With the coronavirus outbreak, a huge transformation affects familiar working processes. More people start working from home. As a side effect of this, more security gaps appear. That’s why cybersecurity becomes even more important for businesses. In this article, we’ll once again highlight a backup, one of the best security measures for Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), a popular cloud service used by organizations of all sizes.
Top Reasons to Backup Microsoft 365
Backing up Microsoft 365 has always been a justified decision because having a backup is one of the best cloud security practices. With backup, you can restore lost or damaged user data.
There are two main ways to store backup data: either on-premise or in the cloud. Cloud backup has its advantages. There are many reliable Microsoft 365 cloud backup providers such as Acronis, Spin Technology, and Datto.
Perhaps, now getting a backup is more important than ever. Why? Let’s find out.
Switch to Remote Work
Coronavirus has caused many organizations to close the offices and let employees work from home. Though remote work has a lot of advantages and opportunities, it has some potential risks as well.
For example, verbal communication is replaced with emails. It’s not uncommon to get two or three times more emails than usual. As a result, lesser attention is paid to each email. That leaves a serious gap for phishing attacks. After all, it becomes harder to monitor and double-check each email if you receive more of them.
The accessibility of data stored in-house is another open question. With office buildings closed, computers and hard drives inside are unavailable. For those who used such devices to backup their files, it’s a problem. On the contrary, files backed up to a cloud are accessible.
Another issue is insider threat management. Work from home, in a relaxed atmosphere and sometimes off-hours, may increase the chances of a data loss due to human error. It becomes possible to delete important documents and discover it weeks later. By that time, they will be purged from the recycle bin folder and, therefore, lost. As with many other security threats in general, backup is a solution that will help to recover lost data.
The Growing Number of Phishing Attacks
Criminals use phishing to steal business-critical data or infect a system with malware. Phishing attacks are often disguised as emails from colleagues, customers, or other legitimate sources.
Phishing may come in a variety of forms. The most obvious example is a criminal asking for sensitive information directly. However, sometimes more sophisticated methods are used. By placing an infected link or attachment into an email, criminals spread malicious software that will get into the system and locate important data automatically. By clicking an infected link or downloading an attachment, a careless user initiates a malware attack.
The number of coronavirus-related phishing emails continues to rise. And not without a reason. Hackers exploit the panic to profit from it. It’s easy to hide a malicious email among emails informing users about coronavirus prevention measures or changes in a working schedule. To increase the chances of getting a targeted user tricked even further, criminals may pretend to be medics or members of the World Health Organization.
Users consider coronavirus-related information important and open all links inside such an email without hesitation. That results in a cyber attack and data loss. As backup software allows you to restore lost information, phishing attacks become less dangerous if files are backed up.
Limitations of the Native Tools
Microsoft 365 has a strong set of built-in security options. However, you may need additional security tools to address today’s challenges. The reason is that Microsoft 365 native functionality has some limitations that may a negative impact on the security of your data.
One of the most significant limitations is related to data retention. The data is kept in the Recycle Bin for 93 days, then it gets deleted. Of course, the Security and Compliance Center provides options to increase data retention, but it involves a lot of repetitive manual work. In other words, the recoverability of your data in Microsoft 365 is either time-limited or too time-consuming.
Another limitation of the native recovery functionality is storing backup data in the same cloud as the source data. What does it mean? If files in Microsoft 365 become damaged or infected with ransomware, there is a risk of getting backups damaged as well. Third-party backup tools, such as Spinbackup for Microsoft 365 backup solution, use the 3-2-1 backup strategy. This strategy helps to diversify the risks and helps to avoid losing backed up files together with the original one.
Summing up, what makes third-party backup tools better than native functionality? They provide automated backup and recovery in a single interface. Plus, third-party backup tools have advanced security and management features.
Need for Insider Threats Protection
Insider threats are a significant risk for any organization. Insider threats are related to harm caused by a company’s employees intentionally or accidentally.
Being mistaken is natural, and it’s not uncommon to delete an important file or fall for a phishing attack. Insider threat management is a complex issue and a lot of attention is paid to it. Remote work makes it even harder to control all employees and data. That’s why the risk of human error grows. Backup helps to mitigate risks related to insider threats.
Let’s take a look at a more specific example. In Microsoft 365, the recycle bin folder and delete items within are controlled by the user. As backup stores the copied data elsewhere, all files are resilient and available for recovery even if a certain account was compromised or a user accidentally deleted important files.
Another significant risk is incorrect data migration. In subscription-based services like Microsoft 365, it’s common to migrate information, contacts, and accesses from one account to another. For example, when an employee leaves. Data may be lost during a migration. Backup ensures that even if a mistake is made, the migrated data won’t get lost.
