This post is authored by Steven Meyers, security operations principal, Microsoft Cyber Defense Operations Center.
In 2016, 4.2+ billion records were stolen by hackers. The number of cyberattacks and breaches in 2017 have risen 30 percent.
The business sector leads in the number of records compromised so far, with more than 7.5 million exposed records in 420 reported incidents. These cybercrimes are often intended for financial gain, such as opening a fraudulent credit card or accessing a company’s financial records. Today, a growing market exists in the dark web for selling credentials and sensitive information to other cybercriminals.
To help Protect your information and privacy against cyberthreats, the Microsoft Cyber Defense Operations Center has published a series of best practices videos that will help consumers, businesses and organizations enable a safer online environment. This video shares some of the policies and practices that can be used to better protect information and privacy inside and outside of your operational perimeters.
Protection starts with classifying information and then putting appropriate protections in place based on its value. 
Some information is meant to be public, some data is sensitive but not highly valued to outside entities, but some data is mission critical and/or could cause tremendous financial hardship if shared externally.
Cybersecurity technologies and policies such as multifactor authentication, the principles of least privilege access, just-in-time-and just-enough administrator access, and Microsoft’s cybersecurity products and services can help safeguard access to data and applications.
Some cybersecurity tips discussed include:
Please take a few minutes to watch the video and share it with your colleagues, friends and family. We all need to be diligent in the face of this growing and ever-more sophisticated threat.
Also, be sure to watch part one of the video series, Protecting your identity from cybersecurity threats. Check back next week for our third video, Protecting your devices from cybersecurity threats.
The challenges that small and midsize businesses (SMBs) face when it comes to security continue to increase as it becomes more difficult to keep up with sophisticated cyberthreats with limited resources or security expertise. Research conducted highlights the top seven SMB cybersecurity trends and steps that can be taken to stay protected.
The main components of the Microsoft Intune Suite are now generally available. Read about how consolidated endpoint management adds value and functionality for security teams.
To confidently secure identity and access at your organization, here are five areas Microsoft recommends prioritizing in the new year.
Matt Suiche of Magnet Forensics talks about top security threats for organizations and strategies for effective incident response.
