Microsoft Safe Documents keeps all your files protected
New security feature aims to protect organizations from malicious documents
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Microsofthas announced that a new Office 365 ProPlus security feature called Safe Documents is now in public preview for bothMicrosoft365 E5 and E5 Security customers.
Safe Documentsautomatically protects users from documents hiding exploits or malicious links by bringing the power of the company’s Intelligent Security Graph down to the desktop to verify that documents are safe at the endpoint itself.
WhileProtected Viewalready helps secure documents that originate outside of an organization, users often exit the sandbox to do things such as print physical documents, which leaves their networks vulnerable.
Safe Documents automatically checks each document against known risks and threat profiles before allowing them to be opened. Users no longer need to decide on their own whether or not a document can be trusted and this allows them to instead focus on their work.
Application Guard integration
Whilefirst introduced in Edgeto bring hardware-level containerization to the browser, Microsoft’s Application Guard is now integrated with Office 365 ProPlus. Application Guard provides an upgrade to Protected View which helps desktop users stay safer and more productive with container-based isolation for Office applications.
By using a new instance ofWindows 10as well as a separate copy of the kernel, Application Guard’s enforcement completely blocks access to memory, local storage, installed applications, corporate network endpoints and other resources that attackers may target.
The security tool allows Office users to open untrusted Word, Excel or PowerPoint files in avirtualized containerwhere they can make edits, print and save changes all while protected with hardware-level security. If an untrusted file is malicious, the attack remains contained while user data and identity both remain untouched.
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If a user then decides to trust a document to save on the network or start collaborating with others, Safe Documents will then to check to ensure that it is safe before allowing them to do so.
Safe Documents and Application Guard both connect to the Microsoft Security Center and this provides admins with advanced visibility as well as response capabilities including alerts, logs, confirmation the attack was contained and the ability to see and act on similar threats across their organization.
After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.
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