In Microsoft 365, data moves fast—both between teams and sometimes outside of your organization. That speed is great for productivity, but it makes managing risk and meeting security compliance requirements harder for your IT team. 

With tools like Teams and SharePoint, it’s easy for people to create, share, and move content. The downside? It’s hard for IT to see exactly where sensitive data ends up or how it’s being protected. Labels, retention rules, and sharing settings don’t always get applied the same way. And as Microsoft keeps adding new features and changes, your compliance setup can drift without you noticing.

Sound familiar? This article breaks down what security and compliance mean in Microsoft 365, where they overlap, and practical tips to keep both under control.

What’s security?

Although both security and compliance improve a company’s security posture, they aren’t the same thing. 

Security refers to the strategies, tools, and controls that protect your organization from external threats and unauthorized access, while compliance focuses on meeting the legal requirements put in place by regulatory frameworks.

Categories of security tools

Security tools help protect your data and ensure only authorized individuals can access your network. They’re broken down into the following  basic categories: 

• IT infrastructure: In Microsoft 365, this refers to the systems, settings, and architecture that support your cloud environment, including how Teams channels are organized, how files are stored in OneDrive, and how SharePoint sites are structured. Securing this foundation keeps collaboration flowing without exposing sensitive data, even when shared externally.
• Network access: Network access security is designed to control who can connect to business systems and access data, often using a user-privilege structure. 
• Authentication: Authentication systems verify a user’s identity before allowing them to connect to business environments. These security tools include multi-factor authentication (MFA), biometric authentication, and single sign-on (SSO) systems. 
• User training: Practices like enlisting onboarding security education, running simulated phishing tests, and offering gamified learning opportunities all improve employee cybersecurity awareness.

Types of security controls

Security controls are any procedure, policy, or tool that your business uses to prevent data breaches and ensure compliance. Here are the main types of security controls:

• Technical IT security controls: Configurations and tools that prevent breaches or streamline threat response. In Microsoft 365, this can include applying and preserving sensitivity labels and managing permissions. ShareGate helps automate governance tasks like preserving sensitivity labels during migrations, helping maintain your security posture without adding extra manual work.
• Administrative controls: These are procedures or policies that support regulatory compliance in your business.
• Physical security controls: Physical security includes tools and strategies that keep offices, data centers, and company buildings safe from unauthorized access, ranging from simple door locks to advanced biometric scanning.

What’s compliance?

Organizations like the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) or the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) develop frameworks that outline the best practices for reducing the likelihood of data breaches and enhancing digital security. Compliance refers to the actions businesses take to align with these frameworks and effectively comply with the rules and regulations they set out.

Here are some of the most prominent compliance and regulatory frameworks:

• Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX): Mandates independent audits, comprehensive financial recordkeeping, and internal controls that protect sensitive data.
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): Protects sensitive patient data by enforcing the use of security tools for all healthcare IT environments.
• ISO: Publishes standards on everything from information security compliance to data quality management. The Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager helps assess your systems to ensure they align with compliance frameworks like the ISO 27001 requirements. Full functionality requires Microsoft 365 E5 or an add-on compliance license.
• NIST: Provides cybersecurity and compliance guidelines for U.S. federal agencies and government contractors. In Microsoft 365 environments, tools like Microsoft Defender help align with standards like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and NIST SP 800-171.
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): A range of industry-wide security compliance regulations that must be followed by any business that accepts, stores, or transmits financial card information.

What’s software security compliance?

Software security compliance is the act of following leading compliance frameworks to ensure the software your business uses remains secure. 

Software security compliance includes:

• Creating and reviewing permissions structures
• Applying sensitivity labels
• Configuring security settings to align with leading frameworks

The Microsoft Purview compliance portal offers an all-in-one suite to streamline compliance management, data protection, and information governance. 

Security and compliance management: Bridging the gap for better risk control

Compliance frameworks aren’t an abstract set of rules designed to make you jump through hoops. Following these regulatory frameworks helps ensure your business aligns with leading security strategies and fortifies its security posture. 

For example, ISO 27001 guides businesses through how they should manage sensitive data and enhance their ISMS, including steps to run risk assessments and plan for incidents. In environments like OneDrive and Teams, where employees constantly create and share data, frameworks like ISO 27001 are vital in keeping sensitive data secure and decreasing the risk of a data breach.

Security and compliance work together to make your business as secure as possible by using leading practices, enlisting cutting-edge security technology, and creating rigorous policies that make it easier to manage risks. 

ShareGate’s governance solution improves visibility across Microsoft 365, offers automation, and enhances security controls. For example, ShareGate’s new sensitivity migration feature allows you to move sensitive content across tenants without losing labels, breaking encryption, or risking data exposure. 

10 best practices for security compliance

Security compliance is an active process of planning, implementation, and continually monitoring your system. Here are 10 best practices to streamline compliance in IT security.

1. Perform regular security audits and assessments

Frequent audits ensure that systems comply with both external regulations and internal standards. In dynamic environments like Microsoft 365, audits are especially valuable for quickly identifying and addressing security gaps.

2. Implement strong access controls

Role-based permissions systems limit user access to only the business documents they need. Access controls, alongside IAM systems, ensure only authorized people can access your sensitive data.

3. Encrypt your data

Data encryption standards protect your sensitive information from data hijacking and data loss. Encrypting data in transit and at rest decreases the chance of a costly breach. 

4. Develop an incident response plan

Even if you do everything possible to prevent breaches, they could still occur. An incident response plan means your security team can respond quickly to events and work out the best course of action.

5. Implement patch management

Patches exist to remove any known vulnerabilities from software or applications. Implementing automated patch management ensures your systems stay up-to-date and secure.

6. Manage your security configurations

Security configurations are the baseline settings that control how your security software and systems work. Managing these settings, adapting them for your business, and using best practices can help improve your security.

7. Assess your organization’s current state of security compliance

Use compliance checklists or internal assessments to see if your business meets regulatory requirements. These actions help you know where to focus your compliance efforts if you’re currently falling short.

8. Define your compliance objectives and priorities

By defining your security objectives, you can find which regulatory frameworks are most relevant to your company. From there, make a list of priorities to achieve compliance and work toward a more comprehensive security posture.

9. Implement monitoring and reporting mechanisms 

Automated monitoring and reporting mechanisms enhance visibility into security and compliance systems while simplifying compliance auditing and verification. ShareGate streamlines monitoring and reporting by offering a built-in activity reporting tool. Your IT administrators can use the tool to easily track changes to data, identify anomalous behavior, and readily monitor and comply with both external and internal policies. 

10. Provide ongoing training and awareness

Employee training is crucial in security compliance, as any employee could be the weak point that triggers a series of unexpected security events. Investing in ongoing training and security awareness courses helps improve cybersecurity knowledge in your organization and reduces the likelihood of a human-caused data breach.

Gain greater control of your Microsoft 365 environment with ShareGate

Security and compliance aren’t one-and-done actions. They’re ongoing processes that require visibility, collaboration, and continuous improvement. But by embedding compliance into daily operations and appreciating its role in constructing a strong security posture, your organization can reduce risk and streamline regulatory compliance. 

ShareGate takes the guesswork out of Microsoft 365 management and governance. With ShareGate’s governance solution, you get full visibility from one simple console to identify risks and take confident action. 

Start your free trial to take control of your Microsoft 365 environment.