time Data Remediation

In addition to discovery and classification, Strac excels in real-time remediation, a critical feature for preventing data leaks and ensuring compliance. Once sensitive data is identified, Strac offers multiple remediation actions to ensure data is handled securely.

Key Features:

• Redaction and masking: Sensitive information within documents can be automatically redacted or masked, ensuring that only authorized individuals can view the full content.
• Restricting file sharing: If sensitive data is found in files shared externally, Strac can automatically change sharing permissions, limiting access to only authorized personnel or revoking external sharing entirely.
• Bulk remediation: For large organizations, manually remediating sensitive files is impractical. Strac allows for bulk remediation actions, making it easy for administrators to enforce security policies across hundreds or thousands of files simultaneously.

These real-time remediation capabilities ensure that even if sensitive data is mistakenly uploaded or shared, it is immediately secured, reducing the risk of data breaches and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations.

4. Compliance Management and Reporting

Meeting regulatory requirements like GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and SOC 2 can be challenging for organizations that store sensitive data in SharePoint Online. Strac helps simplify compliance management by offering comprehensive tools for auditing, reporting, and real-time monitoring of sensitive data.

Key Features:

• Audit logs and activity tracking: Strac provides detailed audit logs that track every interaction with sensitive data, including who accessed it, when, and any actions performed (e.g., sharing, editing, downloading).
• Compliance templates: Pre-built compliance templates allow organizations to quickly configure policies that align with regulatory requirements. For example, HIPAA-compliant policies can be automatically enforced on PHI-related documents.
• Compliance dashboards: Strac’s compliance dashboards provide a high-level overview of sensitive data locations, policy violations, and remediation actions, giving security teams a clear understanding of their data security posture at all times.

With Strac, organizations can ensure that they are continuously meeting compliance obligations, reducing the risk of audits, fines, and reputational damage.

5. Improved External Sharing Controls

SharePoint Online allows users to share documents and files externally, which can lead to unintentional data exposure. Native SharePoint controls may lack the granularity required to manage external sharing effectively, especially for organizations that frequently collaborate with third-party vendors, partners, or clients.

Key Features:

• External sharing monitoring: Strac continuously monitors external sharing activities and flags any potentially risky behavior, such as sharing sensitive files with external domains or making files publicly accessible.
• Access expiration policies: Administrators can set access expiration dates on shared files, ensuring that external users do not retain access indefinitely.
• Dynamic access control: Strac provides dynamic access controls based on the sensitivity of the document, automatically adjusting permissions as needed to minimize risks associated with external sharing.

These enhanced external sharing controls provide peace of mind that sensitive data is not unintentionally exposed to unauthorized parties during collaboration.

6. Enhanced Data Visibility Across Platforms

SharePoint Online is often used in conjunction with other cloud services like OneDrive, Teams, Outlook, and external collaboration tools. Without a unified view of where sensitive data resides and how it’s being shared, organizations face increased risks of data loss and compliance breaches.

Key Features:

• Cross-platform data discovery: Strac provides visibility into sensitive data across multiple Microsoft 365 services, including SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams, and Outlook. This ensures that sensitive data is protected across all platforms.
• Unified dashboards: Strac’s unified dashboards consolidate data from SharePoint Online and other cloud services, providing a single pane of glass to monitor sensitive data, apply DLP policies, and manage remediation actions.
• Automated classification across platforms: Strac’s classification engine works across platforms to ensure that sensitive data remains categorized and protected no matter where it’s stored or accessed.

This holistic view of data ensures that no sensitive information falls through the cracks, providing comprehensive protection across an organization’s entire cloud environment.