GoKawiilWritten by Andy Kerr, Senior Manager, Solutions Marketing at Acronis.
Many organizations assume Microsoft 365 automatically provides built-in protection for their business data. It doesn’t, and Microsoft doesn’t claim that it does.
Microsoft 365 operates under a shared responsibility model: Microsoft ensures service availability and infrastructure security, but data protection, including backup and recovery, remains the customer’s responsibility.
That gap becomes critical in real-world scenarios involving ransomware, accidental deletion, insider threats or compliance failures. A third-party solution is essential for data protection. Organizations need dedicated backup, security and recovery capabilities to effectively safeguard Microsoft 365 data.
Need some evidence? Here are five key reasons why Microsoft 365 backup alone isn’t enough for business data protection.
1. Microsoft 365 does not protect against ransomware and malicious data loss
By design, Microsoft 365 does not fully protect against ransomware and malicious data loss, particularly when encrypted or deleted files are synced across accounts. While versioning and recycle bins provide limited recovery, they are not designed to ensure clean, reliable restoration after sophisticated attacks.
To address this gap, organizations need solutions that provide immutable storage, AI-based ransomware detection and clean recovery points to ensure safe data restoration.
Ransomware attacks increasingly target cloud environments, not just endpoints. When files in OneDrive or SharePoint are encrypted, those changes are often synchronized instantly across users and devices. Native version history may help in simple cases, but attackers frequently corrupt multiple versions, or attacks remain undetected long enough to render recovery points unusable.
Additionally, Microsoft’s tools are not about to effectively identify ransomware. They do not know which versions of files are safe and which are compromised. That creates uncertainty during recovery and can significantly delay restoration.
... continue reading