Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 Security Baseline for a Small Business

The essential Microsoft 365 identity, sharing, email, administration, and logging controls smaller businesses should verify first.

Microsoft 365 is powerful, not self-configuring

Licensing provides capabilities, but protection still depends on policy decisions, administrator practices, identity configuration, sharing rules, logging, and consistent enforcement.

Verify the identity foundation first

Account compromise becomes much harder to contain when MFA coverage, legacy authentication, emergency access, and administrator privileges are not understood.

  • MFA coverage
  • Legacy authentication
  • Administrator count
  • Emergency access accounts
  • Risky sign-in response
  • Unmanaged-device access

Then review data movement and evidence

External sharing, mailbox forwarding, audit retention, alert ownership, and backup expectations determine how quickly the business can identify and respond to a problem.

Need an evidence-backed starting point?

The free Exposure Review shows what is publicly observable. The Business Security Baseline verifies the essential controls protecting the business.