Sophisticated cyberattacks are on the rise

According to the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2022, over 100 million attacks against remote management devices were observed in May 2022, up 500 percent on the past year. Human-operated ransomware remains the most prevalent cybercrime, however. One-third of targets are successfully compromised by criminals using these attacks, and 5 percent of them are ransomed.

Old perimeter-guarding strategies are no match for these increasingly sophisticated threats. An organisation needs to embrace a modern, data-driven and people-centred approach to managing security risk. This can help to identify and tackle existing threats more effectively while learning to anticipate new ones.

What is a security culture?

An organisation’s security culture is built on shared values, attitudes and ways of acting. It’s therefore hard to change, and it takes time. Creating a culture of security needs colleagues to understand the potential costs of a security lapse. They must also understand how bad actors tend to operate, and why existing security strategies are no longer adequate.

In the current climate, digital communications and cloud data management provide multiple ways to access organisations that previously didn’t exist. Once inside your network, cybercriminals can move laterally, seeking out value.

Zero Trust relies on strong identity verification

Adopting strong identity verification is key to Microsoft’s Zero Trust approach. Real-time data provides information on the user, the device, and the location – which is crucial in a hybrid world of work. Connecting both cloud and legacy systems to a single identity solution provides end-to-end visibility of an organisation’s digital presence. This helps to protect against internal threats that old-fashioned firewalls would miss. Where there is doubt, a Zero Trust approach applies conditional access. Where there is risk, it is assumed a breach.

A security strategy that enhances overall performance

Adopting a Zero Trust approach brings immediate improvements to an existing security posture, and builds a path that continuously improves risk management. It simplifies security processes to enhance customer experience, and potentially lowers costs by eliminating the need for external security providers.

Adopting a best-in-class security strategy can also make an organisation more forward-focused and risk-responsive in general. Nurturing a security culture brings long term benefits to a company as a brand and to its overall effectiveness in the marketplace. Security is not just a cost; it drives trust and therefore adds value.

Security culture starts small and collaboratively

When implementing a new security protocol, take a step-by-step approach beginning with a small, controlled group and a security risk that qualifies as low-hanging fruit. Once new protocols have been validated, and teams have given feedback, it can be expanded to another part of the business, such as identities, infrastructure, devices, data, networks or apps.

As for implementing organisation-wide security culture change, this will benefit from full and visible support from your senior leadership team. Aim to implement your new strategy collaboratively, and through a phased programme of activities. Taking a creative approach to security skilling and education helps stimulate staff engagement. Microsoft for example produces a successful video series that follows the security-themed adventures of its protagonist, Nelson, which gets promoted internally.

Understand and work with colleagues who may express resistance to change. While moving to new day-to-day practices – for example, new ways of working with different classes of data – openness and empathy will be crucial in empowering all teams to own, understand and learn from their inevitable mistakes.

Data-driven monitoring spots emerging risks

In time, your security strategy can become more sophisticated. AI can be deployed to detect abnormal behaviour and protect your organisation’s most sensitive information from accidental exfiltration as well as bad actors. Microsoft Azure, Azure Sentinel and Microsoft 365 apps can document your compliance with regulations, monitor access, and apply data analytics to predict where the next security risk might emerge.  Data metrics can guide security strategy on the principle of maximising costs to the attacker and prioritising your most valuable data. Many of Microsoft’s UK customers and partners have benefited from this security-first approach.

LGL money managers find security on the cloud

LGL Group are a financial services company who were frustrated by the cost and complexity of enterprise-grade cybersecurity. Microsoft worked collaboratively with LGL to design a roadmap that modernised their security controls, enhanced their security posture and reduced their reliance on third-party application subscriptions, driving down costs. By migrating to the latest Microsoft 365 and Azure security stack, LGL also benefited from a more streamlined and simplified hybrid security system.

Meanwhile Microsoft continues to work with schools and colleges to close the cybersecurity skills gap, with targeted investments here in the UK. Salford City Council leveraged the skills and resources of the Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative to develop a cyber strategy and a security operations centre using Microsoft Sentinel. It now aims to share its best-in-class skills with other public sector organisations to proactively monitor, detect and respond across Greater Manchester.

Zero Trust is a journey

Zero Trust is a journey, not a destination. Visit the security hub at Microsoft Business Security Solutions and discover how Microsoft can help you implement an identity environment with cloud identity federation, strong authentication and conditional access at its core.

Find out more

Microsoft security blogs

Strong identity management provides Zero Trust security

Microsoft Sentinel strengthens Salford Council’s cybersecurity

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Organisations that can connect and use their data are more resilient and adaptable, driving sustainable growth. But how? We’ve identified three ways your organisation can leverage data insights to turn into action.

The hybrid world of work

We all have a lived experience of hybrid working, and it’s here to stay. In our latest Work Trend Index, we found that:

_{53% of people are likely to consider transitioning to hybrid in the year ahead if they haven’t already}

_{53% of employees are more likely to prioritise health and wellbeing over work.}

This means organisations need a new digital fabric for collaboration that brings together both digital and physical spaces. One that connects people and empowers them to balance their career and their wellbeing.  Organisations won’t be able to scale to this transition without a strong understanding of data.

Unilever provides their people – including individuals, managers, and leaders – with data-driven, privacy-protected visibility with Microsoft Viva. These data insights help Unilever improve the employee experience and promote greater work-life balance.

The hyper-connected business

We need that next level of real-time hyper-connectivity between businesses, and between consumers and businesses, where data and intelligence flow freely to tackle the challenges of supply and demand.​

According to our research, 80 percent of companies suffer with significant data silos. This prevents them from gaining meaningful insight to make business decisions. But by ensuring your data strategy combines the right capabilities and the right culture, you can identify opportunities, better serve customers, transform your products, empower employees, drive sustainable results and optimise operations. 

Access and unify your data

The more siloed your data, the harder it is to accomplish data governance. When you harness the streams of data being created on a secure platform, enabling better decision making and transformative processes.

Analyse, predict and orchestrate

Once you have unified your data you can leverage AI and Machine Learning. Run big data analytics to predict customer intent to purchase and identify segments that are at risk of churning. This can help identify new, or even protect revenue streams, improve operational efficiencies, create sustainable supply chains and drive a better overall quality of service.

Activate and measure

Take these insights and democratise access through your organisation. The people who will best put the data to use are the ones who deal with it day-to-day. By allowing both front and back-end employees access to that data, they can create low/no code apps that streamline operations and deliver better customer experiences.

Heineken gives their frontline employees customer data insights directly on a unified platform with Azure Synapses and Dynamics 365. This enables their sellers to gain much richer insights about their customer’s preferences to deliver the best possible purchase recommendations and provide a much more tailored buying experience.

Omnichannel customer experience

Technology has shaped both the online and offline experience for customers. And the more data silos organisations have, the more frustrated the customer becomes.

A hyper-connected business can link all the customer touchpoints together to create a 360-degree view. Employees can access this, meaning they can provide the best experience to the customer, no matter the point of they journey they are in, or how they’re getting in touch. AI and Machine Learning can then help drive richer data insights that can be used to delight and build trust.

Alpha XR Boots Alliance balances data and privacy to deliver more engaging and personalised experiences, to their patients and customers. By dramatically enhancing their customer personalisation, they can deliver the best tailored offers and content to the right customer, in the right context, at the right time and through the right channels across the entire journey.

Build sustainable growth with data insights

The events over the past several years have shown us that organisations that are able to connect and use their data are more robust and able to adapt to changing environments, harness potential and drive competitive advantage.​

Through empowering employees with the right culture, unifying and optimising your data, and building the omnichannel customer experience, you can turn data insights into action.

Find out more

Imagine business powered by data

Put your most important asset to work

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For the first time ever, we’ve created a ready-to-download, easy to use PowerPoint holiday quiz template. It’s a super easy way to create your very own quizzes to play with your family and friends – whether you can be with them in person this year, or you’re Skyping in from afar.

This year, most of us have spent a good few evenings battling it out with co-workers and loved ones in online quizzes. It’s been the way we’ve been able to hang out with the people closest to us, near or far.

If you’ve ever felt the pressure of being quiz master, you’ll know that it’s a lot of work to prepare one. And at this time of year, you’ve got presents to wrap, a turkey to baste and tinsel to… tinsel. So you probably need a shortcut when it comes to the entertainment.

Or maybe you’re the designated quiz master for your work online Christmas party, and you’ve discovered that with great power comes great time-consuming responsibility.

Rather than spend an entire evening angrily re-sizing fonts, finding wintery background images in the depths of the internet, take it easy. You can easily download our template, fill in the blank text boxes with your own questions and get going.

There’s a space to include an introduction, round titles and even a slide for an introduction so as quiz master, you can get serious about the rules. To get you started, we’ll even share a few round ideas we’ve already tried and tested in our quizzes:

1. Finish the holiday lyrics
2. Holiday movie trivia
3. 12 days of Christmas
4. Holiday traditions around the world
5. Name the Christmas food

Best of all, it’s easy to play with those people who we can’t be with in person. Just share your PowerPoint screen on Skype.

It really is as easy as that. A holiday quiz PowerPoint template at your fingertips. Now if only presenting at work was this easy.

[msce_cta layout=”image_center” align=”center” linktype=”blue” imageurl=”http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/industry/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2020/12/Family-Festive-Quiz-_header.png” linkurl=”https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4LmUt” linkscreenreadertext=”Dowload our festive quiz template!” linktext=”Dowload our festive quiz template!” ] Joanna Saywood (McCann Erickson Advertising Li) https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4LmUt” linkscreenreadertext=”Dowload our festive quiz template!” linktext=”Dowload our festive quiz template!” imageid=”44456″ ][/msce_cta]

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