Table of contents
- What Is Microsoft Secure Score?
- How Is Microsoft Secure Score Calculated?
- Benefits of Using Microsoft Secure Score
- How to Access Microsoft Secure Score in Microsoft 365 Security Center
- Types of Actions Suggested by Secure Score
- How Secure Score Tracks Progress and Assigns Points
- Compliance Mapping: Aligning Secure Score with NIST and CIS Frameworks
- Using Secure Score for MSPs: Multi-Tenant Security Reviews and Roadmap Planning
- Introducing Syncro: Operationalizing Secure Score Improvements
- How Syncro Helps MSPs and IT Teams Improve Secure Score
- Secure Score as a Living Metric
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Key Takeaways
Microsoft Secure Score is a powerful, built-in measurement tool in Microsoft 365 that helps you assess and improve your organization’s security posture. For Managed Service Providers (MSPs), IT administrators, and security analysts, understanding and leveraging Microsoft Secure Score is essential for protecting clients and demonstrating measurable security improvements.
In this guide, you’ll discover what Microsoft Secure Score is, how it works, and how technology enables you to operationalize Secure Score remediation across multiple tenants for continuous security gains.
What Is Microsoft Secure Score?
Microsoft Secure Score is a security analytics tool built into Microsoft 365. It measures your organization’s security posture on a scale from 0 to 100%, with a higher score indicating stronger alignment with security best practices. Secure Score evaluates your security settings, user behaviors, and adoption of recommended features, then assigns a score that reflects your overall security health.
For MSPs and IT teams, Secure Score serves as both a benchmarking tool and a roadmap. It not only shows where you stand but also provides prioritized recommendations for improvement. This makes it invaluable for demonstrating progress, justifying investments, and guiding ongoing security efforts.
How Is Microsoft Secure Score Calculated?
Microsoft Secure Score is calculated based on three main factors: your current security configurations, user behaviors, and the adoption of Microsoft 365 security features. Each recommended action, such as enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA), configuring anti-phishing policies, or restricting legacy authentication, is assigned a point value based on its impact on your security posture.
Points are awarded as you implement these recommendations. Some actions, like enabling MFA for all users, are worth more points due to their significant risk reduction. The total possible points depend on the features available in your Microsoft 365 subscription, so your maximum score may vary.
Secure Score updates often, allowing you to track progress and see the direct impact of your efforts. This dynamic feedback loop helps IT teams and MSPs stay focused on the most meaningful improvements.
Benefits of Using Microsoft Secure Score
- Provides a security baseline: Secure Score gives you a clear, objective baseline for your current security posture, making it easier to identify gaps and set improvement goals.
- Prioritizes actions by risk impact: Not all security recommendations are equal. Secure Score helps you focus on high-impact changes that reduce risk the most.
- Demonstrates measurable improvement: Secure Score tracks your actions and updates your score as you implement recommendations, providing tangible evidence for client reporting, compliance audits, and executive briefings.
- Improves visibility into tenant posture: Secure Score consolidates security insights across your Microsoft 365 environment, giving you a unified view of strengths and weaknesses.
How to Access Microsoft Secure Score in Microsoft 365 Security Center
Accessing Secure Score is straightforward. Log in to the Microsoft 365 Security Center with admin credentials. From the navigation pane, select “Secure Score.” Here, you’ll see your current score, a breakdown of completed and recommended actions, and detailed guidance for each recommendation.
For MSPs managing multiple tenants, Secure Score can be accessed for each client’s environment. This enables you to deliver tailored security reviews and improvement plans across your customer base.
Visual Walkthrough: Watch our step-by-step video guide on accessing and interpreting Microsoft Secure Score, or download our Secure Score Tracker Spreadsheet to monitor progress across multiple tenants.
Types of Actions Suggested by Secure Score
- Configuration changes: Adjustments to Microsoft 365 settings, such as enabling security defaults, configuring conditional access policies, or tightening sharing permissions.
- Feature adoption: Turning on or deploying Microsoft 365 security features like Defender for Office 365, Information Protection, or Safe Links.
- User training: Initiatives such as phishing simulations or security awareness campaigns to reduce human risk factors.
How Secure Score Tracks Progress and Assigns Points
Each recommended action in Secure Score is assigned a specific point value, reflecting its importance and risk reduction potential. When you complete an action, you earn the associated points, which are added to your overall score. Some actions are all-or-nothing, while others allow for partial credit as you make incremental improvements.
Secure Score also tracks your progress over time, displaying historical trends and highlighting areas where your posture has improved or regressed. This ongoing measurement makes it easy to demonstrate the impact of your security initiatives and maintain accountability.
Compliance Mapping: Aligning Secure Score with NIST and CIS Frameworks
While Microsoft Secure Score is not a compliance tool, many of its recommendations align with established security frameworks such as NIST and CIS. Mapping Secure Score actions to these frameworks can help MSPs and IT teams demonstrate compliance and support audit requirements.
Using Secure Score for MSPs: Multi-Tenant Security Reviews and Roadmap Planning
For MSPs, Secure Score is a powerful tool for delivering recurring security reviews and roadmap planning across multiple clients. By regularly reviewing each tenant’s score, you can identify common weaknesses, prioritize remediation efforts, and provide data-driven recommendations.
Secure Score also supports standardized reporting, making it easier to communicate value to clients and justify ongoing security investments. By integrating Secure Score into your service offerings, you can position your MSP as a proactive security partner.
Introducing Syncro: Operationalizing Secure Score Improvements
While Secure Score provides the roadmap, Syncro helps you operationalize the journey. Syncro is an all-in-one IT management platform that combines professional services automation (PSA) and remote monitoring and management (RMM) capabilities.
For MSPs and IT teams, Syncro streamlines the process of documenting, assigning, and verifying actions tied to Secure Score recommendations.
- Create tickets for each Secure Score recommendation, assign them to technicians, and track progress through resolution
- Use automation and scripting to implement configuration changes at scale across multiple tenants or endpoints
- Generate client-facing reports that show Secure Score improvements and demonstrate the value of your services
By integrating Secure Score with Syncro’s ticketing and automation workflows, you can turn recommendations into repeatable, auditable processes, reducing manual effort and ensuring nothing gets missed.
How Syncro Helps MSPs and IT Teams Improve Secure Score
Ticketing and assignment
Every Secure Score recommendation can be documented as a ticket in Syncro, assigned to the appropriate technician, and tracked through completion. This ensures accountability and provides a clear audit trail for compliance and reporting.
Automation and scripting
Syncro’s automation engine allows you to deploy scripts and configuration changes across multiple endpoints, reducing the time and effort required to implement Secure Score recommendations. This is especially valuable for MSPs managing large or complex environments.
Client-facing reporting
Syncro’s reporting tools make it easy to generate clear, professional reports that highlight Secure Score improvements, completed actions, and outstanding risks. These reports help you communicate value to clients and support ongoing security conversations.
Secure Score as a Living Metric
Secure Score is not a one-time report. It’s a living metric that should be reviewed regularly. As your environment evolves and new threats emerge, your security posture can change. Make it a habit to check Secure Score at least monthly, review new recommendations, and update your roadmap accordingly.
Syncro stands out as the unified RMM and PSA platform that enables you to manage endpoints, automate remediation, and deliver clear, actionable security improvements across all your clients.
Ready to operationalize Secure Score recommendations with Syncro?
Book a free demo today to discover how you can drive continuous improvement, demonstrate value, and keep your clients or organization protected against evolving threats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Microsoft Secure Score is a measurement tool in Microsoft 365 that evaluates your security posture and provides actionable recommendations to reduce risk.
It’s best practice to review Secure Score at least monthly, or whenever significant changes are made to your environment.
While Secure Score is not a compliance tool, many of its recommendations align with frameworks like NIST and CIS, supporting your compliance efforts.
Use Syncro’s reporting features to generate clear, client-facing reports that highlight Secure Score improvements, completed actions, and outstanding risks.
Yes, Secure Score can be accessed for each Microsoft 365 tenant, allowing MSPs to deliver tailored security reviews and improvement plans across their client base.
Secure Score recommends configuration changes, feature adoption, and user training initiatives to improve your security posture.
Syncro enables you to create tickets, automate remediation, and generate reports for Secure Score recommendations, streamlining the entire improvement process.
Secure Score is available in most Microsoft 365 business and enterprise plans, but the available recommendations and maximum score may vary by subscription.
Key Takeaways
- Microsoft Secure Score is a tool in Microsoft 365 that measures your organization’s security posture, providing a score from 0 to 100%.
- It offers actionable recommendations to improve security, helping MSPs and IT teams prioritize actions based on risk impact.
- Secure Score updates in real-time as changes are made, allowing for tracking of progress and measurable improvements.
- MSPs can use Syncro to operationalize Secure Score recommendations, streamlining ticketing, automation, and reporting processes.
- Regularly reviewing Secure Score is crucial for maintaining an effective security posture and adapting to new threats.
- Secure Score should complement broader security frameworks and risk management strategies for a holistic approach to security.
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