Publish Date
13/10/2026
Categories
Blogs
Cyber security gaps aren’t always caused by businesses having no security technology in place. More often, the IT environment has changed while security controls haven’t kept pace.
People join, leave and change roles. New devices and applications are introduced. Temporary exceptions become permanent. Over time, a gap can develop between the security you think you have and the security actually protecting your organisation.
An IT security review helps uncover those weaknesses, understand where genuine risk exists and identify what should be addressed first.
Here are five common security gaps worth looking for.
1. MFA and identity security aren’t consistently applied
Identity is a critical part of cyber security. If an attacker gains access to a legitimate account, they may also gain a route into business systems and information.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) provides an important additional layer of protection, but simply having MFA enabled doesn’t mean identity security is fully addressed. Exceptions, legacy configurations and inconsistent policies can all create gaps.
Modern identity controls can strengthen that protection further. Passkeys, phishing-resistant MFA, Authentication Strengths, token protection and risk-based Conditional Access can all form part of a stronger approach to protecting identities and access.
In a Microsoft 365 environment, Conditional Access can provide greater control over access to company resources, while Microsoft Intune can support device compliance and management.
An effective IT security review should therefore look beyond whether MFA is switched on and assess whether identity controls are appropriate and consistently applied across the organisation.
You can learn more about Cobweb’s Cyber Security Solutions, covering areas including endpoint, email and data security.
2. Users have more access than they need
Permissions have a habit of accumulating.
Someone changes role but retains access to information from their previous department. A supplier finishes a project but their account remains active. An employee receives additional privileges that are never subsequently removed.
Individually these issues may seem minor, but collectively they increase the potential impact of a compromised account and can contribute to data oversharing.
This becomes particularly important as businesses adopt AI tools such as Microsoft 365 Copilot. Copilot readiness isn’t only about deploying the technology. It also means understanding what information employees already have permission to access.
Applying least privilege helps ensure people have the access they need without unnecessary permissions remaining indefinitely. Information protection and sensitivity labels can also form part of a wider approach to protecting sensitive information and managing areas such as insider risk.
Cobweb’s Data Security services include managing user and device permissions alongside measures designed to protect business information.
A security review provides an opportunity to establish who has access to important information, how much access they have and whether they still need it.
3. Patch and vulnerability management aren’t keeping up
Patching might sound like routine IT housekeeping, but it’s an important part of cyber security.
Vulnerabilities are continually discovered across operating systems, applications and devices. As IT environments grow, keeping visibility over everything becomes harder.
Older devices can be overlooked, applications can remain on outdated versions and some systems may sit outside automated update processes. Remote and infrequently connected devices can make the problem harder still.
Effective patch management therefore needs to sit within a wider vulnerability management approach.
That can include vulnerability scanning, exposure management and attack surface reduction, helping businesses understand where weaknesses exist and prioritise the issues representing the greatest risk.
Cobweb includes patch management within its Endpoint Security services, alongside Microsoft Defender for Business, device management and security monitoring.
A security review can help bring those areas together, providing a clearer picture of whether devices and applications are being managed consistently rather than assuming everything is up to date.
4. Security tools are in place, but aren’t properly configured
Buying good security technology doesn’t automatically result in good security.
Many organisations already have sophisticated capabilities through Microsoft 365, Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Intune and specialist third-party security products. The challenge is making sure those technologies are correctly configured, managed and reviewed.
Settings that made sense two years ago may no longer reflect the way the organisation operates today.
Employees change. Devices change. New cloud applications are introduced. Data moves. Working practices evolve. Security configuration needs to evolve with them.
This is particularly relevant to Microsoft 365, where users, devices, permissions and security policies require ongoing management.
Cobweb’s Microsoft 365 Managed Services include management of tenants, users and devices, proactive monitoring and an integrated Security Operations Centre.
A security assessment can help determine whether your existing investment is delivering the protection you expect, rather than simply identifying more technology to buy.
5. Security alerts aren’t actively monitored and responded to
Cyber security isn’t only about preventing incidents. Organisations also need to recognise suspicious activity and respond when something happens.
Modern security technologies can generate significant amounts of information and alerts. But generating an alert is very different from someone assessing it, understanding its significance and taking appropriate action.
Without active security monitoring, potentially important activity can become another notification among hundreds of others.
For organisations without an internal security operation, managed security and a Security Operations Centre (SOC) can help close this gap.
Cobweb’s Microsoft 365 Managed Services include a 24/7 SOC, where systems are continuously monitored and security alerts reviewed and responded to.
This also forms part of Cobweb’s wider Managed IT Services, combining ongoing IT management with monitoring, maintenance and security capabilities.
What should an IT security review include?
A useful IT security review should consider the overall environment rather than individual security products in isolation. It should examine areas such as:
- Identity, MFA and Conditional Access
- User permissions and privileged access
- Devices and endpoint protection
- Patching and vulnerability management
- Microsoft 365 security configuration
- Email and data protection
- Backup and recovery
- Security monitoring and incident response
Increasingly, it should also consider AI and data governance.
As organisations adopt Microsoft 365 Copilot and other AI tools, Copilot readiness, data oversharing, information protection, sensitivity labels and insider risk become part of the wider security conversation.
AI gives employees new ways to find and interact with company information. That makes understanding existing permissions and how sensitive information is protected increasingly important.
The purpose of an IT security review isn’t to produce the longest possible list of technical problems. It’s to identify the risks that genuinely matter and establish what should be prioritised.
For example, weaknesses around phishing, spoofing or malware could make Email Security a priority. Concerns around resilience and recovering business information could highlight the need to review Backup & Disaster Recovery.
The biggest security risk may be the gap you don’t know about
None of these issues necessarily means an organisation has poor cyber security. Gaps often emerge because businesses and their technology continually change.
People join and leave. Devices are replaced. Applications are introduced. More information moves into the cloud. AI is changing how employees discover and interact with company information. Meanwhile, cyber threats continue to evolve.
That’s why an IT security review shouldn’t simply be an exercise in finding more security products to buy.
It should establish where you are today, identify the gaps that genuinely matter and prioritise what you should do next.
The objective is simple: make sure the security you think you have is the security you actually have.
Ready to find the gaps in your IT security?
Talk to Cobweb about reviewing your IT security environment to understand where you’re protected, where the gaps are and what you should prioritise next.
Security Review FAQs
An IT security review examines an organisation’s technology environment and security controls to identify potential weaknesses, unnecessary exposure and opportunities to improve protection.
An IT security review can consider identity and access, MFA, permissions, endpoint security, patch management, Microsoft 365 security configuration, email security, data protection, backup, security monitoring and incident response.
Keeping systems appropriately updated helps address known vulnerabilities where fixes have been made available. Cobweb includes patch management as part of its Endpoint Security services.
Security isn’t only about having access to the technology. Appropriate configuration and ongoing management of users, devices and security controls are also important. Cobweb’s Microsoft 365 Managed Services include tenant, user and device management alongside proactive monitoring and a 24/7 SOC.
A SOC provides dedicated security monitoring and response. Within Cobweb’s Microsoft 365 Managed Service, the 24/7 SOC continuously monitors systems, with a cyber security team watching for threats and responding to security activity.