Table of Contents
- What you need to know about Microsoft 365
- Most common Data protection gaps in Office 365
- Shadow IT
- Insider threats
- Malware and phishing attacks
- Third-party Integrations
- Cloud Storage
- Best practices for your Organization’s data protection
- Take frequent regular backups of your data
- Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
- Use Strong Passwords and Password Policies
- Keep Your Software Up-to-Date
- Conclusion
It is no secret that Microsoft 365 (M365) is a powerful suite of productivity and collaboration tools that offers a wide range of features to help businesses operate more efficiently. The Office 365 now known as Microsoft 365 is used by over a million companies worldwide, with over 145,844 customers in the USA alone using the software.
It underpins these organisations’ ability to collaborate and communicate internally with their own employees and externally with their customers, and with the growing adoption and utilisation of cloud-based platforms such as M365, it is important to understand how to protect your Microsoft 365 workloads from security threats.
It is important to remember that along with security, M365 does provide a level of capability across data governance, compliance, app integration and data protection space out of the box but has a significant capability gap across these areas when organisations require more depth and specialisation (but that creates opportunity for others to solve).
In this blog, we’ll discuss some best practices to consider when protecting these Microsoft 365 workloads as well as some of the most important things you need to know (outside of best practices) to ensure business continuity for your cloud collaboration platform with a specific focus on data protection.
Let’s begin with what you need to know when using M365!
What you need to know about Microsoft 365
Not a lot of these organisations are aware that while Microsoft provides a certain level of data protection for M365 workloads, including protection against scenarios such as hardware failure, complete datacenter outages and a more common scenario – short term (under 30 days) user accidental deletions on objects such as mailbox, emails, or groups.
Microsoft do not however cover more impactful scenarios such as long-term accidental deletion (restoring data older than 30 days), granular recoverability, loss of data due to malicious malware or ransomware, and subsequent recovery from extended outages.
If you look at the infographic above (Credit: Microsoft) on just what M365 provides by way of collaboration apps and consider the amount of precious data that surrounds each of these apps, it is no wonder that having a specialised data protection solution is crucial to ensure continuity for your workforce and customers utilising these apps.
While Microsoft 365 (M365) provides robust data protection features, there are still potential data protection gaps that organisations need to be aware of and take steps to address.
Most common Data protection gaps in M365
Shadow IT
One of the most significant data protection gaps in M365 is the use of unauthorised third-party apps and services. This has the potential to lead to data leakage, as sensitive data may be stored and shared outside of the organization’s approved platforms.
Insider threats
M365 provides various tools to manage user access and permissions, but there is always a risk of insider threats. Unauthorised users or employees with elevated privileges can potentially access sensitive data, either intentionally or accidentally.
Malware and phishing attacks
M365 includes various security features to detect and prevent malware and phishing attacks. However, attackers are continually evolving their tactics, and new threats can potentially evade these defences.
Third-party Integrations
M365 integrates with many third-party apps and services, which can introduce new data protection risks. Organizations need to evaluate the security of these integrations and ensure they comply with their data protection policies.
Cloud Storage
M365 stores data in the cloud, which can be vulnerable to cyberattacks, data breaches, and accidental deletion. Organisations need to take steps to secure their cloud storage, such as using encryption, access controls, and backups.
To address these data protection gaps, organisations should consider implementing a comprehensive data protection strategy.
This should include security awareness training for employees, policies and procedures for data protection, regular security assessments, and the use of third-party security tools if necessary. By taking a proactive approach to data protection, organizations can minimize the risks and maximize the benefits of using M365.
Microsoft has a whole ecosystem of ISV partners that build and develop their solutions on Azure for Office 365. These partners have realised that there are these gaps so to speak when you use the platform so that additional solutions need to be developed on top of the native M365 capabilities.
Best practices for your Organization’s data protection
Shifting gears to how to maximise and add extra protection when using M365, there are some simple yet effective best practices to adopt within your organisation. Here are six of the most common best practices to remember:
Take frequent regular backups of your data.
Taking the time to take regular backups is an essential component of data protection. In the event of a security breach or accidental deletion, a backup can help you recover your data quickly and prevent data loss. It is essential to back up data on a regular basis to ensure that you always have a recent copy of your data in case of data loss.
Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a security feature that adds an extra layer of protection to your account by requiring you to provide additional authentication factors such as a fingerprint or a code sent to your phone. MFA can significantly reduce the risk of account compromise by ensuring that even if an attacker has your password, they cannot gain access to your account without the additional authentication factor.
Use Strong Passwords and Password Policies
Weak passwords are one of the leading causes of security breaches. Password policies are a set of rules that dictate the complexity, length, and expiry of passwords. Implementing strong password policies can help prevent password-related security issues.
Keep Your Software Up-to-Date
Software updates are critical for maintaining the security and performance of your Microsoft 365 workloads. Updates typically include security patches, bug fixes, and new features that can enhance the functionality of your applications. Failing to update your software can leave your applications vulnerable to security threats, including malware, viruses, and other malicious attacks.
To ensure that your Microsoft 365 applications are up-to-date, regularly check for updates and install them promptly. Microsoft 365 provides an update center that allows you to manage and install updates for all your applications.
Use Antivirus and Anti-Malware Software
Antivirus and anti-malware software can help protect your Microsoft 365 workloads from security threats such as viruses, malware, and ransomware. These solutions can detect and remove threats before they can cause damage to your applications and data. There are several antivirus and anti-malware software solutions available, and it is essential to choose a solution that best suits your business needs.
Conclusion
In closing, there are a significant number of considerations when standardising on the M365 collaboration platform, security, data governance, integration with other apps that your organisation uses as well as data protection.
By marrying a regular data protection routine including automated backups, granular recoverability and overall best practices as outlined in this article, you can ensure your most precious M365 data is being looked after outside of the Microsoft native protection capabilities.
BDRSuite for Microsoft 365 coupled with best practices in your backup strategy can provide the highest level of business continuity and protection for your M365 environment up and above the level Microsoft offers natively.
For more information and a deep dive on BDRSuite for Microsoft 365, please check out the latest user guide here.
Related Articles on M365:
Microsoft 365 for Beginners – Introduction to Cloud Computing – Part 1
Microsoft 365 for Beginners – Introduction to Microsoft Azure Cloud Services – Part 2
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