Better Together: How AvePoint Insights Amplifies Azure Security

According to IBM’s Cost of Data Breach 2022 report, a data breach can cost USD 450 million on average and takes 327 days to be identified and contained. A complex security management system can further increase these costs and delay detection. 

Identity and access management and security insights, however, can reduce the cost and time of dealing with a data breach: 

To access advanced security that can help reduce the cost or even prevent data breaches, organizations should consider leveraging additional tools like Azure AD and AvePoint Insights. 

Azure AD: Identity Protection for Microsoft 365

With compromised credentials still the top data breach attack vector, identity protection remains a priority for organizations.  

Microsoft admins can better manage identities in Azure Active Directory, an enterprise identity service that allows organizations to set up identity security measures like multi-factor authentication, enable password resets, and block user access.

Organizations looking for advanced identity management will need Azure AD P2 licensing, which enables them to leverage Azure’s Identity Protection to have full access to risk detection capabilities such as: 

• Categorizing risks (low, medium, high) 
• Detecting risks, such as anonymous IP address use, atypical travel, unfamiliar sign-in properties, leaked credentials, and more 
• Investigating risks with reports on risky users, risky sign-ins, and risk detections 

Azure AD premium license users can also enable high-risk alerts so administrators are automatically notified of possible risks and unusual user behaviors.  

AvePoint Insights: User, Data, and Security Analytics 

While Microsoft offers a variety of security capabilities – like sensitivity labels and permissions – that help Microsoft 365 (M365) admins protect their data and control who has access to it, things still fall through the cracks. Even with proper safeguards in place, accidental oversharing, misconfigured permissions, or unmonitored external users can be a threat to your security.  

The antidote is a solution that can monitor and flag security issues before they become a problem. AvePoint Insights is built on top of Microsoft 365 to help admins monitor their M365 health with risk assessments that identify high-risk items that may require your attention. The solution then aggregates analytics of M365 data, access, and possible external user threats, prioritizing critical issues for action. 

The analytics Insights provides offer comprehensive visibility over risk insights and security reports across their Microsoft 365 environment using Microsoft’s own security, activity, and compliance feeds — whether on SharePoint, OneDrive, or Teams. With Insights, you can quickly remediate the issues to lock down at-risk or sensitive content and prevent possible threats.  

Advanced M365 Security: Azure AD + AvePoint Insights 

When you pair Azure AD with AvePoint Insights, you get the identity management and security analytics you need in one place, improving your security stance without the complexity of managing security from multiple platforms.  

With Insights’ new Azure AD P2 integration, you no longer need to log into Azure to keep track of high-risk alerts; AvePoint Insights users with Azure AD premium SKU (P2 licenses) can now see the full report on their feed alongside all their other security and access reports and risk insights they currently have. 

With Insights’ new Risky Users update, you can have better identity insights with the following capabilities: 

• See a complete list of users with risky behaviors 
• Click on specific users to drill down into their details, such as basic information, recent risky sign-ins, and risk history 
• Investigate risk information details such as risk, exposure, and sensitivity labels 
• Monitor activities of the user to verify their actions and behaviors further 

And then, enable quick remediation with these actions available right on the Insights dashboard: 

• Confirm that a user/s is compromised 
• Dismiss user risk 
• Block or unblock user/s from signing in 
• Remove user permissions granted to the user 

You can then refresh and export reports and actions to easily share them with the rest of your team and plan for a deeper risk management strategy. Dynamic dashboards are also available so you can easily see insights on risk exposure and how you deal with risks through time. 

Strengthen Identity Protection With AvePoint Insights 

Proactively protecting your identities and having visibility over your workspaces will help keep the risks of misused credentials at bay. With AvePoint Insights, get ahead of threats to your M365, like compromised credentials, with risk alerts, security reports, and identity insights to strengthen your identity and access management.