In today’s modern world, where a hybrid workforce has become the new working norm, apps such as Microsoft 365 have become an attractive alternative to on premise Microsoft Office. The benefits of remote access and collaboration on documents from any device with monthly costs instead of upfront costs many more organisations have migrated to Microsoft 365 over the past 12 months.
A question the Technical team at Smart IT are often asked:
“Now that my data is in the cloud, does this mean we no longer need to back it up“
An assumption many organisations make, with a recent Enterprise Strategy Report, indicating that one in four businesses believe they don’t need to back up Office 365. In fact, Microsoft 365, like all other (SaaS) products, employs the shared responsibility model, which dictates that Microsoft is wholly responsible for Office 365’s global infrastructure and 24/7/365 availability. Users are still responsible for backing up their own data, which is why it is critical that organisations backup Microsoft 365.
What does that mean in simple terms, it means that Microsoft are responsible for the protection against loss of service due to hardware failure or natural disaster and short-term protection against user and admin error (Recycle Bin, soft delete)
Office 365 provides application availability and uptime to ensure your users never miss a beat, but an Office 365 backup can protect you against many other security threats
What are the data security gaps?
- Human Error
- External Threats
- Internal Threats
- Recycle Bin Limitation
Human Error
This is the main cause of cyber security breaches; accidental deletions of emails and files is common occurrence. Daily automatic backups of Microsoft 365 data including mail, calendar, teams and contacts help protect against an accidental deletion mitigating this risk.
External Threats
External threats have become far more sophisticated and the threat caused by hackers, ransomware, and other malware is greater than ever. These threats can cause serious damage to an organisation. Should a ransomware attack happen, you can restore your backed-up files easily and quickly, significantly reducing the impact of an attack.
Internal Threats
Many businesses experience threats from the inside, for example a disgruntled employee. A robust recovery solution mitigates the risk of critical data being lost or destroyed through malice
Recycle Bin Limitation
Microsoft 365 only saves deleted emails in the recycle bin for up to 93 days — and many system administrators use the recycle bin as a temporary data backup repository. This is a risky solution as a recycle bin doesn’t have the same security features as 365 backup, exposing your Microsoft 365 data to threats.
Find out how Smart IT can close your Security Gaps
