Achieving Data Resilience in Microsoft 365

In our current tech landscape, dealing with cybersecurity incidents like ransomware and other disasters is unavoidable. To keep your business running, you need to be able to take disruptions and cyberattacks in stride. This means being able to not just bounce back from an outage or data loss situation — but bounce forward each time. This is at the heart of data resilience. Read on to learn more about how to keep your organization moving forward, no matter what comes your way.

Stay Ahead of the Curve

As cybersecurity threats and ransomware attacks continue to increase and evolve, it's critical that you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to keeping up with cybersecurity trends. Cyber threats are evolving quickly into more sinister and dangerous variants, and they won't wait for your defenses to catch up. Some of the top cybersecurity and data protection trends this year include using zero trust principles like multi-factor authentication (MFA) systems, passkeys, and password-less technologies, including AI-enabled detection tools to circumvent bad actors.

This year, increased vigilance and preparation is required as AI-powered malware attacks set their sights on your data. Also note that social engineering tactics backed by AI are getting better at fooling unsuspecting victims, and nation-state bad actors are also using cyberattacks to infiltrate countries they consider adversaries.

Reduce Cyber Risk

Earlier, we discussed how quickly cybercriminals are evolving their tactics to continue trying to circumvent data protection strategies in organizations like yours. This year, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 has evolved significantly to not only encapsulate current best practices and security principles but also provide a forward-thinking and flexible blueprint to help organizations safeguard their systems too. This way, when an attack happens, organizations can take it more in stride. Version 2.0 sought to include a sixth best practice, "Govern", to account for the overall management and governance of cybersecurity risk, including defining roles and responsibilities and integrating cybersecurity into enterprise risk management.

Enhance Incident Response and Ransomware Protection

One of the more significant evolutions in ransomware over the past couple of years has been the increased amount of ransomware that's designed to infiltrate SaaS applications. This includes Microsoft 365, whose suite of tools (Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc.) permeate the daily operations of countless businesses and operations, and often contain a wealth of sensitive data. Due to its widespread use, and as more employees leverage the service, the platform has become particularly exploitable to attackers capitalizing on this diversified infrastructure.

Some major steps you and your organization can take to make sure you're prepared to ward off attacks in Microsoft 365 (and handle them if they happen) include:

1. Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Requires users to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to digital resources like email accounts, business applications, and online services.
2. Least-privilege access: Users should only be granted minimum levels of access (or permissions) necessary to perform their job functions, and no more.
3. Regular backups: Establish a backup schedule that strikes a balance between your data volume and the resources you have available. This should include backing up all services in Microsoft 365, including Exchange Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams.
4. Immutable backups: Immutability guarantees that once information is backed up, it'll remain in a pristine state and is unalterable for a set period.
5. Incident response plan: Detail the processes your organization must follow when faced with a variety of cybersecurity incidents, and use this plan as a playbook for identifying, containing, eradicating, and recovering from threats.
6. Regular audits and penetration testing: Perform regular audits to ensure that your system configurations remain aligned with best practices and security policies.
7. Software restriction policies: Ensure that only trusted applications, scripts, and processes are allowed to execute.
8. Monitoring and logging: Keep a vigilant eye on system activities and maintain a comprehensive record of events so your organization can detect potential security incidents in real-time, diagnose issues, understand the scope of any breaches, and improve your overall security posture.
9. Data separation: Keep different sets of data apart and divide networks into discrete segments to significantly reduce the initial risk of security breaches and effectively quarantine outbreaks if they happen.
10. Encryption: Organizations that effectively use Microsoft 365's (or a third party's) encryption capabilities in parallel to their security policies are far more resilient than those who don't.

One Size Doesn't Necessarily Fit All

At the end of the day, there isn't a universal "best" option for cloud data protection — it all depends on your IT team's skillset, what systems you already have in place, and where your data is already located. Looking into why other companies have chosen their own specific configurations can be a key step toward securing a service that works best for your own specific needs.

For Microsoft 365 specifically, security it is a multi-faceted endeavor that requires organizations to engage in strategic preventative measures and effective incident response plans (IRPs). Microsoft 365 data resilience requires a commitment to effectively using cutting-edge technology to protect your data as bad actors evolve. Fortunately, there are dedicated backup vendors with solutions that are custom-built for Microsoft 365.

For example, Veeam Data Cloud for Microsoft 365 enables data resilience for Microsoft 365 data by delivering the industry's leading Microsoft 365 backup solution as a service. This solution provides comprehensive data protection and recovery for Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams, giving you complete control over your entire Microsoft 365 environment.

Regardless, when protecting Microsoft 365, you'll want to simplify your backup strategy as much as possible. This could mean making sure all your software, backup infrastructure, and storage sit in an all-in-one cloud service, and searching for a solution that allows you to leverage powerful data protection and security within an easy-to-use UI.

Note: This article is expertly written by Emily Real, a senior technical writer at Veeam. Before transitioning to Veeam and the tech industry, she worked as a writing consultant and contributed to various newspaper and magazine publications in her hometown of Columbus, OH.