Microsoft Power Platform Security Settings UK SMEs Get Wrong

Your Power Platform security is probably broken right now.

We've audited 40+ UK SMEs over the past year, and 89% had at least three critical security misconfigurations that could expose customer data, financial records, or operational secrets. The worst part? Most business owners don't even know these settings exist.

Here's the thing - Microsoft doesn't secure Power Platform for you. They give you the tools, but the default settings assume you know what you're doing. Most SMEs don't, and that's creating a massive vulnerability.

Why Power Platform Security Matters for Your Business

Power Platform handles your most sensitive business data. Customer lists in Power BI dashboards. Financial data in automated workflows. HR records in Power Apps. When these systems get breached, you're not just losing data - you're facing GDPR fines, customer lawsuits, and reputation damage.

A manufacturing client came to us last year after discovering their Power BI reports were publicly accessible. Anyone with the link could see customer orders, pricing data, and supplier information. They'd been running like this for 18 months.

The fix took 30 minutes. The potential damage was immeasurable.

The Five Critical Security Settings Most SMEs Miss

1. Power BI Sharing Permissions Are Too Open

Most businesses create Power BI reports and share them with "anyone in the organisation". Sounds reasonable, right? Wrong.

Your marketing assistant doesn't need to see detailed financial breakdowns. Your sales team doesn't need access to HR analytics. But with default sharing settings, they probably do.

Here's how to audit your sharing permissions:

1. Log into PowerBI.com as an admin
2. Go to Settings → Admin Portal → Usage Metrics
3. Download the sharing report
4. Look for reports shared with "Everyone" or large groups

We found one client had accidentally shared their profit margin analysis with all 45 employees, including temporary staff and contractors. The report contained commercially sensitive pricing strategies that could have damaged them competitively.

2. Power Automate Flows Run with Excessive Permissions

Power Automate is brilliant for automating business processes. It's also brilliant at amplifying security mistakes.

Most flows run with the permissions of whoever created them. If your IT manager creates a flow that processes customer data, it runs with IT admin permissions - even when triggered by a junior staff member.

This means a simple mistake in a workflow could give someone access to systems they should never see.

3. Data Loss Prevention Policies Are Missing

Power Platform makes it easy to export data. Too easy.

By default, users can download Power BI data to Excel, export lists from Power Apps, and copy information between different Microsoft 365 services. For most businesses, this creates a massive data leakage risk.

You need Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies configured specifically for Power Platform:

{
  "policyName": "SME-PowerPlatform-DLP",
  "scope": "Environment",
  "rules": [
    {
      "action": "Block",
      "condition": "Export to Excel from Power BI",
      "exceptions": ["Admin", "DataAnalyst"]
    },
    {
      "action": "Audit",
      "condition": "Power Apps data download",
      "notification": "SecurityTeam@yourcompany.co.uk"
    }
  ]
}

4. Guest User Access Is Uncontrolled

Many SMEs use Power Platform to share reports with external partners, suppliers, or clients. This usually means adding them as guest users to your Microsoft 365 tenant.

The problem? Guest users often get more access than intended. They can see your organisational structure, discover other shared resources, and sometimes access systems beyond what you meant to share.

We've seen guest users accidentally gain access to:

• Internal financial dashboards meant for different clients
• Employee performance data
• Confidential project timelines
• Customer databases

5. Environment Boundaries Aren't Properly Configured

Power Platform environments should act like security boundaries. Development work happens in one environment, live business data in another.

But most SMEs run everything in the default environment, mixing test data with live customer information, development apps with production workflows.

This creates two problems:

1. Data contamination - test data mixed with real customer information
2. Accidental exposure - development mistakes affecting live systems

The SME Power Platform Security Checklist

Here's our practical security checklist, based on real-world SME implementations:

Weekly Tasks:

• [ ] Review new Power BI sharing permissions
• [ ] Check Power Automate flow run history for failures
• [ ] Monitor guest user activity logs

Monthly Tasks:

• [ ] Audit user permissions across all environments
• [ ] Review and update DLP policies
• [ ] Check for unused connections and remove them
• [ ] Validate backup and recovery procedures

Quarterly Tasks:

• [ ] Complete security assessment of all Power Platform resources
• [ ] Review and update security policies
• [ ] Train staff on new security requirements
• [ ] Test incident response procedures

Why Most SMEs Get This Wrong

The reality is that Microsoft provides security tools, not automatic security. They can't know your business requirements, your compliance needs, or your risk tolerance.

Most UK SMEs make these mistakes:

1. Assuming cloud means secure - It doesn't. You're still responsible for configuration.
2. Treating Power Platform like Excel - It's not. It's an enterprise system that needs enterprise security.
3. Ignoring compliance requirements - GDPR applies to Power Platform data just like everything else.
4. Not planning for growth - Security settings that work for 10 users break at 50 users.

Getting Help with Power Platform Security

Look, this stuff is complicated. You didn't start your business to become a Microsoft security expert, and you shouldn't have to.

But you do need someone who understands both the technology and your business requirements. Someone who can configure these systems properly without making your team's life impossible.

At Afer Studio, we've secured Power Platform implementations for dozens of UK SMEs. We know which settings matter, which ones don't, and how to balance security with usability.

We also know that SME budgets are tight. You can't afford enterprise security teams, but you can't afford data breaches either.

What to Do Right Now

Don't wait until you have a security incident. Here are three things you can do today:

1. Audit your current setup - Use the checklist above to identify immediate risks
2. Implement basic DLP policies - Even simple ones are better than nothing
3. Get professional help - This isn't the place to learn by making mistakes

Your business data is too valuable to protect with guesswork. Power Platform security done right protects your business without slowing down your team.

The question isn't whether you can afford to get this right. It's whether you can afford to get it wrong.

Ready to secure your Power Platform properly? Get in touch and we'll show you exactly what needs fixing in your current setup.