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What are the security features of the Microsoft  Business Premium license?

The Microsoft 365 Business Premium license offers a more robust set of security features compared to the Business Basic and Business Standard plans.


It is designed to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses that require enhanced protection, particularly around data security, threat protection, and compliance. Below are the key security features included in the Microsoft 365 Business Premium license:

1. Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

Microsoft Defender for Office 365

  • Safe Attachments: Scans email attachments for malicious content and blocks harmful files before they can reach users’ inboxes.
  • Safe Links: Protects against malicious links in emails and Office documents by scanning URLs and blocking unsafe ones in real time.
  • Anti-phishing Protection: Uses machine learning, heuristics, and user reporting to detect and block phishing emails and impersonation attacks.
  • Real-Time Threat Intelligence: Provides insights and detailed reports on email threats to help admins monitor and respond to security incidents.

2. Identity and Access Management

Azure Active Directory Premium P1

  • Single Sign-On (SSO): Streamlines the login process for users while enhancing security by requiring only one set of credentials to access applications.
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to verify their identity through multiple methods (e.g., password + phone notification, authentication app).
  • Conditional Access: Enables organizations to enforce policies that control access to resources based on user conditions (e.g., location, device health, and more). This can prevent unauthorized access from non-compliant devices.
  • Identity Protection: Detects and responds to potential security risks, such as unusual login patterns, to protect user accounts.
  • Self-Service Password Reset: Allows users to reset their passwords securely without needing IT intervention, improving both security and productivity.

3. Device Management and Protection

Microsoft Intune (Mobile Device Management - MDM)

  • Mobile Device Management (MDM): Allows IT to manage and secure mobile devices, ensuring that devices accessing corporate data comply with security policies (e.g., requiring PINs, encrypting devices).
  • Mobile Application Management (MAM): Secures corporate apps and data on personal devices, providing app-level protection like data encryption and preventing unauthorized sharing of sensitive data.
  • Compliance Policies: Configures device policies to ensure compliance with corporate and regulatory security requirements (e.g., encryption, password policies).
  • Remote Wipe: If a device is lost or stolen, you can remotely wipe it to protect company data from unauthorized access.

4. Advanced Data Protection

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

  • Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Provides continuous monitoring of devices to detect and respond to suspicious activity. This includes identifying threats like malware, ransomware, and other advanced attacks.
  • Automated Investigation and Remediation: Automatically investigates potential threats on endpoints and takes action to remediate them (e.g., quarantining files or blocking harmful processes).
  • Threat Analytics: Provides detailed reports and insights into endpoint security, helping admins identify patterns and address vulnerabilities before they are exploited.

Information Protection (Microsoft Information Protection)

  • Sensitivity Labels: Classify and label sensitive data (emails, documents) to control how it is used, shared, and protected. For example, you can set labels to automatically encrypt emails or restrict forwarding.
  • Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Helps prevent the accidental sharing of sensitive information by identifying and controlling access to data based on policies. DLP applies policies to prevent users from sending confidential information outside the organisation.

BitLocker Drive Encryption

  • BitLocker Encryption: Provides full disk encryption on Windows devices, ensuring that data stored on devices is protected in the event of theft or unauthorised access.

5. Security & Compliance

Security & Compliance Center

  • Compliance Manager: Helps organizations manage their compliance requirements by providing a framework for assessing, tracking, and improving your security and privacy practices.
  • Audit Log Search: Enables administrators to review and investigate user activities, such as who accessed sensitive information, for auditing and compliance purposes.
  • Retention Policies: Helps businesses meet regulatory requirements by enabling data retention policies to automatically delete or retain data for specified periods.

Advanced Data Governance

  • Legal Hold: Helps preserve data for legal purposes by placing a legal hold on specific content, ensuring it cannot be deleted until the hold is removed.
  • Advanced eDiscovery: Facilitates the identification, preservation, and analysis of data during legal investigations or regulatory compliance reviews.

6. Threat Intelligence and Protection

Microsoft Defender for Identity (formerly Azure Advanced Threat Protection)

  • Identity Protection: Helps detect and investigate suspicious activities and advanced attacks targeting user identities, such as credential theft, brute force attacks, and privilege escalation.

Threat Intelligence

  • Microsoft Sentinel: A cloud-native SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) platform that aggregates, analyzes, and visualizes security data from across the Microsoft 365 environment and beyond. It helps identify and respond to threats quickly.

7. Email Security

Exchange Online Protection (EOP)

  • Spam and Malware Filtering: Protects users’ inboxes from phishing emails, spam, and malware attachments.
  • Email Encryption: Ensures that email messages are protected using encryption, preventing unauthorized parties from reading sensitive content.
  • Quarantine Policies: Suspicious emails can be placed in quarantine for review before being delivered to users, reducing the risk of malware or phishing.

8. Backup and Recovery

  • Microsoft OneDrive for Business: Includes file versioning, which allows users to restore earlier versions of documents to recover from accidental deletion or corruption.
  • SharePoint Online: Offers data protection and recovery features that help prevent data loss in shared collaboration environments.
  • Windows Virtual Desktop: Business Premium includes the ability to manage remote desktops and virtual environments, enhancing business continuity and reducing risks from attacks.

9. Additional Features

  • Windows Defender Antivirus: Provides real-time protection against viruses, malware, and other types of malicious software, integrated directly into Windows 10 and 11.
  • Advanced Threat Protection for Windows**: Protects against sophisticated threats like ransomware, exploits, and zero-day attacks.
  • Cloud App Security: Provides visibility and control over cloud apps and services to detect unusual behavior and mitigate the risk of shadow IT and unauthorised access.

Conclusion

The Microsoft 365 Business Premium license offers a comprehensive set of security features designed for small and medium-sized businesses. These features provide robust protection against a wide range of threats, from phishing and malware to advanced attacks targeting user identities and endpoints.

The added benefits of Azure AD Premium P1, Microsoft Defender, Intune, and advanced data protection tools make Business Premium a great choice for businesses looking for a secure, scalable solution with a focus on compliance and threat protection.

While the plan is more comprehensive than Business Basic and Business Standard, for larger enterprises or those requiring more advanced security and compliance tools, upgrading to Enterprise E3/E5 may still be necessary.