📊 Microsoft Secure Score: How It Works, Why It Matters, and How to Actually Use It

In Microsoft 365, there’s a security number quietly waiting for your attention: Secure Score. It’s more than just a curiosity—it’s a roadmap hiding in plain sight.

When used right, Secure Score becomes a strategic tool for measuring, tracking, and improving your cybersecurity posture.

But let’s be honest—most organizations either don’t understand it or don’t know what to do with it.

At Ferrous Equine Technologies, we use Secure Score as a baseline signal—but we also help you go way deeper.

🔍 What Is Microsoft Secure Score?

Secure Score is a security analytics tool built into Microsoft 365. It assesses your environment’s configurations, user behaviors, and feature adoption—then assigns a numerical score based on how well you’ve implemented Microsoft’s recommended security best practices.

Think of it as a credit score for your Microsoft environment. The closer you are to the full possible score, the more secure (on paper) your posture is. But, like credit scores, it only tells part of the story.

🧮 How Is Secure Score Calculated?

Secure Score breaks down your posture across several categories:

• Identity (Azure AD / Entra ID)

• Device (Microsoft Defender / Intune)

• Apps (Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, etc.)

• Information Protection (Purview / DLP)

• Compliance & Governance

Each recommended action has a point value, based on its security impact. Points are awarded when:

• The action is fully implemented (e.g., MFA enabled for all users), or

• You’re using an accepted third-party solution that meets Microsoft’s intent (e.g., a third-party EDR instead of Defender)

Some actions offer partial credit. For example, if 80% of users have MFA, you’ll get partial points.

Your total score is calculated like this:

(Current points / Total possible points for your environment) × 100

📝 Note: Your total possible points vary depending on your licenses and service usage. So, different organizations will have different score ceilings.

🧭 What Secure Score Doesn’t Tell You

Secure Score is a great directional tool—but it’s not the full story. Here’s what to watch out for:

• ✅ A high score ≠ zero risk

• ❌ A low score ≠ failure

Secure Score doesn’t account for:

• Whether policies are applied to the right users or devices

• Your industry’s specific compliance requirements

• Real-world risk context (e.g., shadow IT, legacy systems, vendor access)

• How certain changes may impact user experience or productivity

That’s why we never recommend blindly chasing a perfect score.

💡 Keep in mind: Microsoft 365 Secure Score isn’t the only score that matters.
Azure has its own Secure Score, which focuses on infrastructure, platform, and cloud-native services.
At Ferrous, we use both scores together to build a comprehensive, cross-environment security strategy.
Stay tuned—we’ll share our approach to Azure Secure Score in an upcoming post.

🛠️ How to Actually Use Secure Score Effectively

This is where most teams get stuck. You have a number—but now what?

Here’s how we help turn Secure Score into real security outcomes:

✅ 1. Establish a Baseline

Start by capturing your current score and reviewing the breakdown by category.
We help you understand why your score is what it is.

💡 Pro Tip: Look at trends over time—are you improving, stalling, or regressing?

🎯 2. Prioritize Based on Impact + Context

Every environment is different. We align Secure Score actions with your risk profile, user base, and compliance needsto determine:

• Which actions matter most for your business

• Which ones will deliver quick wins

• Which require thoughtful rollout and change management

Example: Enforcing MFA might offer more points than disabling legacy authentication—but both should be addressed.

🗺️ 3. Map Actions to Frameworks

We help align Secure Score recommendations to your audit and compliance targets:

Secure Score ActionAudit BenefitEnforce MFASOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001 controlBlock legacy auth protocolsReduces brute-force attack riskEnable Intune complianceDevice posture assurance (NIST)DLP rules in Exchange/TeamsCCPA / GDPR data protection

📈 4. Track Progress Over Time

Secure Score includes a history and benchmarking tool. We help build clear reports to show:

• Score improvements over time

• Completed vs. in-progress actions

• What’s coming next

These reports are especially useful for IT leaders communicating security progress to executives or boards.

🔄 5. Integrate with Your Posture Review

In our Security Posture Review, Secure Score is one of many tools. We also evaluate:

• Your config vs. real-world user behavior

• Gaps between license entitlements and actual usage

• Risks outside the Microsoft ecosystem (e.g., third-party vendors, backups, physical access)

We then deliver:

• A Security Dashboard

• A Risk-to-Action Map

• A clear roadmap aligned to your business goals, not just Microsoft’s checklist

✅ Bottom Line

Secure Score is a powerful starting point—but it needs the right context to be truly valuable.

When combined with:

• A clear understanding of your risk profile

• Alignment with business and compliance goals

• Insights into real user behavior

…it becomes the foundation for smarter, faster, and more strategic security decisions.

📬 Want to Make Your Score Work for You?

Let us help you move from “interesting number” to “actionable security plan.”

📅 Schedule a Security Posture Review with Ferrous Equine Technologies.
We’ll break down your Secure Score, align it to your risk and compliance goals, and help you build momentum from day one.