In December 2020, news broke that foreign hackers had for months been secretly monitoring email accounts and communications between US government officials in charge of identifying foreign threats to national security. In the now-infamous SolarWinds hack, the attackers executed their intrusion through malicious code in the SolarWinds Orion software system, which allowed them to access the network and break into Microsoft’s email client.
In response, Microsoft released mitigation guidance and advice for how organisations can secure their systems against the ransomware attack which continues to spread.
5 Ways To Secure Your Microsoft Account
1. Set up multifactor authentication
more about Multi-Factor authentication is one of the best ways to protect yourself from someone accessing your accounts. It adds an extra layer of protection to your internet account by requiring something only you have. Find out what MFA is and why you should use it.
2. Protect your password
Don’t use the same password for different accounts, and ensure you choose a strong password. You should always ensure to use at least 12 characters and a mix of letters, numbers and special characters. You can find out more about setting strong passwords here.
3. Avoid phishing scams
Know what to look for what it comes to fishy emails the best way to protect yourself is to know what to look for. Find out how to spot a phishing email attempt here.
4. Protect your apps
On your phone or desktop, only install and run apps from legitimate sources, like the app store for your device. If you’re using Microsoft 365, using Microsoft apps to access those accounts is the most secure choice, according to the company. You should also make sure all apps as well as your operating system are up to date — many updates you get are security fixes, so be sure to install them quickly.
5. Make it easy to recover your account
You can set up your account to make it easy to recover in case all else fails and you do get hacked. To do that, go to the Microsoft security basics page, and add in all the information, like your email address and phone number. Make sure you keep this information up to date to keep your account safer.