Microsoft Cybersecurity Solutions for SMB:

Here are the key threats your small business needs to watch out for:

Ransomware

Ransomware is the biggest threat. Small businesses are the target of 75% of ransomware attacks, and the average ransom has skyrocketed from $5,000 to $200,000. Hackers are getting more sophisticated and actually reinvesting their profits to make future attacks even more devastating.

Cloud Computing Vulnerabilities

Your cloud setup might not be as secure as you think. While many cloud providers include decent security measures, some don't. You need to verify that your provider offers secure encryption, authentication, audit logging, and keeps your data separate from other clients.

Unsecured Mobile Devices

Mobile devices are walking security risks. Your team's smartphones and tablets handle banking, communication, and business data daily, but they're not invulnerable. Third-party apps, delayed updates, and public Wi-Fi use can all create openings for attackers.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks are getting smarter. These fake emails designed to steal sensitive information are becoming more sophisticated and harder to spot. They can look like they're coming from trusted sources — even your own company. Social media phishing is also on the rise, disguised as harmless posts asking for personal information.

AI Risks

Hackers are now using AI to craft incredibly convincing phishing emails that target specific employees, making it nearly impossible to tell fake communications from real ones. Even more concerning, cybercriminals can clone executive voices with just seconds of audio, potentially tricking employees into authorizing fraudulent wire transfers or sharing sensitive information. AI is also supercharging password attacks — what used to take weeks now happens in minutes — while generating malware that slips past traditional security tools.

Perhaps the most insidious threat is data poisoning, where hackers subtly corrupt the data that trains your AI systems, gradually steering them toward harmful decisions without you realizing it until significant damage is done.

Data Breaches

Data breaches have serious consequences. When hackers steal sensitive client or employee data, you're not just dealing with operational disruption — depending on your industry and state laws, you could face lawsuits and regulatory penalties.

You don't need a dozen different security tools from a dozen different vendors. What you need is a system that works together seamlessly, and that's exactly what Microsoft delivers. 

The Power of a Single Ecosystem

When you're running a small business, the last thing you want is to juggle multiple security solutions that don't talk to each other. Microsoft's approach is different. 

Everything is designed to work together from the ground up. Your email security, device management, identity protection, and data encryption all share information and coordinate responses automatically. This isn't just convenient; it's more secure because there are no gaps between systems for threats to slip through.

Security-First Products

Microsoft didn't bolt security features onto existing products as an afterthought. They designed security into the foundation of Microsoft 365. All of Microsoft's online tools are built with security in mind and maintained through a rigorous security assurance process. Microsoft constantly monitors for suspicious activity and conducts regular security audits, which means you're getting enterprise-grade protection without having to manage it yourself.

This is a huge advantage over traditional approaches where businesses buy basic software and then try to secure it with third-party add-ons. Those bolt-on solutions create complexity, compatibility issues, and often leave security gaps. 

Simplified Budgeting

The subscription approach might feel like you're "renting" your tools, but cybersecurity threats change monthly, and new productivity features are released regularly. 

With Microsoft 365, you automatically get these security updates and new collaboration tools without additional purchases or complex upgrade processes. Your IT infrastructure stays current and secure without the massive upfront investments or periodic licensing refreshes that traditional software requires. M365 is one of the best ways to maintain world-class cybersecurity on a tight budget.

Here are the core Microsoft 365 security tools that should be on every small business owner's radar.

Microsoft Defender Suite

Microsoft Defender is not just antivirus software! It's a comprehensive protection system that works across all your devices and platforms, whether your team is using Windows laptops, Macs, or mobile devices.

The real power of Defender is in its real-time threat detection. While traditional antivirus software waits for known threats to appear in a database, Defender uses AI and machine learning to spot suspicious behavior patterns and stop attacks before they can cause damage. It's constantly analyzing what's happening on your devices and in your network, looking for anything that doesn't belong.

Best part? If you're already using Microsoft 365, you've got basic Defender protection built right in. No additional setup required, no separate subscriptions to manage.

Microsoft Entra (Azure AD)

Microsoft Entra is your identity and access control center. This is where you manage who gets access to what, and it's absolutely critical for small business security.

The most important feature you need to know about is multifactor authentication (MFA). Why? Microsoft found that over 99.9% of compromised accounts weren't using it. That means enabling MFA alone can prevent virtually all account takeover attacks.

Setting up MFA through Entra is pretty straightforward, and you can customize how it works for your business! That’s important because while SMS and phone-based authentication are better than nothing, app-based or biometric authentication methods are significantly more secure. Given recent security concerns about telecom networks, it's worth being selective about which MFA methods you allow for your most sensitive accounts.

Microsoft Intune

If your employees are accessing company data from their personal phones and tablets — and let's be honest, they probably are — then you need Microsoft Intune. This mobile device management tool is your solution for securing all those personal devices that connect to your business systems.

Intune works with everything: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Chrome OS devices. That means whether your team prefers iPhones, Android tablets, or MacBooks, you can apply consistent security policies across all of them.

Here's what makes Intune powerful for small businesses: you can set up conditional access policies that prevent apps or devices from accessing your data unless they meet your security requirements. Need to push out a security update to everyone's devices at once? Intune handles that through a simple cloud-based control center. If an employee leaves or a device gets lost, you can remotely wipe just the corporate data while leaving personal information untouched.

The setup is designed to be simple enough that employees can handle much of it themselves—downloading approved apps, setting up PINs, or using Windows Hello for easy but secure authentication.

Microsoft Copilot

While Copilot is primarily known as a productivity tool, it's also becoming a valuable security asset for small businesses. Copilot can help identify potential security issues by analyzing patterns across your Microsoft 365 environment and flagging unusual activity.

Early data shows that cybersecurity professionals using Copilot were 44% more accurate and 26% faster across all security tasks. For small businesses that don't have dedicated security staff, having an AI assistant that can help spot threats and suggest responses is invaluable.

Copilot can also help with security-related documentation and training — creating incident response procedures, drafting security policies, or helping explain security concepts to your team. It's like having a security consultant available 24/7 to answer questions and provide guidance.

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It’s not just you: Microsoft's licensing structure can feel like a maze, especially when you're trying to figure out which security features you're actually getting and which ones cost extra. The good news is that you probably already have more security tools than you realize. The trick is knowing when your current license is enough and when it makes sense to upgrade.

Security Features Across License Tiers

Every business is different, and Microsoft’s tools and pricing are subject to change. But here’s an overview of what licenses might be best for your needs. 

Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Standard

Even the entry-level licenses include solid security foundations. You get basic Microsoft Defender protection, spam filtering, anti-malware, and the ability to set up multifactor authentication through Microsoft Entra. 

For many small businesses, these built-in features provide a strong security baseline.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium

This is where things get interesting for security-conscious SMBs. Business Premium includes everything from the lower tiers plus Microsoft Intune for device management, advanced threat protection, and more sophisticated conditional access policies. You also get data loss prevention features and basic information protection capabilities.

Enterprise E3 and E5

These enterprise-level licenses offer the most comprehensive security features, including advanced threat analytics, cloud app security, and premium compliance tools. However, most small businesses don't need this level of complexity.

When Standard Is Sufficient vs. When to Upgrade

You can probably stick with Standard/Basic if:

• Your team primarily works from a traditional office environment
• You have fewer than 20 employees
• Most of your sensitive data stays within standard Microsoft applications
• You're not in a heavily regulated industry
• Your employees mainly use company-owned devices

The built-in security features in these plans — MFA, basic Defender protection, and standard access controls — can protect most small businesses effectively when properly configured.

Consider Business Premium if:

• You have remote or hybrid workers accessing data from multiple locations
• Employees regularly use personal devices for work (BYOD environment)
• You're in an industry that handles sensitive customer data (healthcare, finance, legal)
• You've experienced security incidents in the past
• You want granular control over app access and data sharing

Navigating the 2025 Pricing Changes

Any time Microsoft makes a pricing adjustment, it creates waves. However, Microsoft's recent pricing adjustments affect how you pay, not necessarily what you pay. Starting April 1, 2025, monthly billing for annual subscriptions comes with a 5% premium across Microsoft 365, Office 365, Enterprise Mobility + Security, and other products.

Your options:

• Switch to annual billing to avoid the 5% increase (better long-term value)
• Accept the monthly premium for cash flow flexibility
• Use this as an opportunity to review whether you're on the right license tier

The key is planning ahead. If you're currently paying monthly, your renewal date is when you can make changes without penalty. Use this time to assess whether your current security features are meeting your needs or if it's worth adjusting your licensing strategy.

Pro tip #1: Maximize your current licenses first. Many businesses pay for Business Premium but only use Basic-level features. Before upgrading, make sure you're actually using the security tools you already have.

Pro tip #2: Consider the total cost of security. While upgrading licenses costs more upfront, it might be cheaper than buying separate security tools.

Most companies have over 30% waste on their Microsoft licenses, with enterprise organizations seeing up to 44% underutilization. When it comes to cybersecurity, this waste isn't just about money — it's about leaving your business vulnerable to threats while paying for protection you're not using. 

1. Take Advantage of Microsoft’s Email Security and Productivity Features

Most businesses use Microsoft 365 for email, documents, and file storage — basically the same way they used it ten years ago. But your email system includes powerful security features that most SMBs never activate.

Consider enabling Focused Inbox and training the AI to prioritize important messages. This isn't just about productivity — it helps ensure security-critical emails (like IT alerts or suspicious activity notifications) don't get buried in your inbox.

2. Use Microsoft Teams as a Security Communication Hub

Microsoft Teams often gets used for basic chat and video calls, but it can also be a powerful security coordination tool. Create read-only channels for security announcements, set up topic-based channels for incident response, and use preset responses for common security questions. The built-in meeting transcription with speaker identification creates automatic documentation for security meetings and training sessions.

Most importantly, Teams' analytics can show you which departments are (or aren't) using security features, helping you identify where additional training is needed.

3. Streamline Security Tasks with Built-in Tools

Microsoft 365 can automate many repetitive security tasks that typically eat up IT time. Use Excel Data Types to link security metrics to live databases and monitoring tools. This means your security dashboards update automatically instead of requiring manual data entry — reducing errors and ensuring you're always working with current information.

Microsoft Planner, which recently received major updates, can manage complex security projects and compliance tasks. Combined with Copilot, it can suggest security reminders, generate incident response task lists, and keep security initiatives moving forward.

4. Purchase Microsoft Through a Third-Party Provider

Here's something many business owners don't realize: buying Microsoft licenses directly from Microsoft doesn't get you a better price, and it definitely doesn't get you better security support. Microsoft actually encourages partners to offer better deals because they know their customer service isn't their strong suit.

As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, at Marco, we have a variety of ways we help our clients get more from their Microsoft tools, including simplifying license management and optimization. 

Microsoft's security tools are incredibly powerful, but they're not exactly plug-and-play. Many small business owners assume that because Microsoft spends billions of dollars on cybersecurity annually, their data is automatically protected. That's like buying a state-of-the-art security system and assuming it works without setting it up properly.

Misconfigurations

The statistics are sobering: Azure storage accounts have a misconfiguration rate of 60.75%, and Azure App Service sits at 55.53%. Roughly 23% of cloud security incidents are caused by misconfigurations, and over 50% of organizations don't have sufficient restrictions on access permissions.

The problem isn't that Microsoft's tools don't work; it's that they require proper configuration to be effective, and most small businesses don't have the expertise to set them up correctly.

Frequent Cybersecurity Changes

Security isn't a "set it and forget it" proposition. Cybersecurity threats evolve constantly, and so does user behavior within your organization. Your security posture changes over time, which means you need ongoing monitoring and regular adjustments to maintain protection.

This creates a resource challenge for small businesses. Your internal team is likely already stretched thin handling day-to-day operations. Adding continuous security monitoring and configuration management to their workload often means something else gets neglected — and that something is usually security.

Microsoft License Management Complexity

Remember when you could buy software once and use it forever? Those days are long gone, and while the subscription model has benefits, it's created new challenges for small businesses. Some Microsoft licenses require multi-year commitments, others can be month-to-month, and if you have multiple subscriptions, tracking different contract requirements becomes a nightmare. 

Small organizations do have a number of options to make license management easier. But there’s unfortunately a lack of awareness that such things exist.

Microsoft is aware that its comprehensive and powerful tools come with a degree of complexity. So they’ve developed an easy way for users to see where they may have hidden vulnerabilities within their M365 environment.

Find Your Microsoft Secure Score

Navigate to the Microsoft Secure Score overview page in your Microsoft Defender portal and find the Your Secure Score tile.

Your score appears as a percentage calculated from the total available security points compared to the points your organization has earned. For more detailed insights into how this percentage was calculated, click the button beside your score to view a comprehensive graphical breakdown of your secure score.

Think of Microsoft Secure Score as your security report card. It evaluates your user behavior, device security, and configurations, then assigns a number showing how well-protected your organization is. You can find it in the Microsoft Defender portal under the "Your Secure Score" tile.

How To Interpret Your Score
Here’s how our experts would interpret your score: 

• 75-100%: Excellent (aim for this if you're in a regulated industry)
• 60-75%: Good
• 50-60%: Acceptable but needs improvement
• 30-40%: Significant improvements needed
• Below 30%: Critical security gaps

The best part? Your score will be updated in real-time as you implement changes, so you can track progress and see immediate results from your efforts!

Our cybersecurity experts have included some detailed recommendations to help you secure your Microsoft environment. Want a DIY solution? Click the link below!

 

While many businesses would get more ROI from their Microsoft tools if they partnered with an expert, here are the key indicators that it's time to get professional help.

Your Microsoft Secure Score is Below 50%

If your Secure Score is consistently under 50%, you're dealing with significant security gaps that require immediate attention. While the tool provides recommendations, implementing them correctly often requires understanding complex interdependencies between Microsoft services that most small business IT teams don't have time to master.

You're Dealing with Compliance Requirements

Industries like healthcare, finance, and legal services have strict regulatory requirements that affect how Microsoft 365 must be configured. Getting compliance wrong isn't just a security risk — it's a legal and financial liability. If you're in a regulated industry and aiming for that 75%+ Secure Score range, expert guidance becomes essential.

You've Experienced Security Incidents

If you've already had a breach, phishing attack, or ransomware incident, it's time to acknowledge that your current security approach isn't sufficient.

Your Team is Stretched Too Thin

Remember that statistic about most companies having 30% waste on their Microsoft licenses? That waste often stems from IT teams being too busy with day-to-day operations to deal with tasks like applying patches promptly or managing software subscriptions.

You're Planning Significant Growth

Scaling from 10 to 50 employees or opening new locations creates security complexity that's hard to manage without expertise. If rapid growth is part of your plan, you’d likely benefit from getting expert advice on how to configure conditional access policies, device management, and user permissions at scale without creating bottlenecks or security gaps.

Just to be clear — that doesn’t necessarily mean we’d recommend fully-managed IT support. At Marco, we’ve developed a new service offering that’s designed to help small businesses that rely on M365 for the majority of their workflows. Click the link below to explore our new service bundles.

 

 

Our Microsoft experts have designed a free automated tool to give you a thorough assessment of your M365 security posture, and also provide you with customized recommendations, prioritized according to risk, to help you protect your organization. 

And, okay, yes, it’s also a great way for us to give you a sneak preview of how we work with organizations like yours! 

The assessment is free, and requires giving our automated tool read-only access to your account. We wouldn’t be able to access your files or see the contents of emails, or anything like that, and you can revoke access at any time — including immediately after you receive your results! Reach out to us if you have any questions, or click the link below to see more information about our free Microsoft Insights Assessment offer.