In plain English
Secure Score is like a credit score for your Microsoft 365 security configuration. It calculates a percentage based on which recommended security settings you've enabled, and shows you exactly which actions would have the biggest impact on your score — and your actual security.
Full definition
Secure Score pulls data from your tenant and calculates a percentage based on how many of Microsoft's recommended security controls you have actually switched on. Each action carries a point value weighted by impact and effort: disabling Basic Authentication across all users might be worth 15 points, while enabling for admins might be worth 30. The score changes in real time as configurations change, which makes it a practical tool for tracking uplift over time rather than just a one-off audit result.
Where Secure Score earns its keep is in conversations between IT, security teams, and leadership. Instead of a lengthy report listing misconfigured policies, you can show a number that went from 42% to 68% over a quarter and attach the specific actions that moved it. Microsoft aligns many of its recommendations to frameworks like the , so improvements to your score often translate directly to maturity gains against Australian Government baseline controls.
One scenario that comes up often: a business runs Secure Score for the first time and finds 60 unreviewed recommendations sitting in the dashboard. Several are zero-effort switches, like turning on audit logging or blocking legacy authentication protocols, that have been off since the tenant was first set up. Resolving those alone can lift a score by 20 points in an afternoon. Secure Score does not replace a penetration test or a full security review, but it gives you a continuous, prioritised view of your Microsoft 365 configuration that most businesses do not have.