It has always been a battle for enterprises to maintain a balance between productivity and security. Organizations are always worried about the trade-off between worker productivity and security since both can be compromised leading to complex problems for organizations. To resolve this issue for enterprises, Microsoft Office 365 has introduced apps such as “Safe Documents” and “Application Guard”. These apps build secure productivity, helping organizations stay both productive and secure at the same time by protecting their information and limiting risks while allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives and innovation. 

What is Safe Documents? 

With Safe Documents, your files are automatically protected against known risks and threats before you ever open them. Moreover, users do not have to worry about deciding whether a document can be trusted, they can simply focus on getting work done. Safe Documents brings the power of the Intelligent Security Graph down to your system and assesses if a document is safe. This safe and seamless connection between the desktop and the cloud makes the user’s workflow more fluid while keeping your network more secure. 

What is an Application Guard? 

Application Guard ensures that desktop users are safe and productive. With an upgrade to protected view, Application Guard blocks the attacker’s access to memory, local storage, installed applications, corporate network endpoints, or any other resources that might interest the attacker. Application Guard lets users open an untrusted Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, make changes to it and save it, all while being protected with hardware-level security.  

How these Apps help Enterprises like Yours? 

Users are secured by Default: The release of Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) integration for Excel 4.0 (XLM) macros provides a security solution to the systems. The open interface of AMSI is widely used on Windows 10. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint incorporates AMSI and machine learning to fight and curb script-based and file-less threats. Office and AMSI integration protect against script-based malware. The integration of Excel with AMSI detects logging macro behavior, identifies suspicious behavior, and stops a malicious macro upon detection. The user is immediately notified by Excel when malicious activity is detected. The application is shut down in order to avoid any further damage.  

Productivity and Security Go Hand-in-Hand:  Enterprises are always looking for ways to keep their productivity high while staying secure. Therefore, they are always in search of procuring applications that will work seamlessly without affecting user productivity. 

Now, with Microsoft Office 365 Apps, securing files without hampering user productivity has become achievable. Not only will productivity boost, but Security Policy Advisor will also measures how enterprises use Microsoft 365 Apps and then recommend specific policies for enhancing an organization’s security profile. These recommendations are solely based on Microsoft’s best practices. With the use of Security Policy Advisor, IT admins and enterprises can work together to view intelligent security policy recommendations based on the Office app, which features their usage, to better understand behaviors before changing any policies. Users will have greater confidence knowing these policies are in place helping them to choose appropriate behaviors in their environment. It also lets enterprises monitor policy health enabling them to analyze the impact on user productivity, highlighting areas worth attention, and then make any necessary changes. 

Work and Save Untrusted File without Worrying: With so much pressure to get their work done, users often ignore Protected View and dismiss it without considering whether a document is safe to open. This leaves your workers and your organization vulnerable to malware and an easy target for attackers. Also, sometimes users choose not to use Application Guard protection without properly considering the consequences, even though the use of Safe Documents and Application Guard allows users to work on an untrusted file and save it without affecting their security. Safe Documents and Application Guard are two features in Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft 365 E5 Security that incorporate Microsoft’s deep knowledge of risks and brings these features to the desktop. Using Safe Documents enables users to open untrusted files in Protected View. On the other hand, Application Guard is an extra layer of security that lets documents or files go through an additional step where the document is uploaded and scanned by Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. 

To summarize, Safe Documents automatically verifies documents against potential risks and threat before allowing users to leave a protected environment like the Protected View or Application Guard. Therefore, it would be safe to say that this unique approach to Microsoft Office 365 empowers enterprises all over the world in terms of security and productivity.  

What are you waiting for? Set up Office 365 for your business and keep it safe while watching productivity soar. If you are looking for advice or professional help setting up Office 365 for your business, look no further, you’ve come to the right place. Sandra Network is a one-stop solution. We offer great advice, answer all your questions, recommend the right solution, set it up and provide guidance to help you boost your productivity with the amazing features of Office 365. Don’t delay, head to Sandra Network and get a head start by browsing some of our professional training videos. Then call or email us to schedule an appointment We look forward to chatting with you soon.