UPDATE: 2 November 2021 – SharePoint Protection is now available for customers
Many companies use Microsoft 365 as their main platform to connect with employees, partners, and customers. SharePoint enables businesses to create dynamic collaboration environments that improve productivity, data management, and optimize content delivery. In addition to the obvious benefits of SharePoint, this unfortunately introduces security risks, especially on SharePoint sites shared with external parties.
WithSecure Elements for Microsoft 365 complements the native email and SharePoint security capabilities of Microsoft 365 by providing advanced security protection against phishing, ransomware, malicious files, internal email risks, malicious attachments, and URLs.
With the latest addition to WithSecure Elements for Microsoft 365, we are proud to announce the extension of protection to the SharePoint platform. This exciting new functionality will be added for all our WithSecure Elements for Microsoft 365 customers without additional costs.
Why is protecting SharePoint important?
It is each organization’s responsibility to verify that their collaboration platforms provide defenses against deception, social engineering, malicious content, and targeted attacks. However, identifying and addressing potential gaps in the built‑in Microsoft 365 security capabilities is a challenging task for any organization.
Microsoft provides built‑in security with their Email Online Protection (EOP) and SharePoint. However, advanced security features such as sandboxing (Safe Attachments) are available only with higher‑tier subscriptions such as ATP Plan 2 or Enterprise E5.
Basic email security or collaboration tools do not provide adequate defense against advanced and targeted attacks or sophisticated phishing attempts. As more and more users rely on Microsoft 365, it is drawing the attention of attackers who design and test their methods to bypass standard Microsoft security.
To mitigate cloud collaboration risks, a purpose‑built security solution with the highest possible detection rates should be considered to protect your users from external and internal threats. Furthermore, a solution that provides security from endpoints to the cloud is more cost‑effective and easier to manage.
How does WithSecure Elements for Microsoft 365 provide protection for SharePoint?
WithSecure Elements for Microsoft 365 is a cloud‑based security service designed to mitigate cloud collaboration risks in organizations by providing effective threat protection for Microsoft 365. The service leverages cloud‑to‑cloud integration that doesn’t require any middleware or software installation, and it is extremely fast to deploy and easy to manage. WithSecure’s default policies help eliminate configuration errors that could leave your security environment exposed or ineffective.
Files stored on protected SharePoint sites are scanned and checked for malicious content such as viruses, trojans, ransomware, and other advanced malware. WithSecure Security Cloud employs multi‑stage content analysis in a stepped process triggered by the content’s risk profile. High‑risk files are subjected to deeper analysis using our cloud sandboxing technology, designed to prevent zero‑day attacks and other advanced threats.
Based on the verdict from WithSecure Security Cloud, the file is categorized as either harmful or clean. If the content is found malicious, it will be placed into quarantine.
Please note that support for SharePoint sites used with Teams is coming later.
How to install SharePoint protection for WithSecure Elements for Microsoft 365
SharePoint protection will be added to existing customers at no additional cost. To enable SharePoint protection, follow these steps:
- Log in to WithSecure Elements Security Center,
- Go to the Cloud Services page,
- Authorize the connection to SharePoint, and
- Configure protection for your SharePoint sites.