Microsoft Secure Score: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Improve Yours

Troy Nabbefeld, HBS Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

July 29, 2025
Read Time: 4 mins

In this article...
What is Microsoft Secure Score?
How to access and interpret your score
What is a “good” score?
Practical steps to improve your Secure Score
Why it’s one of the best tools for strengthening your Microsoft 365 security

Even strong defenses can weaken over time. Settings get missed. Users get added. Threats evolve.

Microsoft’s Secure Score gives you a clear, dynamic measure of your Microsoft 365 security posture—and a prioritized list of actions to make it stronger. It’s one of the fastest ways to identify risk, reduce exposure, and build a more secure environment across identities, endpoints, apps, and data.

What Is Microsoft Secure Score?

Microsoft Secure Score is a built-in security analytics tool within Microsoft 365. It measures your organization’s current security posture based on your use of Microsoft products, features, and configurations. The result? A numerical security score (0–100%) and an action plan to improve it.

Your Secure Score includes data from:

Microsoft Defender products
Entra ID and Active Directory
Microsoft 365 Services
Microsoft Purview

Each recommended improvement action comes with a score value based on the potential security impact. The more improvements you implement, the higher your score—and the stronger your protection.

How to Access Microsoft Secure Score

You can access Secure Score in your Microsoft 365 Defender portal:

Sign in at security.microsoft.com
Select Secure Score from the left-hand menu

From there, you’ll see:

Your overall Secure Score
Recommended improvement actions
Historical trends
Benchmarks compared to organizations like yours

You can also assign improvement actions to specific team members and track progress over time.

What Is a Good Microsoft Secure Score?

There’s no one-size-fits-all number. But here’s what we typically see:

0–30%: High risk. Significant security gaps.
31–60%: Moderate. Some protections in place, but room for improvement.
61–85%: Strong. Many best practices in place.
86%+: Excellent. Continual refinement and advanced protections.

The average Secure Score across all Microsoft 365 users typically falls between 30–45%, depending on organization size and industry.

That doesn’t mean you need to chase 100%. Some recommendations may not be relevant to your business. The goal is to improve what matters most, based on your risk profile and compliance needs.

How to Improve Your Microsoft Secure Score

Microsoft Secure Score tracks your progress based on specific configuration changes you make within your Microsoft environment. These improvement actions are grouped into four key categories.

Identity: Strengthen identity protection by enabling features like multifactor authentication (MFA) and role-based access controls.
Device: Secure endpoints with protections such as device compliance policies and antivirus settings.
Data: Protect sensitive information by configuring policies like Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and sensitivity labels.
Apps: Reduce risk from applications by managing app permissions and securing third-party integrations through conditional access.

All actions recommended by Secure Score are configurable within the Microsoft ecosystem. While third-party solutions can also improve your overall security posture, only Microsoft-native configurations contribute directly to your Secure Score, automatically updating in real time as you make changes, with no manual tracking required.

Common recommendations that deliver big score boosts:
Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Implement conditional access policies
Deploy Defender for Endpoints
Configure Defender for Office 365
Apply DLP policies
The Secure Score dashboard will tell you exactly what to do, how to do it and what impact it will have on your score.
"The Implementation section shows any prerequisites, step-by-step next steps to complete the recommended action, the current implementation status of the recommended action, and any learn more links."
- Microsoft

Managing Microsoft Security: It’s OK to Get Help

Microsoft Secure Score gives you a clear picture of what needs to be done. But actually doing it—tracking down settings, implementing controls, monitoring changes, and staying ahead of threats—takes time. A lot of time.

For many internal IT teams (especially small teams or one-person shops), it’s more than they can realistically manage on their own.

That’s why HBS offers managed security services designed to take the pressure off your team—while keeping your Microsoft 365 environment secure.

Managed XDR (Extended Detection & Response)

Our Managed XDR service delivers 24/7 threat detection, response, and remediation across your Microsoft 365 environment and beyond. It combines advanced Microsoft Defender tools with expert human analysis to quickly identify threats, stop attacks, and minimize risk—day or night.

Managed SaaS Security

SaaS Alerts monitors user activity and security events across Microsoft 365 and other SaaS platforms like Salesforce, Dropbox, and Google Workspace. It detects unusual behavior (like impossible travel logins or privilege escalations), sends real-time alerts, and helps stop threats before they spread.

Why Secure Score Matters

Secure Score gives you both a metric and a clear path to strengthen your Microsoft 365 security.

It helps you:

See where you’re secure—and where you’re exposed
Prioritize high-impact actions without guesswork
Demonstrate progress to leadership and auditors
Align your Microsoft 365 settings with best practices

Think of it as your 365 Scorecard for smarter, stronger, and more strategic security.

Want expert help improving your Microsoft Secure Score?

Talk to HBS. We’ll help you assess, act, and advance your Microsoft 365 security strategy.

Microsoft Secure Score FAQ

What is Microsoft Secure Score?

Microsoft Secure Score is a measurement of your Microsoft 365 security posture, complete with improvement recommendations based on best practices.

How do I access my Secure Score?

Visit security.microsoft.com, sign in, and select Secure Score from the left-hand navigation.

What is a good Microsoft Secure Score?

Scores above 60% are typically considered strong. Most organizations fall between 30–45%. Aim to improve what’s most relevant to your business.

How can I improve my Secure Score?

Follow the prioritized actions in the dashboard—such as enabling MFA, implementing conditional access policies, deploying and correctly configuring Defender, etc.

Does a higher Secure Score mean I’m 100% secure?

Not necessarily. But a higher score generally means you’re following more best practices and reducing risk across your Microsoft 365 environment.