CISO-led audit vs. an MSP self-check vs. Secure Score
Not every "security review" is the same thing. Here's the real difference between an independent CISO-led audit, a self-service tool like Secure Score, and a review from your own MSP.
OC Security Audit is not an MSP and does not manage or configure your Microsoft 365 environment. Ali reviews your tenant independently, with read-only access, and hands the findings to your IT team or MSP to act on.
| Microsoft Secure Score | MSP self-review | CISO-led audit (OC Security Audit) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who reviews it | Automated, no human review | The same team that manages your environment day to day | Ali Hassani, Certified CISO (C|CISO), CISSP — independent of your day-to-day IT |
| Independence | N/A — a scoring tool, not a review | Reviews its own configuration decisions | Independent third-party review, no conflict of interest |
| Depth | A single numeric score with generic recommendations | Varies widely by provider and available time | 200 checks across 8 control domains, documented individually |
| Access to your tenant | Reads Microsoft's own telemetry | Already has full administrative access | Read-only access only — nothing in your tenant is changed |
| Deliverables | A dashboard score | Usually informal or none | Executive report, technical report, risk register, remediation roadmap |
| Best used as | A quick, free starting signal | Ongoing day-to-day management | A periodic, independent check on the people managing your environment |
Why independence matters
If the same MSP that configured your tenant also reviews it, that review is checking its own work. OC Security Audit is not an MSP and doesn't manage your environment day to day — the audit has no stake in how it was configured, only in what the evidence actually shows, with read-only access and nothing changed.
Secure Score is a useful free signal, but it's automated and generic. It doesn't review your specific admin structure, your forwarding rules, or your actual sharing links — a human review does.
Ali Hassani, Certified CISO (C|CISO), CISSP
25 years in information security leadership, with 100+ networks designed, secured and troubleshot across Southern California, and dozens of Microsoft and Cisco certifications.
Full background on Ali →