Updated protection for Microsoft Office 365

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In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, there is a growing need to protect collaborative software. We updated Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365 and extended the free license period to six months.

When a company needs to migrate its employees to home working, the IT department often has to scramble to find the right tools for remote collaboration. The usual criteria are usability, ease of setup, and security. Quite often, the choice is made in favor of Microsoft Office 365. Despite being convenient, its security can be beefed up. Our solution for MS Office 365 has been on the market for several years now, and we are constantly refining it. Today, we are releasing an update that focuses specifically on enhancing collaborative software security.

Protecting Microsoft Office 365 collaboration tools

Generally speaking, any collaboration environment can become a mechanism for spreading malware to the corporate network. Remote working increases this threat because employees are using their personal devices to a greater extent to send and share files.

Protecting Microsoft Exchange Online

The most common cyberthreat faced by company employees is phishing as e-mail remains the primary attack vector for cybercriminals. Attackers constantly send out both bulk and targeted e-mails containing fake links or malicious attachments. Some of them get weeded out by the internal filters in Microsoft Exchange Online, but some slip through.

In this update, our solution has been strengthened with anti-spoofing technologies; our experts from the content filtering department monitor the ever-evolving threat landscape, so our anti-phishing engine can detect all the latest threats. This increases protection against Business E-mail Compromise-type attacks where cybercriminals often use fake domains.

Secure file sharing

But a malware packed e-mail is far from being the only threat source. In theory, employees can receive malicious files through other channels including messenger apps, a flash drive, or downloading a password-protected archive. In a perfect world, the antivirus solution on the device would detect this file. But in remote working conditions, you don’t always know what devices employees are using or the extent to which their personal devices are protected. Someone might inadvertently share a harmful file with colleagues, thereby compromising all their devices.

To prevent this, we deployed an engine that detects malware in collaborative software. Previous versions of our solution only scanned files uploaded to OneDrive for Business. However, employees don’t exclusively share files there. They might use other methods such as uploading to SharePoint Online or through Microsoft Teams. With that in mind, our security solution now scans files sent through these channels too. If an employee downloads a malicious file, it is immediately quarantined and the IT team receives a threat report.

Due to the global turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for secure remote working is greater than ever before. We understand that companies might lack the funds to ensure such an environment. Therefore, we decided to extend the free license period of Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365 from 30 days to 180. You can learn more about our solution and start using it on the Kaspersky Business Hub.
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