For many law firms, Microsoft 365 has become part of the infrastructure of the practice. Attorneys use Outlook to communicate with clients. Documents may be stored and shared through OneDrive or SharePoint. Teams supports meetings and collaboration. Employees access information from laptops, phones, home offices, court, and other locations.
That convenience also means a significant amount of the firm's business information may be accessible through a Microsoft 365 account. So there is an important question law firm leaders should be asking: Is Microsoft 365 simply being used, or is it being actively secured and managed? Those aren't the same thing.
Microsoft Secures the Platform, but Your Firm Still Has Responsibilities
A common misconception about cloud services is that moving to Microsoft 365 transfers responsibility for security entirely to Microsoft. Microsoft is responsible for securing the underlying cloud infrastructure and provides extensive security capabilities within Microsoft 365. But your firm's environment still needs to be configured and managed appropriately.
Someone still needs to manage user accounts. Determine who has administrative access. Configure appropriate security settings. Remove access when employees leave. Protect accounts from unauthorized access. Review suspicious activity. Manage devices that connect to firm information.
Simply purchasing Microsoft 365 licenses doesn't accomplish those things. For a law firm, the distinction matters because a compromised Microsoft 365 account can potentially provide access to much more than email. That's why protecting confidential client information from cybersecurity threats requires looking beyond individual security products and considering how accounts, devices, cloud services, and people are managed together.
Start With the Accounts Themselves
Attackers don't necessarily need to attack Microsoft's infrastructure. It can be much easier to attack the person using it. Phishing messages may attempt to convince an attorney or staff member to enter credentials into a fake Microsoft login page. Reused or weak passwords can create additional risk.
Stolen credentials may potentially allow an attacker to access an account remotely. That's why identity protection should be one of the foundations of Microsoft 365 security. Multifactor authentication is an important part of that protection because a password alone should not be the only thing standing between an attacker and the firm's information.
But MFA isn't the entire identity strategy. Firms should also consider how passwords are managed, how accounts are created and removed, who receives elevated permissions, and whether security policies are applied consistently.
Administrative Accounts Deserve Extra Attention
Not every Microsoft 365 account carries the same level of risk. Administrative accounts can have significantly greater control over the environment. That makes them especially important to protect. Law firms should know who has administrative access and why they need it. Administrative privileges shouldn't simply accumulate over time because someone once needed additional access to solve a problem. This is part of a broader security principle known as least privilege.
Employees should have the access necessary to perform their work without receiving unnecessary permissions. The same principle should apply to administrators.
Email Is More Than a Communication Tool
Email remains one of the most important areas to protect. A compromised mailbox may contain confidential conversations, attachments, contacts, schedules, and information about clients or matters. It can also potentially be used to impersonate an attorney or employee.
Imagine receiving an email from a partner's legitimate account instructing someone to review a document, change payment information, or take another action. That message may be much more convincing than an obvious spam email because it actually originated from the compromised account. This is one reason phishing and business email compromise deserve particular attention at law firms. They are among the cybersecurity risks every law firm should be preparing for, especially when a compromised account can be used to impersonate someone the recipient already trusts.
Strong Microsoft 365 security combines appropriate technical protections with employees who know how to recognize and report suspicious activity.
What Happens When an Employee Leaves?
Offboarding is one of the less glamorous parts of cybersecurity, but it's important. When an attorney or employee leaves the firm, their technology access should be addressed promptly and consistently. That may include Microsoft 365 as well as practice management systems, document platforms, third-party cloud applications, remote access, password managers, and other business systems.
The firm may also need to preserve business information associated with the employee. Without a consistent process, old accounts and unnecessary access can remain in the environment longer than intended.
A managed IT provider should help make employee onboarding and offboarding repeatable rather than treating each departure as a new project. This is one example of what a managed IT provider should actually be doing for a law firm between support requests.
Sharing and Collaboration Need Boundaries
One of Microsoft 365's strengths is the ability to share and collaborate. That also means firms need to understand how information is being shared. Who can access a particular SharePoint site? Are OneDrive files being shared externally? Can employees create sharing links? What happens when someone outside the firm no longer needs access?
The goal isn't to make collaboration difficult. It's to make sure convenience doesn't quietly create unnecessary exposure. The right configuration will depend on how the firm works, but external sharing should be intentional rather than something nobody has reviewed.
Don't Forget About the Devices Connecting to Microsoft 365
Protecting Microsoft 365 doesn't stop at the Microsoft login screen. Think about the devices attorneys and staff use to access it. An attorney's laptop may provide access to email, OneDrive files, Teams conversations, browser sessions, and other firm resources. What happens if that laptop is lost? What if it isn't receiving security updates? What if malware compromises the device?
Cloud security and endpoint security increasingly overlap because cloud services are being accessed from endpoints throughout the workday. A secure Microsoft 365 environment should therefore be considered alongside device management, patching, endpoint security, encryption, and other protections.
You Need to Know When Something Suspicious Happens
Security controls can reduce risk, but law firms should also consider visibility. Suppose someone repeatedly attempts to access an employee's account. An account begins behaving unusually. A suspicious sign-in occurs. A security alert is generated. Who sees it? And what happens next?
Security alerts aren't very useful if nobody is responsible for reviewing and responding to them. This is one of the broader differences between having security features and operating a secure environment. Tools matter. So does someone paying attention to them.
Microsoft 365 Changes Over Time
Another reason Microsoft 365 needs ongoing management is that it doesn't stand still. Microsoft introduces new features. Security capabilities evolve. New services become available. Employees begin using different tools. The firm's own requirements change. A configuration that was appropriate several years ago shouldn't automatically be assumed to remain appropriate indefinitely.
The environment should be reviewed as both the technology and the firm evolve. This is especially important when nobody can clearly remember why certain settings were configured the way they were.
What Should a Managing Partner Ask?
You don't need to know how to configure Microsoft 365 yourself. Instead, ask the person responsible for your technology:
- Is multifactor authentication appropriately enforced for our users?
- Who has administrative access to Microsoft 365?
- What happens to technology access when someone leaves the firm?
- How are phishing and email-based attacks being addressed?
- How is external file sharing managed?
- How are laptops and other devices accessing firm information protected?
- Who reviews security alerts or suspicious account activity?
- When was our Microsoft 365 security configuration last reviewed?
You don't need an hour-long technical answer to each question. You do need confidence that there is an answer.
Microsoft 365 Security Is an Ongoing Responsibility
There is no single Microsoft 365 setting that makes a law firm secure. Security comes from multiple layers working together. Identity protection. Multifactor authentication. Appropriate permissions. Email security. Secure endpoints. Employee awareness. Monitoring. Consistent onboarding and offboarding. Appropriate sharing controls. And someone actively responsible for keeping those protections working.
That's why Microsoft 365 should be treated as part of the firm's technology environment, not simply another monthly subscription. It should also fit within the firm's broader cybersecurity strategy, alongside endpoint protection, backups and recovery, employee awareness, incident response, and other safeguards.
This is part of a broader Production Ready IT approach for law firms, where business-critical technology is actively operated, protected, monitored, and improved rather than simply supported when something goes wrong.
Production Ready IT for Law Firms
At Everleap IT, we believe technology entrusted with confidential client information and critical legal work should be operated, not merely supported. That's the idea behind Production Ready IT.
For more than 20 years, we've operated production hosting environments where security, availability, monitoring, and proactive management are everyday operational responsibilities. We bring that same mindset to managed IT and Microsoft 365.
Today, Everleap IT provides managed IT, cybersecurity, and Microsoft 365 management to law firms throughout California's Inland Empire, including Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Upland, Chino, Claremont, and nearby communities.
The objective isn't simply to give employees access to Microsoft 365. It's to help make sure the environment is securely configured, actively managed, and ready to support the attorneys and staff who depend on it.
How Secure Is Your Law Firm's Microsoft 365 Environment?
If your firm has been using Microsoft 365 for several years, ask one simple question: When was the last time someone took a broader look at how our Microsoft 365 environment is secured?
If you're not sure, it may be worth finding out. If you'd like to discuss your firm's technology, cybersecurity, and Microsoft 365 environment, schedule a Technology Strategy Call with Everleap IT. We'll learn about your firm, your technology, and the security and operational challenges standing in your way.
Not ready for a conversation? Download our IT Buyer's Guide to help evaluate whether your firm's technology is being proactively managed and protected.
