Legal Field IT Specialists CEO, Robert Finley, answering a question regarding security recommendations for using Office 365:

What are the best practices for securely using Office 365?

Microsoft Office 365 is a great platform for SMBs and organizations, because it gives you access to many of the same technology solutions that larger corporations have, but at a price point that's reasonable for your budget. Because there are so many features in Office 365, it can be daunting to know where to start. Most organizations typically start by using Office 365's email platform and extend from there.

In this segment I'll be outlining the 3rd of 3 key steps we recommend to enhance your security profile in Office 365. The first two steps have already been posted on this same page.

STEP 3: IMPROVE YOUR OFFICE 365 SYSTEM POLICIES

The next step is to ramp up your security even more at the top level. With Office 365, you can set up system-level policies similar to the server-level encryption rules. In the story I presented in STEP 2, if the company had disabled automatic forwarding rules this may not have happened. The other thing that helps is to turn on mailbox audit logging. This will allow us to find out who has logged into your mailboxes, sent messages and more.

Another tip is to use email archiving so that every message that goes in and out of your email server is captured in the email archive. And since most of these things are not turned on by default, it is a good idea to have an outside IT company come in and set them all up.

There are also file-sharing capabilities inside of Office 365 that offer document libraries and electronic file folders. There are two additional security features that you can enable - called Data Loss Protection and Rights Management. Here's how it works: If you had a client list stored in Office 365, you could use these features to safeguard that file. If I tried to email the file to my personal account or perhaps someone else outside of the company, the file could not be opened because I wouldn't have the permissions to get into the file unless authorized by the company's system policies.

Office 365 is a wonderful tool for businesses. But you need a professional IT consulting company to help you configure and enable the security features and ensure that you are doing your due diligence in protecting the information from your employees and customers alike.

If you would like assistance setting up security for Office 365 for your firm call us today. Legal Field IT Specialists provides tailored IT support services to law firms to protect your firm from the dangers of online threats as well as working with you to ensure that your staff is highly productive & efficient which, in turn, increases your firm's profitability as a whole.

Phone: (678) 926-9192

Web: www.LFITS.com