Your Microsoft Secure Score should be above 60% to indicate solid security measures that have been implemented. A higher score reflects better security practices and configurations. Understanding what constitutes a good score, how it's calculated, and how it compares to the Microsoft Secure Score industry average will help you set and achieve your target Secure Score.
Microsoft Secure Score is calculated based on several factors:
- Configurations: Security settings like multi-factor authentication, safe documents for Office clients, password protection, and more.
- User Behaviors: Secure practices, such as using strong passwords, blocking legacy authentication, avoiding external sharing of calendars, and more.
- Third-party Solutions: Integration of complementary security tools.
- 80% and above: This is considered as a good secure score. Your Microsoft 365 environment is secure but can still be improved. Regularly review and implement additional recommendations.
- 60% to 80%: This is a medium score. Your security is close to good but needs further tightening. Follow the recommended actions to enhance your security.
- Less than 60%: This score indicates vulnerability. Immediate action is necessary as it reflects significant security risks. Address the risks by implementing the recommendations mentioned to improve your score.
While a 100% Secure Score is the ideal target, achieving it often requires significant investment in additional Microsoft licenses and extensive security configurations. For most small businesses, aiming for a score of 80% is excellent. For example, a small nonprofit with fewer than 100 users with an average score of 44% is acceptable, given their resource constraints.
By leveraging the Microsoft Secure Score benchmark, admins can proactively enhance their organization's security posture and ensure a safer Microsoft 365 environment.