If it ain't broke don't fix it. How many times have you heard that phrase in your life? 

Generally, we tend to agree. However, there is an exception when it comes to operating systems and servers that have reached their end of service. Even if they appear to be functioning fine at the moment, it is not a wise decision – in fact, it can be outright perilous to delay upgrades. Even using outdated software can pose potential risks.

A recent Upwork study found around a quarter of the professional workforce will work outside of the office by 2025. This shift to remote and hybrid work, away from the traditional ‘inside our four walls’ business model means the reliance on cloud and SaaS platforms, such as Microsoft 365, has drastically increased.

And if you’re reading this, that probably means someone at your office – or more likely a team – works remotely and you’ve got questions. Microsoft 365 is an excellent tool with plentiful security features that will keep your business compliant and working.

The IT world is full of phrases that could come off as odd or confusing to those who aren’t full-time in the industry. It’s not uncommon at all – there are definitely some really odd phrases farmers or shoemakers or chefs all use that might make us scratch a hole in our heads. But when it comes to today’s topic, penetration testing is a wildly straightforward concept, at least as far as naming conventions go.  

If you’ve never heard the phrase before, just stop right here and take a stab at it.  

… Good.

The security world once was able to (safely) gather and discuss all things topical and relevant to the industry during the 2022 RSA Conference. There were tons of takeaways, with one survey of attendees finding remote work was the number one concern for 17% and ransomware affecting 19% the most. But the main concern for the largest group, 37% of the attendees, was cloud security.  

And while we’ve touched on security topics from specific things like protecting against $43B scams and how Microsoft Azure works to why more cyber security training is important, nothing quite scratched the itch on the best ways to beef up cloud security. 

Back in October 2019 – you know, before it all changed – Microsoft beta-tested a new baseline security program with 30 million users. We let the mega-computers crunch all of those numbers but the result was astoundingly clear: Adding things like MFA and conditional access to accounts made a world of difference.

To be fair that isn’t exactly a surprising find. While it’s our job to care about how nefarious types are trying to get into your data, you’re likely busy thinking about the 99.9% of the rest of your business. Cakes, cookies, muffins, whatever kind of delicious baked goods you make. (And even if you don’t make baked goods, you should still keep reading..)