Microsoft 365 · Entra ID · Intune · Defender
Microsoft 365 and Intune for small offices that don't have an IT person.
I set up, lock down, and look after Microsoft 365 for small businesses around Dallas-Fort Worth. Email, laptops, logins, and the security settings most offices never get around to turning on.
| Severity | Finding | Area | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRIT | Entra ID | 7 / 18 | |
| CRIT | Entra ID | tenant | |
| CRIT | Intune | 14 / 14 | |
| HIGH | Entra ID | 4 accts | |
| HIGH | Intune | 14 / 14 | |
| HIGH | Entra ID | tenant | |
| MED | Exchange | 1 domain | |
| MED | SharePoint | tenant | |
| PASS | Exchange | 1 domain |
// why this matters
One overlooked setting can undo years of work.
Most small businesses that get hit weren't careless. They were busy. A setting nobody turned on, an old admin account nobody removed, one password reused on another site. Attackers don't need to target you personally. They scan for those gaps automatically, around the clock, and they find them.
Reported cybercrime losses in the U.S. in 2025, from more than one million complaints. Both are record highs.
FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report [1]Lost to business email compromise in 2025. That's an attacker inside a real mailbox, redirecting invoices and wire transfers.
FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report [1]Lost across 22,364 complaints that involved AI, such as cloned voices, fake video calls, and AI-written scams.
FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report [1]Of breaches at small and mid-sized businesses involved ransomware, compared with 39% at large enterprises.
Verizon DBIR 2025 [3]Average cost of a data breach for a U.S. organization, an all-time high. A small office will see a fraction of that, but has far less to absorb it with.
IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2025 [2]Reduction in account compromise risk for accounts protected by multifactor authentication. It's one setting.
Microsoft Research [4]What AI changed for attackers
AI isn't cracking modern encryption. It doesn't have to. Encryption protects data at rest, but it can't help if an attacker signs in with your password. Once they're in, everything you've encrypted opens right up for them.
What AI did change is speed and believability. Attackers now use it to write phishing emails with perfect grammar in your vendor's tone, clone a voice from a short voicemail greeting, and test leaked passwords against thousands of businesses at once. IBM found attackers used AI in 16% of breaches last year, most often for phishing and deepfake impersonation.[2] The FBI logged nearly $900 million in losses tied to AI in 2025 alone.[1]
The fixes are usually simpler than people expect. Knowing which ones matter for your business, and setting them up correctly the first time, is the hard part.
How a typical email compromise unfolds
- day 0An employee's password shows up in a leak from an unrelated website. MFA was never turned on.
- day 1The attacker signs in to Microsoft 365 from overseas. No alert fires, because no one set one up.
- day 2–30They quietly read email and add a rule that hides replies from your clients and vendors.
- day 31A client receives "updated wire instructions" from your real email address, in your real email thread.
- day 32The payment is gone. The client blames your firm, and your insurer asks which security controls were in place.
Illustrative sequence based on common business email compromise patterns.
// services
What I do
Most clients start with a health check. Specifics are covered in your consultation, because every office is set up a little differently.
M365 health checkmost clients start here
A thorough review of how your Microsoft 365 environment is configured today, and a written report showing where you're exposed and what to address first.
Laptops and devicesIntune / Autopilot
Company laptops that are set up, secured, and kept up to date without anyone touching them, and protected if one is ever lost or stolen.
Logins and accessEntra ID
Making sure the right people can get in, the wrong people can't, and former employees lose access the day they leave.
Email securitySPF / DKIM / DMARC / Defender
Protecting your domain from impersonation and keeping more phishing out of your team's inbox.
Scripting and reportsPowerShell / Microsoft Graph
Taking repetitive admin work off your plate and giving you clear visibility into what's happening in your environment.
Monthly retainerongoing
Ongoing support as your team grows and changes. Requests get a reply by the next business day.
// getting started
How a project starts
I work with offices of roughly 5 to 50 people that already use Microsoft 365. That's usually law firms, dental and medical practices, CPA and bookkeeping firms, title companies, and nonprofits.
- 30-minute consultationA free conversation over Teams about how your office runs today and what concerns you.
- Health checkA full review of your environment, followed by a written report and a walkthrough of the findings.
- FixesYou decide what gets addressed and in what order. Nothing changes without your approval.
- Retainer, if you want oneOngoing help as your business changes, for as long as it's useful to you.
// about
I'm CJ Perkins.
I've spent my career on the Microsoft side of IT, first at managed service providers and then on enterprise infrastructure teams. Most days that means Entra ID, Intune, Defender, Exchange Online, and a lot of PowerShell.
Small offices tend to end up with either an expensive managed-services contract or nobody at all. I started Perkins Applied Technologies to give them a third choice: someone who knows the Microsoft stack well and explains what changed in plain English.
You'll work with me directly on every project.
- CJ
- based in
- Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
- works
- remote first, on site by appointment
- replies
- next business day
- platform
- Microsoft 365 / Entra / Intune
- first step
- free 30-min consultation
// contact
Find out where your Microsoft 365 stands.
The consultation is free and takes 30 minutes. You'll leave with a clearer picture of where you stand, whether or not we work together.
Book a free consultation- phone
- (469) 844-7624
- area
- Dallas-Fort Worth / remote U.S.