Office 365 Backup – Does Office 365 backup your data?

If you think that Microsoft Office 365 backs up your data, it is not more than a misconception. It is a secure platform but does not provide backup. Microsoft has built-in backup features and redundancy, but that is only within their internal data centers for recovery, not for the customers to back up their data.

If you read their service agreement, they mentioned storing your data using third-party services. You can keep the files somewhere else on your system following the cardinal 3-2-1 backup rule. Office 365 does not meet the backup criteria.

Office 365 redundancy VS Backup

Backup of data means duplicating the files and storing them in different locations. If a disaster happens and your data gets lost, a copy of the missing or lost file is available in another place. For example, if you delete a file intentionally or unintentionally and want it back, you should have the option to back up and restore it.

Although Microsoft offers the security of your data, there are several cases when critical data can be compromised. It is crucial to have a backup from a third party in such cases.

Microsoft offers redundancy, which means if a disaster happens to one data center and fails to manage the data, another data center is located in other geographical regions to back up your data. They can execute such redirects without realizing the end-users. But if you or someone in your organization deletes a file or an email intentionally or accidentally, office 365 will simultaneously delete the data from all the regions and data centers.

So, that’s why one should regularly back up their data as Microsoft recommends to its users. It is a shared responsibility to secure and protect the data because it’s your data, and you should take steps to protect it.

Reasons for the Data Loss in Office 365

As businesses increasingly rely on Office 365 to manage their data, it’s essential to understand the risks of data loss and how to prevent it. One of the most significant factors contributing to data loss is the sheer amount of data that companies generate. Without proper backup options, losing important information during a system failure or data corruption is easy.

Ransomware infections are also a major threat. They can encrypt files and demand payment to release them, leaving businesses with few options but to pay the ransom or suffer significant data loss. Incremental and differential backups are crucial for ensuring business continuity, as they allow companies to quickly recover data from a backup without restoring an entire system.

Using backup software and external hard drives for backup storage can provide an extra layer of protection against data loss. Storing backups in a remote location can help protect against physical disasters like fires or floods.

A reliable backup service can provide 24-hour protection and ensure that backups are always up-to-date. It’s also important to have a disaster recovery plan in place to minimize the impact of data loss on business operations and ensure that full backups and disaster recovery (DR) solutions are available when needed.

There are rare chances that Microsoft loses the data, but data loss from the end-user is widespread. Microsoft tries its best to protect the user’s data, but the most common reason is human error. Data loss has become a new normal, whether an email or a company document.

From human error to malicious attacks, there could be a lot of reasons that can result in data loss. Here, we will discuss them in detail and illustrate the benefit of backing up data using a third-party service.

Human Error

Accidental deletion is the primary human error due to which data can get lost. One can accidentally delete important emails, files, documents, or any critical data in office 365. Human error falls into two categories, one is accidental, and the other is intentional.

Sometimes, people delete the file or data by thinking that there is no need for it anymore, but after some time, they are suddenly in need of it. In most cases, the platforms have a retention policy through which you can restore the files from the trash. But for some of them, like contact entries and calendar events, there is no option of recovery from the recycle bin.

In such a situation, Microsoft does not provide you the facility to recover the lost files as they delete them for their data centers. They have no authority to protect you from yourself. If you want to overcome such difficult situations, you must have a backup at your side.

Malware or Software Corruption

Malware and virus attacks affect the organization globally, and office 365 is also susceptible to malicious attacks. The primary cause behind such attacks is opening or downloading the infected files. Ransomware attacks are the reason for data loss, office 365 has protection features against these attacks, but there is no guarantee that it will detect the infections every time.

Moreover, software corruption is another reason for data loss. For example, a user wants to update or install office 365, and then suddenly, a problem arises that can also cause damage.

Internal and External Security Threats

Organizations face many security threats that can either be internal or external. Internal security threats mean that sometimes a terminated employee knowing the company’s assets, threatens the organization or deletes the data. It can bring a lot of harm to an organization, and Microsoft, without knowing the reason, deletes the file from their data centers.

And by external security threats, we mean malicious and ransomware attacks through which companies and organizations suffer colossal damage. It damages the reputation of the company and breaks the customer’s trust.

Do you need an Office 365 backup solution?

As discussed in this article, Microsoft does not provide a backup for deleted data. However, if data loss occurs at their end, they offer redundancy by keeping the data in multiple regions. Third-party backup is necessary to protect the data against accidental or intentional loss and malicious attacks.

You can back up the data by placing it independently from your system and Microsoft servers. Since we are talking about Microsoft products here are some common vulnerabilities of Microsoft’s products.

Office 365 backup is a great way to ensure that your data is safe in the event of a disaster. However, many small to medium-sized companies don’t have the resources or infrastructure to back up their data independently.

That’s when Protected Harbor comes in; we are the experts in the industry, creating flexible solutions for your needs, including data backup and disaster recovery, remote monitoring, cybersecurity, etc. The top brands are serving customers with one-size-fits-all solutions; we don’t. Contact us today to make your data safer.