Microsoft 365 Security Assessment & Hardening

Microsoft 365 is not secure out of the box. Default settings leave MFA disabled, admin accounts unprotected, and email filters too permissive. We audit your tenant, identify every security gap, fix them systematically, and deliver a before-and-after report showing your improved Microsoft Secure Score.

How the Assessment Works

Secure Score Audit & Gap Analysis

We begin with a full review of your Microsoft 365 tenant: current Secure Score, admin account configuration, user roles and permissions, email security settings, device compliance posture, and audit log status. Most tenants we assess start between 20% and 40% — well below any recommended security baseline. Every gap is documented with a risk rating, explained in plain language, and ranked by priority.

Identity & Access Hardening

We enforce Multi-Factor Authentication for every user account, configure Conditional Access policies that verify device compliance and user risk level before granting access, set up break-glass emergency admin accounts, review all admin role assignments, and configure Microsoft Entra ID Identity Protection to block risky sign-in attempts automatically.

Email & Threat Protection Policies

We configure Microsoft Defender for Office 365 with strict anti-phishing policies, enable Safe Links and Safe Attachments, and configure anti-spoofing controls with DMARC, DKIM, and SPF records so your domain cannot be impersonated.

Endpoint Security & Monitoring Setup

We onboard your Windows devices into Microsoft Intune, deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on all devices, configure Windows Update policies, and close the engagement with security alert configuration for high-risk events and a full before-and-after Secure Score report. If you are weighing what your existing licences already cover, our review of whether Microsoft Defender for Business is enough on its own explains exactly where it protects you and where it quietly stops.

What the Assessment Covers

Every security layer of your Microsoft 365 environment, reviewed and hardened.

Who Needs a Security Assessment

Real scenarios where Microsoft 365 security hardening made a measurable difference.

Default Settings, Real Exposure

A 15-person accounting firm had used Microsoft 365 for three years with out-of-the-box defaults: no MFA, no Conditional Access, email filters at minimum thresholds, and two global admin accounts with no additional protection. Their Secure Score was 22%. We ran the full assessment, fixed every critical gap, and hardened the tenant across identity, email, and endpoint layers.

Result: Secure Score improved from 22% to 74% in a single engagement

After a Phishing Attack

A phishing email compromised an employee mailbox at a professional services firm. The attacker set up silent forwarding rules and used the account for fraudulent payment requests. After the breach, we performed a forensic tenant review, removed all attacker-planted rules, revoked active sessions, enabled MFA and Conditional Access, configured Safe Links and anti-phishing policies, and set up alerts to detect future suspicious mailbox activity.

Result: All attacker access removed, MFA and monitoring active within 24 hours

Pre-Audit Compliance Hardening

A healthcare provider facing an upcoming data protection inspection needed their Microsoft 365 environment to demonstrate technical security controls. We assessed the tenant against GDPR technical requirements, implemented audit logging, DLP policies to prevent patient data from leaving the organisation, sensitivity labels on medical records, and MFA with Conditional Access for all clinical staff. The inspection report cited their M365 security controls as exemplary.

Result: Passed data protection inspection with no security findings

Intune & Defender Rollout

A construction company with 45 users had laptops running consumer antivirus with no central management or visibility. No admin had insight into which devices were patched, which were compliant, or whether threats had been detected. We enrolled all devices in Intune, deployed Defender for Endpoint in active protection mode, configured Windows Update policies, and built a security dashboard providing full fleet visibility for the first time.

Result: 45 devices enrolled and protected, full compliance visibility established

Secure Score Target Programme

An engineering firm needed a Microsoft Secure Score above 80% as a contractual requirement from a new enterprise client. Starting from 31%, we systematically addressed every high-impact recommendation: Conditional Access, Defender for Office 365, audit log configuration, privileged role management, and admin MFA. The engagement included full documentation of every control for the client's vendor security questionnaire.

Result: Secure Score reached 83% — contractual requirement met

Departing Employee Risk Review

After a senior employee left unexpectedly, a law firm needed assurance that no data had been exfiltrated and all access was fully revoked. We audited the offboarded account for suspicious mailbox rules, unusual file access in SharePoint and OneDrive, external sharing permissions, and delegated access granted to personal accounts. We also configured insider risk management policies and automated offboarding alerts to prevent recurrence.

Result: No data exfiltration confirmed, offboarding process hardened against future incidents

Typical Security Assessment Outcomes

Illustrative scenarios based on typical engagements, not quotations from named clients.

We had no idea Microsoft 365 was not secure by default. The assessment found three admin accounts with no MFA, email filters at minimum thresholds, and no restrictions on external sharing. IDE Solutions fixed everything in one engagement and gave us a full report showing exactly what changed and why. Our Secure Score went from 24% to 76%. Every business using Microsoft 365 needs this.

Accounting Practice (20 users)

After a phishing attack hit our office manager's account, we were terrified about what the attacker had seen. IDE Solutions performed a forensic tenant review, confirmed no data had been exfiltrated, removed all traces of the attacker's configuration, and hardened our entire Microsoft 365 environment within 48 hours. We now have MFA, Conditional Access, and alerts that would catch this attack pattern instantly.

Legal Practice (14 users)

Our new enterprise client required a Microsoft Secure Score above 80% as part of their vendor security requirements. We had no idea where to start — our score was 31%. IDE Solutions ran the full assessment, fixed every critical gap, and provided detailed compliance documentation within two weeks. We hit 84% and won the contract.

Engineering Consultancy (30 users)

What impressed us most was the before-and-after report. Not a generic checklist — a document showing each specific control that was missing, the risk it represented, what was implemented to fix it, and the measurable improvement in Secure Score. Our data protection officer used it directly as evidence in our annual compliance review.

Financial Services Firm (45 users)

Why a Security Assessment Matters

Microsoft 365 ships with permissive defaults designed for easy adoption, not maximum security. Every new tenant has the same gaps: MFA not enforced, admin accounts under-protected, email threat policies at minimum thresholds. Most small businesses do not know what they are missing until something goes wrong. A security assessment finds those gaps before an attacker does — and fixes them with documented, measurable results.