3 Tips for Using Granular Backup to Fight Ransomware on Office 365

Ransomware – a cyberattack used to lock users and organizations out of their content by encrypting systems and demanding a ransom to remove the encryption – is becoming a common threat to enterprise security with multiple large health organizations recently targeted. Whether the result is productivity loss or unexpected expenses from paying the ransom, ransomware can have a negative impact that the whole organization feels. Succumbing to this type of attack on a large scale can also potentially cause customers and constituents to lose confidence in your organization and its ability to protect data.

Organizations in the cloud, unfortunately, are not immune to these attacks. It’s true that data in systems like Office 365 is nearly always available and current. Moving your users from storing content on their local drives to systems like OneDrive for Business with an active sync helps ensures this. What if their computer crashes? No problem, you can just restore their content from their OneDrive. What if they delete a file? Again, not a problem because it can be restored from the OneDrive recycle bin.

What if their computer is locked by Ransomware? This is where you run into a major issue with a constantly synced OneDrive. Once the content has been encrypted, not only is it unavailable on the user’s computer, but it will also sync these changes to their OneDrive immediately. It will then become unusable, as the synchronization will pass the locked data into the cloud. While the data in the cloud is not at an increased risk to exposure or loss, it is still not accessible to the user – which can quickly cause a loss in productivity. The recent ransomware attacks have surfaced a previously overlooked data protection concern.

So, how can you fight this issue? The right tool and three simple steps will go a long way.

Recovering from a Ransomware Attack in the Cloud

Ensuring that you have an active backup plan for OneDrive has never been more important. With the proper application of a well-built and executed backup solution, you can avoid the issues that are surfaced through a ransomware attack. DocAve Backup and Restore and DocAve Online can help you keep content safe if a ransomware attack hits one of your users or your entire infrastructure. Whether your data lives entirely in the cloud or in a hybrid deployment, DocAve can create a backup plan that ensures content can be segregated and then quickly restored.

Here are the simple steps you need to follow to ensure you are protected:

1. Have a granular backup in place

Ensuring that you have your content backed up at a granular level will allow a quick and simple recovery from a ransomware attack. Once you have quarantined the issue and have clean servers that the content can be restored to, you can carry out a time- or object-based restore of the content that has been lost.

2. Backup your content frequently

Ensuring that you have your content backed up as recently as possible will ensure that any data loss from a full recovery will be minimal. Ensuring that you are following best practices and having multiple tiers of data classification in your backup plans will make this a much easier process.

3. Have a restoration plan in place

Setting clear expectations on when users’ content can be restored will create confidence in your backup systems. Doing test restorations as well as having restore estimates available for different types of content helps users understand how quickly you can help them get back to work.

DocAve Backup as Your Complete Solution

With DocAve, you can restore granular content quickly and painlessly after a catastrophic disruption such as a ransomware attack. In the event that one of your users has his or her local and cloud content encrypted due to a cloud sync, DocAve allows for the restoration of that user’s content in an agreed upon timeframe, ensuring that the data loss and business interruption is minimal.

It is also important to note that the content being restored is only going to be as recent as the most recent backup, but following our best practices for data classification you will be able to recover from what was intended to be a catastrophic and disruptive loss with little business interruption. Watch our OneDrive Backup tutorial to see how DocAve can protect you and your business on Office 365:

Utilizing SharePoint on premises or in a hybrid scenario? Get started with DocAve Backup and Restore. Fully in the cloud and looking for a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online, and Exchange Online management and protection? Try DocAve Online today.