What is Microsoft Secure Score and Why Should You Care

I talk to a lot of business owners in the course of my role as a cybersecurity professional. Most of them are flat out, their teams are busy, they’re engaging with a variety of vendors, and crucially, they have all of their critical data in a small handful of systems, e.g., Microsoft, Salesforce etc.

The feedback is pretty unanimous in that they all believe their data is safe because it’s with ‘one of the big platforms’, and I don’t blame them. They’ve made sure everybody has a strong password and must log in via 2FA.

However, more and more business owners are finding incidents with team members clicking on a convincing link in an email, or a contractor’s laptop isn’t quite as protected as it should be, and suddenly, they’re not so sure about the security of their systems.

I dealt with a case a few years ago where the assistant to the CEO of a financial advisory firm clicked on the wrong link in an email and it resulted in her mailbox sending a similar email to all of her contacts, which included the supervisory team at the regulator. Thankfully, no data was lost, but it definitely resulted in a few awkward phone calls.

In this article I want to discuss the Microsoft Secure Score, which is designed to give you sufficient direction to protect against cyber threats, and it’s one that I often discuss with business owners given the majority of them use Microsoft for their emails, file storage etc. However, the same logic applies to any cybersecurity health check scoring platforms.

What Microsoft Secure Score Measures and Why it’s Important

Think of Microsoft Secure Score as a health check for your digital world. It looks at how well you are using the Microsoft 365 security features and turns that information into a single number between 0 and 100.

That score reflects how many security policies have been implemented across several key areas, including:

• Identity protection such as multi-factor authentication and conditional access.

• Device security like encryption, compliance, and antivirus.

• Data protection including data loss prevention, secure sharing, and retention policies.

Application control for managing permissions and integrations with third-party apps.

A strong Secure Score, shows that you’re actively managing risk. Industry data indicates that businesses with higher Secure Scores are five times less likely to experience a serious breach. I’ll say that again, five times less likely to experience a major security incident. That kind of prevention is invaluable in terms of sustained productivity and peace of mind.

“Businesses with higher Secure Scores are five times less likely to experience a serious breach. I’ll say that again, five times less likely to experience a major security incident.”

There’s also a reputational advantage. Clients, regulators, and partners increasingly expect tangible proof of strong cybersecurity. Your Secure Score gives you a clear way to demonstrate that your organisation takes data protection seriously.

It’s worth noting that the target isn’t 100%. In most cases, a score of 100% would prevent your users from logging in. Similar to spam filters, it’s about opening the door just wide enough to let legitimate actions take place, but not wide enough that you let in the emails selling diet pills and the latest crypto coins. This is why I recommend to clients to aim for a Secure Score of around 75%. It’s about the right level for most businesses to be secure, but without impacting usability.

The Real-World Impact of Improving Your Score

One of the most convincing attacks seen across businesses the world over in 2025 is what’s known as a social engineering breach (a type of impersonation attack), and it focuses on the most vulnerable users of your business; your sales team, who by virtue are quick to respond to opportunities and are therefore much more exposed.

Social engineering attackers study your business and understand what services you have, and will reach out through official channels to have a conversation with your sales team to get to know them. After some time, perhaps after several online conversations and emails have been exchanged, the attacker will send an online attachment asking your team to click it and read the information inside. Upon clicking the URL, it will ask your sales person to sign in using their Microsoft email account, which is familiar to your team as you use Microsoft. Unfortunately, once the credentials have been entered, they are now compromised and the attack has been successful.

When the social engineering attack takes place, the difference between businesses with low and high Secure Scores is immediately evident. The more secure company, thanks to having impersonation protection, quarantined mailboxes, and a bolstered phishing policy, won’t even see the email in their inbox. The second, lesser secure company, will likely be compromised as the email will hit the user mailbox, the business will ultimately spend a week recovering accounts and repairing client trust. That is the real-world impact of a high Secure Score, and a case that we’ve seen time and time again. In some cases after it’s already too late and the hack has already happened.

What You Can Do Today

If you want to start improving your Secure Score, there are a few easy steps you can take right now:

• Check your current Secure Score.

Visit Microsoft Defender to see your current score and the recommended actions that come with it. Knowing your current cybersecurity standing is the first step toward improving it.

https://security.microsoft.com/exposure-secure-score

• Tackle the quick wins.

Some of the most effective improvements are also the simplest. Enable multi-factor authentication, limit data sharing outside your organisation, and review admin permissions. Small actions can make a big difference.

• Aim for steady, continual progress, not perfection.

As I mentioned above, for most businesses, a Secure Score around 75% represents a healthy, balanced level of security. The goal is to build consistent habits that keep your systems protected without impacting user convenience, not to chase an unattainable 100 (which is often unsuitable in real-world business environments). New and modified IT security policies are implemented roughly twice a year by Microsoft, so it’s best to review your configuration at least every 6 months, if not more regularly.

Regularly reviewing your Secure Score keeps you aware of new risks and ensures your protection evolves alongside your business.

Building a Safer, Smarter Business

Microsoft Secure Score does more than measure your security posture. It helps you understand it, manage it, and improve it over time. It turns cybersecurity from something reactive into something you can actively control.

If you’re not sure where to begin, that’s perfectly normal. Many organisations benefit from having a trusted partner who can interpret their Secure Score, prioritise improvements, and maintain strong protection on their behalf.

If you have any questions or want advice on how to improve it, get in touch and I’ll happily provide guidance.

This article was originally written and published by Jordan Gall, Head of Cybersecurity at B.TECH, as part of his ongoing insights on cybersecurity and business resilience. You can read the original post on his LinkedIn profile.