Microsoft Teams hits 250 million Daily Active Users in July 2021
The number of daily active users of Microsoft Teams has tripled the past 18 months, increasing from 75 million users in April 2020 to 250 million as of July 28th 2021, according to CEO Satya Nadella at the Microsoft’s Q4 Earnings call, and IT security must be a priority.
Due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the growing practices of social distancing and working from home, Microsoft has seen dramatic increases in the daily use of their communication and collaboration platform within a short period of time. Microsoft Teams is part of Microsoft 365, a set of collaboration apps and services launched in July 2017.
Protect the New Surface of Attack
I was on the phone with a customer talking about Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and he reminded me of the days when Microsoft was in desperate need of security while Apple had no Virus issues to talk about. He also made the comment, that the footprint for Windows was a million times the size of Apple and that malicious actors target based on footprint. Well, the same could be said for email moving forward with the onset of so many email protection solutions like Defender for Office 365. But now I can confidently say we can protect to the new “surface of attack” which is Microsoft Teams.
Collaboration Platforms are Potential Targets
Threat actors will most assuredly start building specific malware to target Office 365 via Teams and not just Exchange Online. Anytime you provide a successful large-scale delivery system, malicious behavior will start looking for ways to compromise you using that platform. Teams, like exchange provides for apps to add-in, partner ecosystems to attach and that means indicators of compromises (IOC’s) we have never seen will start to appear. The new Teams “Zero Day” is coming!
Security and Governance in Microsoft Teams
The good news is Forsyte I.T. Solutions is here to help you with both security and governance for this growing communication platform using the Defender stack to provide you the tools and the resources to secure your environment and keep your organization productive.
Get Help with Forsyte I.T. Solutions
Forsyte I.T. Solutions was recently honored with Microsoft’s Partner in Education Award for 2021, acknowledging the company’s vast IT knowledge and expertise in the education industry. With a range of innovative technology solutions, Forsyte empowers K-12 schools and organizations of all kinds to implement security strategies that realize advanced innovation goals.
Contact Forsyte I.T. Solutions today to:
- Schedule a Security Assessment
- Schedule a Security Health Check
- Get a funded Security Workshop and training
- See your Security Score metrics and roadmap your options with us
