Description:
Verifies that end users cannot access the Office Store or start app and services trials, preventing them from installing third-party add-ins without administrative review.
Why:
Attackers commonly use vulnerable and custom-built add-ins to access data inside user applications. The Office Store hosts thousands of third-party add-ins of varying quality and review depth; allowing end users to install them without administrator oversight widens the threat surface significantly. Users starting third-party app trials on behalf of the organization introduce parallel supply-chain risk — unreviewed third-party processors of organizational data without IT awareness. Restricting both behaviours brings add-in and app acquisition back into administrator control.
Configured: Office Store access and app and services trials are disabled.
Not Configured: Office Store access or app and services trials are enabled.
Scoring: Contributes up to 1 point to the Posture Recommendations score.
Category: General
Microsoft Licensing: Works with Basic licensing
Secure Score Impact: YES — Microsoft publishes the improvement action "Ensure "User owned apps and services" is restricted".
Remediation in Augmentt: Configure directly in Augmentt (Configure tab); Guided remediation steps (Instructions tab)
Compliance Frameworks:
NIST CSF 2.0 — PR.PS-05
CIS Microsoft 365 Benchmark v6 (Level 1) — 1.3.4
CIS Controls v8 — 4.8
Microsoft documentation: