Is Microsoft 365 secure out of the box?

Better than it used to be (Microsoft enables “Security Defaults” on new tenants), but not enough for any Australian SMB serious about security. Most M365 tenants need additional hardening — Conditional Access policies, audit logging, Microsoft Defender for Business, sensitivity labels, and properly-configured MFA enforcement.

“Out of the box” Microsoft 365 has Security Defaults switched on for new tenants — which gets you basic MFA enforcement and some baseline protections. But there are layers above that worth deploying:

Conditional Access — only allow sign-ins from approved locations, devices, or after passing certain checks
Microsoft Defender for Business — antivirus, EDR, web filtering, threat hunting (separate licence; included in Business Premium)
Sensitivity labels — classify data so it’s protected when it leaves the tenant
Audit logging — turned on, retained for at least 90 days
Privileged Identity Management — for any admin accounts

Our Cloud Services + Cyber Security services include the M365 hardening pass. Most new clients we onboard are running M365 with significant gaps in this layer; the hardening is usually the highest-ROI cyber work we do for them.

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Is Microsoft 365 secure out of the box?