Microsoft Office 365: Data Loss in Cloud Application

Summarized by Molly Luxem, Marketing Assistant

When disaster strikes your organization, you can’t just “start over”, unless you have a dependable backup and restore solution for SaaS data protection. Many of us believe that while cloud solutions are highly available and highly redundant, they’re also backed up to our own expectations. They’re not.

Look Out for Cloud Invaders

Microsoft Office 365 is an effective collaboration tool that significantly boosts efficiency, making it a smart move for any enterprise. But far too many users misunderstand its lack of complete backup and recovery capabilities.

Built-in redundancies guarantee that your data is available in their service whenever you need it. In other words, if something happens on Microsoft’s side of things, you’re covered. However, Microsoft cannot protect you from mishaps and failures on your side. Office 365 can’t protect companies from data loss due to accidental deletion, malicious user activity, configuration errors, or programmatic errors, such as synchronization and integration issues. Furthermore, as previously stated, Microsoft’s own retention policies may surprise you! Check and confirm their policies to your personal risk mitigation.

The Top Causes

• User Error:

Did you know that user error is to blame for three quarters of incidents where sensitive data is lost? Human error is an inevitable part of business, in the cloud or on the ground.

Without a backup and restore solution, there is no way to quickly retrieve information lost through human error.

• Malicious Insiders:

In a busy organization, you’ll see contractors, sub-contractors and employees come and go. Each of these people will have access to your data, files, and IT systems, and unfortunately, not everyone will have the best intentions. It’s wise to prepare your business for malicious activity before it occurs.

• Hackers:

The Internet Security Threat Report 2014 indicates that there were eight “mega breaches” (incidents that exposed 10 million identities or more) in 2013, compared to just one in 2012.

Whether it’s accessing customer emails, phone numbers, or even bank details, it’s clear that no business is safe, no matter how large or well-established.

• Programmatic Errors:

Programmatic errors, such as sync malfunctions and configuration glitches, can often occur when using third-party apps along with Office 365. Not all apps are programmed to work seamlessly together, and Office 365 isn’t set up to help you recover information that has been lost due to configuration errors.

• Office 365 Retention Policies:

Again, as stated, call your provider or i3 to assure that Microsoft Office 365 Backup and Retention Policies align with your acceptable risk tolerance.