Microsoft 365 Security Insight
Microsoft Secure Score Explained: What Is It and How Do You Improve It?
Learn what Microsoft Secure Score means, how it works and how Australian businesses can prioritise practical Microsoft 365 security improvements.
Microsoft Secure Score shows how closely your Microsoft environment aligns with supported security recommendations. It is useful for prioritising improvements and tracking progress, but it is not a guarantee against a breach and should not replace a broader risk-based security programme.
What Is Microsoft Secure Score?
Microsoft Secure Score is a measurement of how closely an organisation's Microsoft environment aligns with recommended security actions. It appears in the Microsoft Defender portal and brings together recommendations covering identities, devices, applications and data.
The score is useful because it converts a large number of possible security improvements into a prioritised list. It can show the current score, available points, historical movement and comparisons with similar organisations.
How Microsoft Secure Score Works
Secure Score awards points when recommended controls are implemented, security-related tasks are completed or an appropriate alternative mitigation is recorded. Some recommendations are all-or-nothing, while others award partial points based on the percentage of users, devices or workloads covered.
A higher score normally means that more recommended actions have been addressed. It does not mean the organisation is immune from attack, and it should not be treated as a guarantee that a breach cannot occur.
Secure Score is a guide, not a security certificate
The score reflects adoption of supported controls in the Microsoft environment. It does not fully measure people, process, third-party systems, physical security, incident response maturity or every possible attack path.
Where to Find Microsoft Secure Score
Authorised administrators and security readers can access Secure Score from the Microsoft Defender portal. The dashboard presents the current score, points achieved, available points, score history and recommended actions.
Main areas of the dashboard
- Overview: current percentage, achieved points and trends.
- Recommended actions: prioritised security improvements.
- History: changes to the score over a selected period.
- Comparison: benchmarking against similar organisations.
- Categories: recommendations grouped by identity, devices, apps and data.
How Recommended Actions Are Prioritised
Recommended actions can be filtered and grouped to help teams decide where to begin. Microsoft considers factors such as remaining points, implementation difficulty, expected user impact and complexity.
The highest point value is not always the best first action. A lower-scoring recommendation may address an urgent risk, while a high-scoring change may require licensing, testing or a major operational project.
| Factor | Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Security impact | What realistic attack path does this control reduce? | Prioritises genuine risk reduction over point chasing. |
| User impact | Will the change interrupt access or alter daily work? | Determines communication, testing and support needs. |
| Licensing | Is the required capability available in the current subscription? | Avoids planning a control that cannot yet be deployed. |
| Dependencies | Does the recommendation rely on another policy or project? | Prevents incomplete or unsafe implementation. |
| Effort | Can the control be deployed quickly and safely? | Helps identify high-value early wins. |
How to Improve Microsoft Secure Score
1. Establish a baseline
Record the current score, major recommendations, licensing constraints and existing security projects. This creates a starting point for measuring progress.
2. Prioritise identity protection
Identity recommendations often deserve early attention because compromised accounts can provide access to email, files, applications and administrative functions. Review multifactor authentication, privileged roles, legacy authentication and risky sign-in controls.
3. Address quick wins
Identify improvements with strong security value, low user impact and limited technical complexity. Quick wins build momentum but should still be tested and documented.
4. Group recommendations into projects
Rather than implementing isolated settings, combine related actions into workstreams such as identity protection, endpoint management, email security, external sharing and data protection.
5. Track accepted risks and alternatives
Where a recommendation does not fit the environment, document the reason. Secure Score allows actions to be marked as risk accepted, planned, resolved through a third party or resolved through an alternative mitigation.
6. Review progress regularly
New recommendations, Microsoft service changes and business changes can affect the score. A recurring monthly review is more valuable than a one-time improvement exercise.
High-Value Secure Score Actions to Review First
The exact recommendations differ by tenant and licence. However, many organisations should review the following control areas early.
- Require multifactor authentication for users and administrators.
- Reduce the number of highly privileged administrator accounts.
- Block legacy authentication where dependencies have been removed.
- Deploy Conditional Access policies using a tested rollout plan.
- Strengthen anti-phishing, Safe Links and Safe Attachments policies.
- Onboard supported endpoints to Microsoft Defender.
- Apply device compliance and security policies through Microsoft Intune.
- Review external sharing, guest access and anonymous links.
- Introduce information-protection and data-loss-prevention controls.
- Assign ownership for security alerts and recurring reviews.
Common Microsoft Secure Score Mistakes
Chasing a perfect score
A score of 100% is not always realistic or appropriate. Some controls may conflict with business requirements, require unavailable licensing or be addressed through another product.
Implementing changes without testing
Identity and access recommendations can lock out users or interrupt applications when applied without pilots, exclusions and rollback plans.
Ignoring alternative controls
A third-party security product or an internal control may already address the underlying risk. Record that context rather than duplicating technology unnecessarily.
Using the score as the only security metric
Secure Score should sit alongside incident trends, vulnerability exposure, backup testing, access reviews, user awareness, recovery readiness and business risk.
What Microsoft Secure Score Should You Aim For?
Microsoft does not provide a universal percentage that guarantees an organisation is secure. A practical target is steady improvement against the high-importance recommendations that are relevant to the business.
Organisations should focus on whether important controls are effective, tested and maintained rather than selecting an arbitrary percentage. A lower score with strong coverage of high-risk areas may be more meaningful than a higher score built from low-impact actions.
A Practical Secure Score Review Process
| Stage | Activity | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | Export or review current recommendations and licensing. | Baseline and recommendation inventory. |
| Assess | Evaluate risk, effort, user impact and dependencies. | Prioritised improvement backlog. |
| Plan | Assign owners, pilot groups, dates and rollback steps. | Approved implementation plan. |
| Implement | Deploy controls in stages and validate results. | Completed and documented changes. |
| Operate | Review score history, alerts and new recommendations. | Recurring security improvement cycle. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Microsoft Secure Score a percentage?
Yes. The dashboard displays achieved points as a percentage of the available points, together with the underlying point totals and trends.
Does a high Secure Score mean Microsoft 365 cannot be breached?
No. It indicates greater adoption of recommended controls, not immunity from attack. Security also depends on people, processes, third-party systems and operational response.
How often does Secure Score update?
Some information updates quickly, while completed changes can take time to appear. Microsoft notes that some recommendation states and product data refresh on different schedules.
Can third-party security products count toward the score?
Some recommendations can be recorded as resolved through a third-party product or an alternative mitigation when that control addresses the underlying risk.
Should a business try to reach 100%?
Not necessarily. Focus on high-value recommendations that are relevant, practical and effective in the organisation's environment.
Official Microsoft References
Need Help Improving Microsoft Secure Score?
Fedelta helps Australian businesses review Microsoft 365 security, prioritise Secure Score recommendations and implement changes through controlled, documented improvement plans.
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