Office 365 Backup Checklist For 2022
More organizations are protecting Office 365 than ever before, is yours one of them? Kick-off 2022 with an insightful checklist you can use as you evaluate third-party vendors for your Office 365 backup strategy.
Even if you already have a backup solution, learn how to augment your existing strategy for continued success this year. In this presentation, you’ll also get to learn about the #1 Office 365 backup solution — Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365.
Learn the must-haves for adopting a third-party Office 365 backup, Understand the challenges and pitfalls involved in not choosing the right solution. See a demo of the #1 Office 365 backup solution in action!
Register now!
About the presenters:
Edward Watson: Sr. Global Product Marketing Manager
Edward Watson is a Sr. Global Product Marketing Manager at Veeam Software. These past few years Edward has led the product launch and adoption of the #1 Office 365 backup solution — Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365. Throughout his career, Edward has successfully brought numerous data protection offerings to market on a global scale, fueled by his start as a cloud service provider. He has a passion for communicating the value of protecting cloud-based workloads and helping organizations succeed in all their backup needs.
Karinne Bessette is a technologist at Veeam on the product strategy team and is based in the U.S. This individual has a strong technical background in network and security. She developed project management skills to self-manage tasks in a goal-oriented fashion and is well-versed in Office 365 and Azure platforms. At Veeam, Karinne has worked as a customer support engineer that supports Veeam products. In her time at Veeam, she has written and updated documentation, lead a team as a technical senior, and has pushed to obtain technical knowledge that’s outside just the scope of her role. Her credentials include Cisco Security (CCNA) and Cisco Routing & Switching (CCNA), CompTIANetwork+, Security +, CompTIA A+, Project +, and Linux Professional Institutes Essentials, Microsoft AZ-900 and AZ-103, Veeam VMCE2019 and VMCE2020, and VMware vExpert2020. Follow Karinne on @RinBytes or @Veeam
Backup Solutions Are Critical To Fight Malware
A recent global survey by Hornetsecurity, a leading European email cloud security provider, has shown that a staggering one in five companies is likely to fall victim to a ransomware attack, in which malicious software (malware) is used with the threat to either publish data, or block access to data or a computer system until the victim pays a ransom fee to the attacker.
“This is particularly pertinent in South Africa, which was named as being in the top three worst-affected countries in Africa – together with Egypt and Tunisia – as regards targeted ransomware attacks for the first quarter of 2021[1],” says Ruan du Preez, Vendor Alliance Director – SA and SADC from Networks Unlimited, an Exclusive Networks company. “This was outlined in Interpol’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report, released in October 2021.
“According to the Interpol report, African organisations also saw the highest increase in ransomware attacks, at 34 percent, during the first quarter of 2021, when compared to the rest of the world [2]. Against this background of local ransomware statistics, the Hornetsecurity report must be carefully considered.”
It’s ugly out there: the global reveal about ransomware
Over 800 IT professionals around the world responded to the Hornetseurity survey, which revealed some of the following facts:The average downtime a company experiences after a ransomware attack is 21 days: While the cost of that downtime alone can be fatal for many companies, this does not take into consideration the cost of data recovery, the payment of the ransom, and long-term brand damage.Nearly one in 10 companies were forced to pay a ransom to recover their data after the ransomware attack: The average amount that companies were forced to pay in 2020 was around $170,400 – over R2.81 million.The most common target of ransomware attacks is to prevent companies from operating: Around 60 percent of reported ransomware attacks affected server infrastructure and network storageAround 15 percent of companies do not protect their backups from ransomware: And yet most, if not all, ransomware attacks could be thwarted as long as a redundant backup schedule is maintained.
Altaro joins the fold: a strategic acquisition
Hornetsecurity’s acquisition of backup solution provider Altaro in March 2021 was a strategic acquisition which strengthened its offering, says Du Preez. “Networks Unlimited distributes Altaro solutions throughout Africa,” he explains, “and the synergies between both companies have resulted in more powerful offerings for clients.
“Altaro develops backup solutions for Hyper-V, VMware, physical servers, network endpoints and Microsoft Office 365, and this is an excellent complement for Hornetsecurity’s email and compliance solutions, particularly in the sphere of Microsoft 365 environments.
“We recommend that backup software should be user-friendly and easy to use, which therefore helps to minimse the existing stress related to an emergency recovery operation. Altaro provides solid backup solutions that are intuitive, easy to use, well-priced and backed by excellent support.”
Du Preez notes that ransomware attacks usually start through a user opening an infected file. “User education is therefore a critical tool in ransomware mitigation,” he adds. “In addition, it’s important to note that in many cases, a ransom demand comes with a deadline, and if the victim doesn’t pay in time, the data is gone forever or the ransom increases. It also occurs that sometimes, the ransom is paid and the data is still not released.
“Properly protected backups will save your organisation if ransomware strikes. Altaro solutions enable MSPs to manage different kinds of backups, such as VMs, Office 365, physical servers and endpoints, across all their customers from a single pane of glass, simplifying their operations,” he concludes.
For more information, contact Janco Taljaard at +27 (0) 11 202 8400, janco.Taljaard@nu.Co.Za
About Altaro
Altaro is a fast-growing developer of easy-to-use backup solutions for managed service providers (MSPs), IT resellers and IT departments. It specialises in backup for virtualised and cloud environments, providing affordable enterprise-class functionality while avoiding unnecessary features that add cost and undue complexity. With 50,000+ customers worldwide, 10,000+ partners globally and 2,000+ MSPs to date, the company’s flagship solution is Altaro VM Backup, which has gained traction as the natural choice for Hyper-V and VMware backup and replication. Altaro also provides an annual subscription solution to back up and restore Office 365 mailboxes, Altaro Office 365 Backup. Both are also available as monthly subscription programs for MSPs.
About Networks Unlimited
Networks Unlimited, an Exclusive Networks company, is a value-added distributor, committed to empowering African businesses through innovative technology solutions. Our focus includes the world’s leading security, networking, storage, enterprise system management (ESM) and cloud technologies. As a company, we are dedicated to taking our partner ecosystem to new heights. We support our partners through operational excellence, a competitive pricing strategy and strong focus on education, with the view of investing in long-term relationships. We work with competitive, resilient businesses, who are leaders in their field of excellence.
Our offerings include a portfolio of products highly regarded by Gartner, such as Altaro, Attivo Networks, Cofense, Fortinet, F5, Hitachi Vantara, NETSCOUT,
[1] file:///C:/Users/Vivienne%20Fouche/Downloads/AfricanCyberthreatAssessment_ENGLISH.Pdf page 23
[2] file:///C:/Users/Vivienne%20Fouche/Downloads/AfricanCyberthreatAssessment_ENGLISH.Pdf page 23
Opinion Piece: Data Is Always Your Responsibility And You Need To Back Up O365
Image By BiztechAfrica
March 8, 2022, 10:10 a.M.
Bar Hori
By Bar Hori, Regional Sales Executive at Commvault for Africa
Nigeria is undergoing significant digital transformation, driven by government initiatives and accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The adoption of cloud-based solutions has been at the heart of this, and Microsoft Office 365 (O365) is one of the most widely deployed cloud tools in the country for businesses of all sizes looking to improve on collaboration.
However, while cloud offers always-on availability, there is some confusion over the need to back up data. The reality is that if a ransomware attack or data loss event takes place, the ability to successfully recover data still comes down to the effectiveness of data protection and backup solutions. Even when you have O365 in place, you still need to back up your data.
Benefits drive adoption
Adoption of cloud solutions can have significant benefits, including increased availability, flexibility and agility, and the fast rollout of new solutions as a service. This is particularly important in Nigeria, where procuring new hardware can take up to six months due to international availability issues and local red tape.
No business can afford to wait this long, and so the cloud has seen massive adoption. Other benefits to this move have included the availability of skilled support and the ability to access enterprise-grade solutions in a cost effective way. The cloud has made it easier to stay up and running with minimal disruption from a range of external disruptors, including Covid-19.
Data is still your responsibility
However, ransomware remains a real threat, and local experts are warning of an expected escalation in cybercrime and cyberattacks compared to 2021. Adding weight to this, in January of 2022, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) alerted Nigerians to a plan by a cybercrime group to deliver ransomware to targeted organisational networks.
The risk of service disruption remains a real and growing possibility, and the validity and safety of data, regardless of whether it is located on prem or in the cloud, remains the business’s responsibility. If a machine is infected by ransomware, data could be affected no matter where it is stored, and O365 does not mitigate the risk of the human factor when it comes to malicious or accidental deletion of files.
Backup is still the last line of defence
Microsoft operates what they call a Shared Responsibility model, which very clearly states that “for all cloud deployment types you are responsible for protecting the security of your data and identities, on-premises resources, and the cloud components you control.” Backing up O365 data is critical. Without effective backup, the only options in the event of a ransomware attack are to pay or lose data.
It is equally important, however, to use an agile, cloud-based backup solution that offers a similar experience without the lengthy procurement challenges of hardware-based solutions.
Data backup does not need to be expensive or require additional resources. The ability to quickly, easily, securely and cost effectively protect data via a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, as well as to protect and integrate other workloads, will change the game. With the right data protection and backup solution in place, businesses have the ability to recover their most important asset – their data – and the peace of mind that they are covered in the event of accidental or malicious deletion as well as a ransomware attack.