Preparing for New Microsoft Technologies: A Data Security Perspective

Microsoft continues to push boundaries with new innovations like Microsoft Copilot for Security and Microsoft 365 Copilot. However, for many organisations, realising the full potential of these cutting-edge tools requires advancing their data security foundations first.

At Quorum Cyber, our data security experts work closely with clients to evaluate and enhance their readiness to adopt Microsoft’s latest offerings. We take a comprehensive approach focused on core areas like information governance, risk management, and compliance.

Recently, we partnered with an organisation to assess their preparedness for Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout. Our evaluation examined their Microsoft 365 environment against industry best practices and Microsoft’s own guidance.

Key findings included:

• SharePoint and OneDrive permissioning and sharing configurations were reasonably secure overall but still offered opportunities to further limit default external sharing capabilities.
• Minimal use of sensitivity labels to classify and isolate containers and content—a priority area for improvement.
• Data loss prevention policies were underutilised, highlighting the need for more automated sensitive data discovery and protection.
• Content lifecycle management controls trended toward over-retention, indicating tighter policies could improve hygiene.
• Accountability for closing stale SharePoint sites rested with busy business users rather than IT administrators. More robust technical site closure processes are recommended.

We also conducted in-depth sensitive data discovery, uncovering insights like:

• The types of sensitive information present, ranging from IP documents to employee and customer data.
• Specific SharePoint and OneDrive repositories where sensitive data resides.
• Statistics on external sharing and content retention levels across Microsoft 365.

With these findings, we collaborated to map out a data security roadmap, enabling quick wins while pursuing long-term data governance maturity.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is just one example of an innovative new offering that promises big benefits but requires organisations to elevate their data security foundations to realise them.

Our involvement in Microsoft’s ‘Copilot for Security’ preview has been twofold. Firstly, we provide Microsoft with structured weekly feedback, sharing our insights on the product’s functionality and its integration into our managed security services. Secondly, we assist our early access customers in evaluating these tools for their specific use cases, exploring ways to enhance our service offerings through this generative AI technology.

We’re proactively preparing for the Copilot for Security’s anticipated general release early this year. Our roadmap includes two main areas of focus:

• 1. The first is conducting workshops to prepare organisations for the adoption of such tools. These workshops emphasise the importance of robust identity practices, like implementing privileged identity management, and address data security concerns given the tool’s extensive access capabilities.
  2. The second focus area involves creating workshops for new customers interested in this technology. We’ll explore its application in 1st and 2nd line support processes and demonstrate how Quorum Cyber could leverage these tools to enhance their cybersecurity as we monitor for on-going risks. For example, AI assistance can identify potential issues that might be missed by humans, allowing for quicker, more detailed investigations and structured reports, such as executive summaries with evidence, findings, and recommendations.

In addition to these workshops, we’re developing targeted operating models. These will provide customers with a structured approach to using these tools effectively within their organisations. We’ll include guidelines on formulating prompts and questions to yield better outputs.

Expect announcements about the launch of these workshops very soon.

At Quorum Cyber, our consultants and engineers specialise in comprehensively assessing and advancing customers’ data security postures to safely capitalise on the latest Microsoft solutions. From policy and architecture design to technical deployment and ongoing operation, we take a tailored, end-to-end approach.

If you need an experienced partner to ready your environment for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft Copilot for Security or any other new capability, reach out. We’re here to help architect, implement and manage the data security capabilities that enable your digital transformation.