Blog: General

Many organizations are adopting Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) and businesses nationwide are seeing the benefits of improved productivity through its email and collaboration solution. Organizations of all sizes can benefit from a seamless user experience between mobile and on-premise environments.

While Microsoft 365 offers great flexibility, it mostly focuses on infrastructure management rather than data management. Meaning: You are responsible for your data.

Some businesses who have migrated their workloads to Microsoft 365 do not realize that the same reasons they had for backing up and protecting that data on-premises applies even in the cloud.

If you are still considering Microsoft 365 for office productivity and collaboration, this article may be for you: Microsoft 365: Is it the right choice for your business?

Without proper backup and recovery, your data is at risk, because Microsoft isn't providing complete protection. It's important to create a backup and recovery strategy to ensure you avoid permanently losing your critical data.

It's important to understand the difference in responsibilities of Microsoft and Microsoft 365 user organizations. Microsoft hosts the infrastructure, but you are responsible for your data.

What is Microsoft's Responsibility?

Cloud Infrastructure Uptime — Microsoft focuses on the infrastructure management rather than data management. By focusing on infrastructure, Microsoft ensures its cloud service is online and operational. Guaranteed uptime is based on your agreement level and outlined in the availability SLA (Service Level Agreement).

Basic Data Replication — Microsoft provides basic data replication with datacenter-to-datacenter geo redundancy, and limited retention for short-time data recovery.

Data Processing Compliance — Compliance and controls for data processing are limited to the processor, not the data itself. Microsoft ensures data privacy, regulatory controls, and industry certifications for compliance are in place and maintained for the infrastructure of its cloud service.

Physical Infrastructure Security — Security functions for Microsoft 365 are limited to physical infrastructure, not data. It includes app-level security, logical security, and access controls for users and administrators.

What is the Customer's Responsibility?

Business Data in Microsoft 365 — The customer is the owner of the data that resides in the Microsoft 365 data centers. As the owner, the customer controls the data and who can access the data. All responsibility of the data is on the user to ensure data security, privacy, and retention.

Enterprise-grade Backup and Long-Term Data Retention — Implementing an enterprise-grade backup solution for Microsoft 365 can give businesses confidence to recover from security breaches, compliance exposure, and data loss. With enterprise-grade backup, a copy of the data is stored outside the environment. In the event of an incident, it provides granular and point-in-time recovery options.

Data Owner Compliance — As the data owner, the customer has the ultimate responsibility of data for internal legal and compliance teams. The customer answers to the demands from corporate and industry regulations.

Security Functions to Protect Data — Protection of data is the responsibility of the user, not Microsoft. Security controls must be implemented to protect the data from internal threats, such as accidental deletion, insider threat, and disgruntled employees, and external threats, such as malware, ransomware, and rogue applications.

What happens when Microsoft 365 is used without backup?

Microsoft only provides basic and limited retention. If you don't implement a backup strategy outside of Microsoft's native capabilities, you are opening up your business for unnecessary risk. Lack of a Microsoft 365 backup plan is a risky data strategy.

Without proper backup and recovery, your organization can expose itself to the following risks:

• Data loss from accidental deletions
• Ransomware attacks and security breaches
• Insufficient retention time for regulatory compliance policies
• Lack of data control due to potential SaaS lock-in

Organizations investing in productivity and collaboration tools should also consider their backup and retention needs as a factor in efficiency and productivity. Considering a third-party backup solution is critical for data loss avoidance.

What is the best strategy for Microsoft 365 backup?

Your data is your business. By taking a data-driven approach to your backup strategy, you recognize the critical importance of your data for your business stability.

Make Microsoft 365 Backup a Key Priority

Backup for cloud services (SaaS), such as Microsoft 365, is imperative for security and data control. Full oversight and control of data is a boardroom priority. Without backup, organizations do not have an exit strategy or freedom from SaaS lock-in because they are not in complete control of their data. Backup should be part of the conversation when buying SaaS and not an afterthought.

Consider Enterprise-grade Data Protection

When investing in backup solutions, consider integration between the Microsoft 365 environment and your existing data protection environment. Evaluate automation, security, and integration between systems when comparing enterprise-grade data protection and recovery features. Integrating SaaS into enterprise data protection can help unify data management.

What to look for in a Microsoft 365 backup solution

1) Freedom to use existing on-premise capacity for Microsoft 365 backup, or the ability to leverage another cloud for cloud backup.
2) Basic features provided, such as incremental backups, granular recovery, automation, and policy-based retention capabilities.
3) A solution capable of managing and protecting hybrid deployments and the ability to ease the full adoption of SaaS.
4) Integration between Microsoft 365 and the customer's existing data protection environment.
5) Advanced security features such as access control, SaaS usage metrics, and multifactor authentication for additional security.
6) Ability to scale up or down as business and data demand changes and as SaaS is rolled out more widely within the company.

Investing in productivity tools and the corresponding backup is an exciting adventure. When you are ready for a guide, we are here to help. We can advise on and implement a solution that fits your business needs. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.

Microsoft has been emphasizing Office 365 (now Microsoft 365) subscription services since the public introduction in 2011. As a result, the popularity of these services has grown to over 155 million active users as of October 2018, and is gaining new users at over 3 million seats per month. With this growth, on-going marketing, and the increasing acceptance of public cloud services, many businesses and financial institutions are starting to look at Microsoft 365.

In this article, we will highlight several pros and cons of Office 365 you should consider to determine if it's right for your business.

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) encompasses several different products and services, but in this article, we will address these services in two primary areas: user applications and back-end services.

Microsoft 365 User Applications

Most Microsoft 365 subscription plans include Office applications like Word and Excel running on Windows, macOS, and portable devices running iOS and Android. Applications are also available through a web browser but most customers are interested in Microsoft 365 applications as a possible replacement for traditional Office licensing.

What are the primary differences between Microsoft 365 and traditional on-premise Office applications?

• Microsoft 365 is an annual subscription per user or seat. Each user is entitled to run the Microsoft 365 applications on up to 5 devices for the term of the subscription. As long as you continue to pay the annual subscription, you are covered for the Office applications included in your plan.
• Office applications through Microsoft 365 are designed to be downloaded from the O365 portal. There is no license key to determine if you have a valid license. After installation the applications routinely "check in" to the M365 (formerly O365) portal to ensure there is an active account. Because of this check-in process IT administrations must use a specific procedure for mass deployment of M365 applications. Additionally, installation on multi-user servers like Remote Desktop Services and Citrix requires a new approach.
• Microsoft 365 applications are designed to install features and security updates directly from Microsoft when they are released. Legacy patch management solutions like Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and 3^rd party solutions will not work with M365. This can create a challenge for regulated customers who are required to report on patch status. Scanning tools used by auditors to determine patch levels will need the ability to recognize the differences between M365 and traditional Office applications. The M365 update process could also create an issue for Office-integrated applications if a hotfix is released that affects the compatibility of those applications, as there will be no option to block that update from being installed.
• Microsoft 365 applications utilize a feature called Click to Run. This feature, which was originally introduced with Office 2016, provides a streaming method for installing features and patches for Microsoft 365 and Office 2019 applications. Our experience is that Click to Run can use a significant amount of bandwidth if you are installing Office applications or large updates on multiple systems simultaneously.

Is licensing through Microsoft 365 less expensive than traditional licensing?

For most customers the biggest question is: "Is licensing through Microsoft 365 less expensive than traditional licensing?" The answer is "It depends!" Microsoft 365 licensing could be financially attractive if:

• Your business always updates to the latest release of Office.
• You want the flexibility of per user licensing.
• You want to take advantage of the licensing of up to 5 devices for multiple systems, mobile devices, home use, etc.
• You need a simplified update process that works anywhere the PC has Internet connectivity.
• You need to use the browser-based applications for a specific function or employee role.
• You plan to implement one of the Office 365 back-end services.

Microsoft 365 Back-End Services

Microsoft provides several cloud server applications through Microsoft 365 including Exchange Online (email), Skype for Business (voice and messaging collaboration), SharePoint (file collaboration), and OneDrive (file storage and sharing). These back-end services can be implemented individually, or as part of a bundle with or without the Office applications depending on the plan. However, Exchange Online vs. Exchange on-premise is receiving the most attention from our customers.

What should I look for when performing due diligence?

The security and compliance of back-end Microsoft 365 services is not significantly different than any other cloud-based application or service. The areas to research include:

• External audit attestation – SSAE 18 or similar
• Data location residency – production and failover scenarios
• Data privacy policies - including encryption in transit and at rest
• Contracts and licensing agreements
• Intellectual property rights
• Service Level Agreements – service availability, capacity monitoring, response time, and monetary remediation
• Disaster recovery and data backup
• Termination of service
• Technical support – support hours, support ticket process, response time, location of support personnel

A few more things to consider...

As a public cloud service, Microsoft 365 has several challenges that need specific attention:

• The business plans listed on the primary pricing pages may include applications or services that you don't need. All of the various features can be confusing and it's easy to pick the plan that is close enough without realizing exactly what's included and paying for services you will never use.
• Most of the back-end M365 services can integrate with an on-premise Active Directory environment to simplify the management of user accounts and passwords. This provides a "single sign-on" experience for the user with one username and password for both local and M365 logins. Microsoft has several options for this integration but there are significant security implications for each option that should be reviewed very carefully.
• Microsoft has published several technical architecture documents on how to have the best experience with Microsoft 365. The recommendations are especially important for larger deployments of 100+ employees, or customers with multiple physical locations. One of the notable recommendations is to have an Internet connection at each location with a next-generation firewall (NGFW) that can optimize Internet traffic for M365 applications. Redundant Internet connections are also strongly recommended to ensure consistent connectivity.
• The default capabilities for email filtering, encryption, and compliance journaling in Exchange Online may not provide the same level of functionality as other add-on products you may be currently using. Many vendors now provide M365-integrated versions of these solutions, but there will be additional costs that should be included in the total.
• Microsoft OneDrive is enabled by default on most Microsoft 365 plans. Similar to other public file sharing solutions like Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive, the use of OneDrive should be evaluated very carefully to ensure that customer confidential data is not at risk.
• Several other vendors provide Microsoft 365 add-on products that provide additional functionality which may be useful for some businesses. Netwrix Auditor for Microsoft 365 can provide logging and reporting for security events in your M365 environment. Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 can create an independent backup of your data to ensure it will always be available. Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) such as Fortinet FortiCASB and Cisco Cloudlock can provide an additional layer of security between your users and cloud services such as M365.

Discover why the default retention policies of Microsoft 365 can leave your business at risk.

It is certainly a challenge to research and evaluate cloud solutions like Microsoft 365. Financial institutions and other regulated businesses with high-security requirements have to take a thorough look at the pros and cons of any cloud solution to determine if it's the best fit for them.

CoNetrix Aspire has been providing private cloud solutions for businesses and financial institutions since 2007. Many of the potential security and compliance issues with the public cloud are more easily addressed in a private cloud environment when the solution can be customized for each business.

The combination of Office application licensing with back-end services like Exchange Online can be a good solution for some businesses. The key is to understand all of the issues related to Microsoft 365 so you can make an informed decision.

Contact CoNetrix Technology at techsales@conetrix.com if you want more information about the differences between Aspire private cloud hosting and Microsoft 365.

It was announced on August 16th that 22 Texas cities were attacked and infected with ransomware, rendering many of their municipal IT systems unavailable to conduct daily business. The mayor of one of these cities has said the ransom request was $2.5 million to unlock their files. The Texas Department of Information Resources believes this was a coordinated attack by a single threat actor. Source: https://dir.texas.gov/View-About-DIR/Article-Detail.aspx?id=209

We will likely get more details about how these networks were infected, but this incident should be a reminder to continually evaluate your cyber security risks and follow best practices to ensure your business or financial institution is protected. 

Below are a few comments and recommendations to consider as you examine your cyber security posture.

You don't have to be a big business to be a target

We've seen an increasing number of cyber attacks and ransomware infections directed toward small businesses where the bad actors see them as "low hanging fruit" with limited cyber security defenses. The cities listed in the recent news articles about this event are relatively small - less than 10,000 residents.

Most of these attacks rely on email phishing to gain access

A good email filtering solution is a good start, but on-going employee training and testing is critical to help them recognize potentially malicious emails. There are several tools availalble like the Tandem Phishing solution (https://tandem.app/phishing-security-awareness-software) to help design and implement a phishing plan.

Traditional Anti-Virus solutions are not good enough

Many small businesses are still relying on traditional signature-based AV solutions. These products are not sufficient to protect against the latest malware. New products such as CylancePROTECT are more effective for stopping attacks by using machine learning instead of a bulky signature database.

Monitor your network

Our IT environments are under constant attack from bad actors around the world. This is an unfortunate fact of life today. An effective monitoring solution like CoNetrix Network Threat Protection is one of the security layers that every business should implement to help identify these attacks, and help them react quickly to prevent or limit potential damage. 

Incident Response is important

While we apply controls to protect against incidents, it is important to have a plan in the event of an incident occurs. If you have a documented Incident Response plan, great! Now take that IR plan to the next level by regularly conducting table top exercises and penetration testing to validate and improve it.

Backups should be a last resort

Ideally, if several security layers are in place then restoring from a backup won't be needed. However to ensure your backup is safe from being encrypted by ransomware it should be "air gapped" from the primary network. This means the backup data should be offline or not directly accessible for the malware to encrypt. Historically this has been done using removable media like tapes, but today it is much more efficient and cost-effective to use a cloud backup service. Many of these services (like CoNetrix AspireRecovery) provide a cloud backup with an option for disaster recovery services. 

No enterprise has to be a victim to ransomware. With proper planning and intentional practice, you CAN protect your network. While there is an investment associated with implementing appropriate controls and practices, the return on investment is well worth it if you protect against just one attack, not to mention the peace of mind you gain.

Contact CoNetrix Sales if you would like more information about protecting your network.

Many businesses and financial institutions have seen an increase in the number of employee-owned devices over the past few years. Employees are using these devices to access email, download files, launch a remote desktop, or use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection for a remote "on network" experience.

Some customers prohibit or restrict personally-owned devices from connecting to the network. However, in some cases, this is not feasible, such as employees or contractors who rarely visit the home office, or employees with very specific device requirements and preferences. The common term for the policy of allowing personal devices is Bring Your Own Device or BYOD.

Unprotected personal devices connecting to the network are a significant security risk. The most common issue with these devices is inadequate anti-virus and anti-malware software. Built-in free solutions like Windows Defender are not up to the task of protecting against the sophisticated zero-day threats which are common today. Additional strategies to manage a BYOD environment include Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Network Access Control (NAC).

CylanceProtect is widely recognized as the leader in the endpoint protection segment, winning multiple industry awards for their machine learning approach to stopping security threats. Over the past 2 years since CoNetrix has been a Cylance partner. We have installed almost 5,000 endpoints for customers across the US.

Last year Cylance released a home version of CylanceProtect called Smart Antivirus. This product is specifically designed to provide the same technology as the corporate version, with easy self-administration and the ability to protect multiple devices in a household for a low annual cost. Windows and macOS devices are currently supported, with support for iOS and Android devices coming later this year.

Smart Antivirus is a great option for an employee security awareness program or as a company-paid benefit for employees and business partners. Individual licenses can be purchased from Cylance using the link below.

https://conetrix.com/cylance-smart-antivirus

Smart Antivirus licenses of 50 or more are available through CoNetrix for a discounted price. Contact CoNetrix Technology sales at techsales@conetrix.com for more information about licensing for CylanceProtect and Smart Antivirus.

The Equifax data breach announced yesterday potentially affects 143 million U.S. consumers and is one of the largest breaches of personal information. The following steps can be taken by consumers to help protect against fraud and identity theft:

1. Enroll in the free security services offered by Equifax - https://trustedidpremier.com/eligibility/eligibility.html
2. Place a security freeze on your credit file with each of the credit bureaus
   • https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
   • https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
   • https://freeze.transunion.com/
   • https://www.innovis.com/personal/securityFreeze
3. Monitor your financial accounts for unauthorized activity and report unauthorized activity immediately
4. Obtain a copy of your credit report, review it for unauthorized activity, and report unauthorized activity immediately - www.annualcreditreport.com
5. Set up alerts on your debit and credit accounts to notify you of transactions, changes to your account, or other alerts offered by your financial institution

Additional details:

 The credit reporting bureau, Equifax, reported yesterday that they have been compromised. Non-public information affecting potentially 143 million U.S. consumers was stolen, primarily consisting of names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and, in some instances, driver's license numbers. Additionally, credit card numbers for approx. 209,000 U.S. consumers and dispute documents for approx. 182,000 U.S. consumers were accessed. Further details from Equifax can be found here:

• https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/ - Equifax's public statement and video from their CEO
• https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/potential-impact/ - How to check with Equifax if your information was affected and how to enroll for the free services they are offering. Free enrollment in the credit monitoring and other services ends on November 21, 2017.
• https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/trustedid-premier/ - A list of the services that are being offered for free for one year by Equifax. TrustedID Premier is a division of Equifax.

For information from a source independent of Equifax, Brian Krebs' coverage can be found here - https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/breach-at-equifax-may-impact-143m-americans/.

Additional information about the steps consumers can take to protect against fraud and identity theft:

• Placing a security freeze on your credit file with the four major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, Trans Union, Innovis) may have associated fees depending on which state the consumer lives in. Also, some states require the freeze to expire after a specified amount of time.
• NOTE - A security freeze will also prevent the consumer from opening new lines of credit (a new credit card, new loan, etc.) unless the consumer first removes the security freeze. Fees may be associated with removing the freeze. Here are some resources:
  • https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/06/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-embrace-the-security-freeze/ (the "Personal Experience" section at the end of the page explains what happens when a credit application is filled out with a security freeze in place)
  • http://clark.com/personal-finance-credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/
• Here are links to the credit bureau websites:
  • https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp (no longer valid)
  • https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
  • https://freeze.transunion.com/
  • https://www.innovis.com/personal/securityFreeze
• By law, you can get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months at www.annualcreditreport.com
• Each financial institution has different services and alerts available for debit and credit accounts. Consumers should check with their institution for details. Examples of alerts that can be useful include notification of transactions over a specific threshold (e.g. over $100), transactions originating outside the US, and changes to the consumer's account profile (e.g. password change).

iOS 9 now will "help you out" by having the device switch to cellular data if it thinks your Wi-Fi connection is too slow. This could end up using more of your cellular data than you'd like. This appears to be turned on by default after the upgrade. You can turn it off by going to Settings -> Cellular then finding Wi-Fi Assist at the bottom of the screen.

Registration for the new “.bank” domains is coming up soon. These domains could be prime Internet names in the future. A few quick notes: [more] 

• Early “sunrise” registration will be May 18, 2015 with general availability on June 24th.
• Registration will be limited to domain names with corresponding trademark, trade name, service mark, or bank name. 
• There will be a verification procedure to ensure these domain names are only issued to valid financial institutions.
• Banks should consider registering a trademark now to be able to register the associated domain during the sunrise registration period. 
• Registration will be on a “first come, first serve” basis, so if a bank with similar names want the good domains, they need to register early.
• More information is available at https://www.ftld.com

When setting up a new user using Team Foundation Server, I got an error saying “The path … is already mapped in workspace …” The workspace listed belonged to another user that had previously used the computer. I was able to remove the previous user’s mapping with the command:

tf workspace /delete /collection:"TFSCollectionURL" workspace;owner

Since TFS considers both the computer name and the owner when comparing workspaces, there are a few things to remember:

• If a computer is going to a new user and the computer name has not changed, the workspaces tied to this computer that belong to the previous owner should be removed.
• If a user is getting a new computer and the computer name has changed, the user will need to configure new workspaces on the new computer or update the computer name associated with the workspace before they will be able to access the workspace on the new computer. You can update the computer name for a workspace by running this command on the new computer: 

tf workspaces /updateComputerName:oldComputerName workspacename /collection:"TFSCollectionURL"