Is Your Office 365 Secure?

Introduction

There has been a recent wave of marketing emails and posts on how you should backup Office 365 to keep your data safe. They are correct―you should, because Microsoft does not keep point-in-time backups of your data. But, there is more to Office 365 safety than just Backup.

For some time, businesses have been moving toward the Cloud. However, the pandemic forced a rushed, mass migration as companies scrambled to find viable options during the shutdown. When things are done quickly, and in a panic, essential elements are often missed.

Backing up Office 365 is essential, but don’t forget to increase security to fend off cyber-criminals that have targeted the Cloud and, in particular, Office 365.

Privacy And Security Practices Are Directly Related To Vulnerability

When people think of the Cloud, they envision their data locked away in some secure vault in the sky under the ever-watchful eye of a giant, benevolent Service Provider. Not exactly true.

In simple terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing data over the internet. The Cloud itself is made up of offsite physical data centers which are just as vulnerable to cyber-attack. One errant click from a well-meaning employee is all it takes to start an attack on your Cloud data that can have dire consequences.

Simply put, Cloud Service Providers do not protect your data from:

Ransomware
Malicious or unintentional deletion
Hackers using social engineering to gain entry

Osano, a data privacy company, did a recent study of the relationship between a company’s data privacy and security practices and the likelihood of data breaches. They found that they are directly related. The weaker the security―the higher the probability.

If you do not have proper security mechanisms in place to protect your Cloud data, you risk losing it the same way you would on site. In short, businesses need to protect their data wherever it is stored―onsite or in the Cloud.

Office 365 Is The #1 Target of Cyber-criminals

Being the best productivity suite in the world has its advantages and disadvantages. The most significant drawback is that Office 365 is the top target of hackers.

By breaching a single account via email, hackers can move freely throughout Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. Criminals can copy, download, and share files, and conduct additional attacks within the system.

Office 365’s native security has issues detecting sophisticated email attacks. To protect your company, you must up your game!

Sophisticated Threats Require Sophisticated Protection

One axiom of cyber-security is “Defence In-Depth (DiD).” DiD is a series of defense mechanisms that are layered on top of one another that protects data. To get to your information, cyber-criminals must pass through these security filters, making it harder to penetrate the system. If they successfully get past one mechanism, they must deal with the next layer, and so on.

To fully protect your Office 365 application, you need a supported and managed Cloud Data Protection (CDP) platform that includes:

Advanced SPAM Protection – Office 365 already has a SPAM Protection component, but cybercriminals today are very sophisticated. A robust third-party Anti-SPAM application is your first line of defense and stops the majority of bogus emails before they get to your inbox.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Driven Security – this is advanced behavioral detection at its best. This component studies how you and your team communicate to identify possible scam messages― then quarantines them. Since it is AI-driven, this feature learns to detect phishing attacks, wire transfer fraud, direct payroll attacks, etc. giving you a much higher level of security.
Point-in-Time Backups – all data within Office 365 is backed up. You’ll be able to restore emails, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams data from any restore-point since backups began.

These three components are critical to strengthening Office 365’s native security and keeping your company safe. People don’t realize the enormous amount of vital information they have in Office 365―until they lose it.

Protection of Office 365 includes two aspects: Security and Backup. Real protection involves both. Having one without the other is playing with fire. Don’t play with fire―protect your company now.

XSolutions Cloud Data Protection platform requires no long-term commitments, and the first 60 days are FREE! Email us at [email protected] to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.

XSolutions is an Elite Partner of Datto, the world leader in Hybrid-Cloud Business Continuity solutions. We provide Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Backup as a Service (BaaS), Cloud Data Protection (CDP), and Managed IT Services (MSP). Call (845) 362-9675, and let us show you how to protect your business from downtime and data loss. Backup & Disaster Recovery | Cloud Data Protection | Managed IT Services