Understanding Microsoft 365 Security: Do You Need a 3rd Party to Backup Your Data?

Microsoft 365 is a suite of office apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, and more. Millions of users from small businesses to large enterprises rely on these apps for both productivity and collaboration tools.  

With the recent increase in cyber attacks, specifically ransomware, there’s been discussion surrounding M365 security and whether users should be backing up their data with a separate, third-party solution. In this blog, we’ll discuss M365 security and provide an answer to the backup question.  

First, let’s break down the layers of security that Microsoft 365 offers:   

  1. Identity & access management 

M365 provides identity and access management in two ways. Using Microsoft Authenticator, user credentials are coupled with a second verification tier. Depending on what the user selects, this could be through multi-factor authentication or using your phone’s touch or facial recognition as the second form of verification.  

Second, Windows Hello addresses the password problem. Strong passwords are a necessity but pose many challenges for users. They need to be long and complicated, which can make them difficult to remember. Users also tend to recycle passwords, which isn’t secure. Instead, Windows Hello utilizes a new type of user credential that’s tied to a device and uses a biometric or PIN.  

Conditional access then evaluates each individual user, device, app, location, and risk before granting access. Regardless of privilege level, all identities are protected.  

  1. Threat protection 

With enhanced digital innovation, our attack surface continues to increase. No single service can comprehensively protect against all threats. Microsoft 365 helps stop damaging attacks with integrated and automated security through various solutions to protect identity, endpoints, user data, cloud apps, and infrastructure.  

These services specialize in protecting against specific threat vectors, such as networks, email, business, critical data, etc.   

  1. Information protection 

Remote collaboration has become central to a business’s capabilities. However, remote collaboration also means your data is traveling all over the place. While sharing information is good for productivity, it’s bad for security.  

M365 protects your sensitive data with a four-step process: 

  • Classification
  • Labeling
  • Protecting
  • Monitoring

The Microsoft Information Protection solutions in M365 protect your sensitive data throughout its lifecycle across devices, apps, cloud services, and on-premises locations.  

  1. Security management  

The security center provides real time reports on your security posture so you can rely on insights and guidance to strengthen your position. This allows you to track and manage your security across identities, data, devices, apps, and infrastructure.  

A centralized dashboard provides a Secure Score so you know where your organization stands and whether action is needed. Here, you can configure devices and data policies to better manage your organization. 

Is Your Data Fully Protected?

Despite M365’s robust security solutions, there are infinite ways in which your data could be compromised. No amount of security can ensure that there is zero risk of your data being lost.  

As 2022 started out with a substantial uptick in cyber attacks, we’d like to highlight the importance of data protection for all Microsoft 365 users. While Microsoft does provide the most cutting-edge security solutions, this alone is not enough. And Microsoft agrees. 

Within Microsoft’s service agreement, they clearly outline, “In the event of an outage, you may not be able to retrieve Your Content or Data that you’ve stored. We recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data that you store on the Services or store using Third-Party Apps and Services.” 

Data should always have a secure backup that’s ready to go in case of a cyber event. While loyal Microsoft users may believe that this additional step is unnecessary, it is very much necessary. And at Microsoft’s recommendation, we agree.  

Next Steps: Protect Your M365 Data With a Third-Party Backup Plan

Each business and organization carries a different and unique level of risk, depending on a number of factors. One of the largest factors is digital real estate. The more digital assets you own, the larger your attack surface, and therefore, the larger your risk.  

There are a number of third-party backup solutions that can address your specific needs and your specific level of risk.  

If you’re not already backing up your M365 data with a third-party solution, contact an Arraya expert today. We can help you ensure your information is protected and available for when you need it most.  

Visit https://www.arrayasolutions.com//contact-us/ to connect with our team now. 

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