Are Microsoft teams Apps secure?

How safe are Teams for your business?

It's true that Teams is the world's leading video conferencing and collaboration app, but how secure is it for your business?

You know that data is at the heart of any organization, so it is very important that the tools we use at work keep our data safe and protect its integrity, otherwise, it will cause many problems because basically, It includes tools used for collaboration and communication. These two C's are the keys to a team's success. We actually communicate to provide support and grow as a business.

In 2020, it can be said that millions of organizations around the world had to make rapid changes in their business architecture and the way they work in order to support remote employees. As a result, a number of existing and emerging collaboration and video conferencing tools have become popular and widely accepted in the workplace – and as businesses continue to embrace the idea of a hybrid remote office, expect this popularity to continue. For a period of time, it should be maintained. Microsoft is currently at the forefront of the market, followed by Cisco, Google, and Slack.

It's worth noting that since its launch in 2017, Teams has become Microsoft's fastest-growing app. CEO Satya Nadella says: Today, Times has 115 million daily active users.

Teams are a core element in Microsoft's portfolio of Office 365 cloud applications. It seamlessly integrates with SharePoint, OneDrive, and Outlook, allowing up to 300 people per meeting to offer powerful file-sharing capabilities, as well as instant messaging and video conferencing, all of which arguably made Teams more than surpass its competitors and be accepted as the number one application for collaboration and video conferencing.

How secure are Microsoft Teams?

Classifies all of its Office 365 products into one of four compatibility categories:

A, B, C, and D. Teams are in category C, which means security compliance obligations are enabled by default. In this category, Thames complies with a wide range of regulatory security standards, including ISO 27001, ISO 27018, and HIPAA Business.

It should be noted that Teams uses a number of security features to meet these compliance requirements, which include: two-step authentication at the team and organization level and single sign-on, note that Administrators can activate through Active Directory. That is, the security of the account is not only dependent on the password or the security of the device, it can be said that it is especially important and useful for employees who use the application on their personal mobile devices.

One of the benefits of Active Directory is that it allows teams to encrypt all data in transit and at rest to protect against unauthorized access, as well as files stored in SharePoint and OneNote, respectively, with encryption protocols implemented through the two. Apps are provided, and they are secured.

this brings us to the next point: How is data storage in Teams?

Every piece of data you send through Teams, whether it's a file or an instant message, is stored and backed up in Azure. Azure allows Microsoft to store Teams data based on what region each organization is in. Let's also say that Azure is provided through data centers in 54 global regions. It is the user's responsibility to ensure that all data is stored in compliance with the data security regulations of the region in which each organization operates.

Files are stored in SharePoint or OneDrive for Business, and meetings are also stored in Stream. Exchange is also responsible for storing voicemails in the user's inbox, and chat messages through eDiscovery in Exchange Online and in a hidden file in User mailboxes are saved.

Finally, Teams automatically assigns users one of two security levels based on their role in the team. A group or team is created by users who are owners. Members include anyone else the owner adds to the team. It's important to note that by default, owners can restrict members' activities. These restrictions include what content they can see, or whether they can create a channel or not. And whether they can add new members or not.

This gives owners a fine-grained level of control over how data is shared in the groups they create. Because they are basically a supervisor for the team. By default, all users who have Exchange Online mailboxes also have permission to create teams and become owners. However, to have more control over the creation of a new team, IT administrators can use this solution to delegate the rights to create and manage the team to certain user groups.

Therefore, Teams, which has many features and also thanks to Active Directory, admins can easily configure them to meet the needs of their organization. But note that like any other collaboration tool, it is not completely hack-proof.

Data breach in teams

Access management vendor Cyber-Ark recently discovered a subdomain takeover vulnerability in Teams that allows potential attackers to take control of user accounts using a malicious GIF. Attackers use access tokens and once they allow users to view images, they exploit it and act in a similar way to a worm virus that can spread automatically. This means that the attacker can send a malicious GIF to his victim and as soon as the victim sees the image, without having to share or download anything, he can access and hack the account.

Since the GIF can also be sent to multiple teams, attackers can quickly and easily gain control of multiple accounts and hack them. This is very dangerous because by accessing this account, Attackers can collect sensitive and confidential information such as login credentials, session information and competitive data and use it to cause financial and credit damage to the organization, which is a very big threat for an organization.

After Cyber-Ark disclosed the vulnerability, Microsoft stepped in and patched it before any bad actors could exploit it and put anyone at risk. It is because of these issues that an organization must have strict security protocols.

What are the best practices of this team?

First of all, let's start with the basics. You should definitely check and make sure that only authorized users can access your organization's Teams platform and not everyone.

To control this access, there are three things you need to do:

1- Make sure you have enabled Teams two-factor authentication (2FA) through Active Directory. This is very important. For detailed instructions on how to set up 2FA for Office 365 apps, you can visit Microsoft's documentation pages for help.

2- Then apply the least privilege access option so that users can only access the resources they absolutely need to perform their role and nothing else. This means that if an attacker were to compromise or hack an employee account, they would only have access to a limited amount of data, not the entire organization.

Prevent file downloads on unmanaged devices:

This is especially critical for organizations with large numbers of employees who use personal devices remotely to access Teams and other workplace applications. Unfortunately, unmanaged personal devices typically do not have as stringent security measures as personal or managed devices. Companies should also have very high-security measures. Therefore, if they are lost or stolen, an attacker can easily access the downloaded files on the device and hack them, which is a very big risk.

Among the top security providers, we can mention the following:

In addition to following best practices, there are a range of powerful tools you can use to strengthen your team's security and give you peace of mind at once.
1- Avanan
2- HighSide
3- IRONSCALE
4- Netscope

Headquartered in New York, USA, Avanan offers powerful and useful cloud-based applications and email security tools that protect against phishing, malware, and most importantly, account compromise and loss. Data protection is essential for any organization. This solution is designed to work seamlessly with Microsoft 365, including Teams.

In Washington, DC, the United States is a shared security and collaboration provider called HighSide, which is headquartered. HighSide Secure Teams is a dedicated Microsoft Teams solution that uses end-to-end encryption for all messages and files sent through Teams to completely secure them and prevent data loss through social engineering or compromise. Counting helps a lot.

IRONSCALES is a US-based security company that has traditionally been very strong in specialized email security, but note that it is said to have recently expanded its technology to provide protection for cloud messaging platforms, including Microsoft teams have developed. IRONSCALES platform protections include protection against phishing attacks, account compromise and VIP impersonation.

Netscope is headquartered in California, United States. Netscope is a cybersecurity company that provides a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) solution that gives organizations real-time visibility and threat protection as they access cloud services, websites, and applications. It should be noted that Netscope is a strong certified Microsoft Teams partner and is very popular with its API-enabled protection for the entire suite of Microsoft 365 applications, including Teams.