Securely leveraging Copilot with Microsoft 365 Business Premium for SMEs

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In today’s fast-evolving business technology landscape, small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are increasingly adopting generative AI tools like Copilot to enhance productivity and streamline operations. However, the integration of such advanced technologies brings its own set of security challenges.

Click here to get the Microsoft 365 Business Premium package from Rectron.

Mukumela Sibata, Microsoft Product Manager at Rectron, explains how Microsoft 365 Business Premium provides a comprehensive solution, ensuring that SMEs can securely utilise Copilot.

The recent expansion of Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 represents a significant advancement in bringing business-specific artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into the market.

Rather than being just another search feature, Copilot’s powerful natural language processing, extensive data models and robust security features can elevate businesses beyond their previous capabilities.

By offering highly targeted and accurate insights into every area of operations, businesses can produce higher quality work and achieve greater productivity, making Copilot indispensable for modern-day competitiveness.

Copilot transforms several key business functions:

Copilot allows HR and legal teams to store, access and prioritise a variety of notes in a fraction of the time using conventional tools. This includes real-time compliance, legal and policy data, cross-referencing this data with specific employee profiles and engagements.

For SMEs, Copilot is a game-changer. Businesses no longer need to invest heavily in overhead functions that, while vital, do not directly contribute to production or service delivery. This reduction in business operation costs is especially crucial in the current high-inflation climate.

By making business operations more cost-effective, Copilot helps break down barriers to entry in key growth sectors such as manufacturing, heavy industry and digital, which require high capital investments.

While generative AI like Copilot offers numerous benefits, it also introduces several security risks, like data leakage, where AI systems can inadvertently expose sensitive data, as well as model poisoning, where malicious actors can manipulate AI models to produce harmful outputs.

Longstanding threats, like phishing and malware, remain prevalent as even AI can be exploited to create sophisticated phishing schemes and malware. Bias and misinformation can be amplified, where AI-generated content can perpetuate biases or spread misinformation.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium addresses these security concerns with a robust framework that includes advanced threat protection through Microsoft Defender for Office 365, where systems are protected against phishing, malware and other sophisticated threats by scanning e-mails and attachments, as well as the Safe Links and Safe Attachments feature that prevents access to malicious websites and downloads.

Data protection and compliance is run through data loss prevention (DLP), which Monitors and controls the sharing of sensitive information. Information protection capabilities labels and encrypts data, ensuring security in transit and at rest, while Compliance Manager helps businesses meet regulatory requirements with a comprehensive compliance framework.

Identity and access management is handled by multifactor authentication (MFA), which adds an extra layer of security by requiring multiple forms of verification before granting access, while conditional access controls access based on user identity, location and device compliance.

Device management includes the Intune feature, which manages and secures devices, ensuring only compliant devices can access company resources, and Remote Wipe allows administrators to remotely erase data from lost or stolen devices.

AI-specific security measures are managed through Microsoft Purview, which provides visibility into AI usage, helping detect and mitigate risks associated with generative AI, while Defender for Cloud Apps monitors and controls the use of AI applications, ensuring data remains secure.

By choosing Microsoft 365 Business Premium as your base licence, you’re not just getting a productivity suite – you’re securing a foundation for safe AI integration in your business. This comprehensive solution allows SMEs to harness the power of Copilot without compromising on security.

Click here to get the Microsoft 365 Business Premium package from Rectron.