(SOC) End‑to‑End Security Implementation for an IT Company

Business Challenges

The IT company relied on default Microsoft 365 settings with no centralized security policy, leaving endpoints, email, and identities exposed to common threats like phishing and malware.
There was no single view of security events across devices, mailboxes, and cloud services, making investigations slow and reactive.

Digital Transformation

Designed and rolled out a baseline security architecture using Microsoft Intune, Defender, Sentinel, and Exchange security features to standardize protection for all users and devices.
Shifted from ad‑hoc manual checks to continuous monitoring and policy‑driven control, aligned with basic Zero Trust concepts (verify user, verify device, and monitor activity).

Key Solutions

Intune: Created compliance policies (disk encryption, OS version, password/Pin requirements) and configuration profiles to harden Windows devices, enrolled all corporate laptops and key mobiles.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: Onboarded devices via Intune, enabled next‑gen AV, attack surface reduction rules, and web filtering to block common malware and risky sites.
Microsoft Sentinel: Deployed a Log Analytics workspace, connected Microsoft 365 Defender and Azure AD, and built basic KQL analytics rules and workbooks for sign‑ins alerts and device risks
Exchange / Defender for Office 365: Implemented anti‑phishing, anti‑spam, and safe links/safe attachments policies; created transport rules to flag or block risky external emails (e.g., newly registered domains).

Business Benefits

Significantly reduced successful phishing and malware incidents thanks to improved email filtering, endpoint protection, and device compliance enforcement.
SOC analysts now have a single pane of glass in Sentinel to investigate alerts from Defender and Exchange, cutting investigation time and improving incident response quality.

Best Practices

Start with a baseline: define minimum Intune compliance and Defender protection settings and roll them out in phases (pilot → all users) to avoid disruption.
Use Sentinel not only for alerts but also for proactive KQL threat hunting on sign‑ins, device risk, and email activity, and review rules monthly to reduce false positives.
Document SOPs for onboarding new devices, handling Defender/Sentinel alerts, and making configuration changes so future engineers can maintain consistency.

Client

Information Technology services (small to mid‑sized IT company providing development and support services to external clients)