The shared-responsibility model
Cloud providers secure their platforms, but protecting the data you put in them is your responsibility. This shared-responsibility model catches many businesses out.
Understanding where the provider's job ends and yours begins is the foundation of cloud data protection.
The three pillars
Effective cloud data protection rests on three things: controlling access, backing data up, and monitoring for threats.
Access control means the right people can reach the right data and no more. Backup means an independent, tested copy you can recover. Monitoring means spotting misuse before it becomes a breach.
Common gaps
The gaps we see most often are over-shared files, dormant accounts with lingering access, missing MFA and, the big one, backups that have never been tested.
Any of these can turn a minor incident into a serious one.
Getting protection right
Cloud data protection isn't a product you buy once; it's a set of practices you maintain. Configure access carefully, back up independently, enable MFA, monitor continuously and review regularly.
With a managed partner, all of that is looked after for you, and checked, not assumed.
For Microsoft 365 specifically, the retention gaps described above are covered by our Microsoft 365 backup service.
