Microsoft has just announced the launch of a Security Program – made up of a set of security offerings built to protect nonprofits organizations against threats, by providing proactive monitoring and notification in the case of a nation-state attack as well as to help enhance their security posture based on their environment.
Built to complement Microsoft’s security suite, the Security Program has three different components, including free access to the AccountGuard program – which notifies organizations when their Microsoft 365 organizational accounts, or Outlook and Hotmail personal accounts are targeted or compromised; Free security assessments – for the better understanding of vulnerabilities in existing endpoints, identity access, infrastructure, network and data; as well as Free training pathways for IT administrators and end-users.
“Microsoft’s 2021 Digital Defense Report confirms that in the past year, cybercrime has grown in scale and sophistication, leveraging crises to take advantage of at-risk targets. The report highlights that, in the past year, NGOs and think tanks were the second most targeted sector by cybercriminals, accounting for 31% of all notifications of nation-state attacks against organizational domains as detected by Microsoft. These organizations are attractive targets for nation-state actors because they often store sensitive data,” said Justin Spelhaug, VP of Tech for Social Impact, Microsoft Philanthropies.
“It’s up to all of us to support nonprofits as they work on the front lines of need around the world. Volunteers, partners, donors and employees continue to accomplish great things in the face of great need. We continue to stand with nonprofits so they can focus on accomplishing their missions without compromising organizational security.”
As announced, the objective of Microsoft is to support 10,000 organizations in the first year of the program, and a three-year goal of providing these set of services to about 50,000 organizations worldwide, while stating that the program has at now expanded to 32 countries, with close to 1,500 threat notifications issued.