One breach or misconfiguration of your Entra ID environment could leave your company without access to vital files. Keep your company working with Entra ID, secure data backup, and rapid recovery.
Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is a Microsoft identity and access management (IAM) solution that is used by over 720,000 companies worldwide; it is a cloud-native version of Active Directory. Entra ID is used to ensure that employees' access rights are appropriate and enforced. The solution also provides single sign-on (SSO), multi factor authentication (MFA),passwordless authentication, and conditional access, amongst other features. The access controls that Entra ID provides are essential to the smooth and secure running of a business. However, the fundamental nature of IAM means that any breach or unsanctioned modification of access policies can lead to devastating consequences for a company. However, in the event of a breach, you’re not just restoring user data; you are rebuilding complex relationships, group memberships, and access configurations that are essential to your business running smoothly. The fast and accurate recovery of data keeps a business running, avoiding costly downtime.
Identity management and access control are crucial components of an organization's security: the login credentials and privileged access to your data drive cybercriminal activity.
The Identity DefinedSecurity Alliance (IDSA) found that 90% of organizations experienced at least one identity-related incident.
Entra ID data enables and enforces the access rights to applications, devices, and data across your company; the access control determines which employees have access to what and when. Entra ID data, including configurations and settings, is crucial in ensuring secure and appropriate access to Microsoft 365 apps and other applications. If Entra ID data is compromised, either maliciously or accidentally, the company's access controls will fail. Employees will be unable to access apps, and work will be disrupted as a result. If the Entra ID data is maliciously attacked, cybercriminals can leverage the disruption to hold your organization to ransom.
Microsoft offers limited backup as part of the Entra ID solution. Microsoft has focused on creating a system that supplies identity management; backup is not a core remit of Entra ID.
One of the drawbacks of Entra ID backup and recovery is that audit data is only held for 30 days if soft deleted before permanent or hard deletion of the data is initiated. Considering that many breaches can go undetected for significantly more than 30 days, this limitation could leave a company at severe risk of further serious breaches.
To complement and enhance Entra ID, Microsoft recommends using a third-party solution for robust backup and recovery.
The Model of Shared Responsibility is a framework that determines the responsibility for securing a cloud computing environment. The model splits the responsibility between the cloud service providers (CSPs) and their customers (a company). This model shifts ownership of the data to the company that creates the data. In other words, Microsoft’s primary responsibility is to protect its infrastructure, and the customer is responsible for restoring settings and configurations.
Microsoft Entra ID backup has limitations that could leave your company at risk. Using a third-party solution will ensure that an organization has a comprehensive backup for Entra ID data. Entra ID cloud backup solutions must provide granular, one-click recovery without time limitations to ensure your company operates smoothly and remains compliant with data regulations.
Entra ID uses granular configurations to ensure that access is protected using correctly assigned privileges. These settings are a potential gold mine for threat actors, but they are also vulnerable to accidental deletion or modification. An Entra ID backup solution must be able to handle this level of granularity so that users, groups, role assignments, admin units, and conditional access policies are backed up and then rapidly and accurately restored when needed.
The 30-day retention period in Entra ID's built-in backup capability is a limitation. Companies may not discover they have been compromised within this strict time frame. A robust and reliable backup for Entra ID must not restrict recovery by placing retention time limits; deleted groups, units, or assignments must be available for restoration on demand.
Restoring security settings, such as access privileges and conditional access settings, must be rapid to avoid any security gaps. Restoration should also run in the background to minimize any impact on work.
Conditional access policies are an essential security measure. They can be thought of as “if-then” statements. For example, if a user logs in from an unknown IP address, then request an additional layer of authentication. If a conditional access policy were to be accidentally (or maliciously) deleted or changed, the security of the organization would be at risk. An Entra ID backup solution must be able to quickly restore conditional access policies to protect your organization from the impact of malicious or accidental changes.
Identity security is at the heart of a company’s data and network security. Administrators must carefully configure the right level of access based on the principle of least privilege, which involves assigning privileges based on the individual user's needs, their role, or the work group they are part of. Control access and prevent deletions or misconfigurations to ensure data integrity and accuracy. An Entra ID backup solution must be able to quickly restore these settings to ensure that a company's security posture remains robust and resilient.
An Entra ID backup service should be a cloud-based, plug-and-play solution that can be deeply integrated within a business’s existing infrastructure. The solution should extend to cover the entire Microsoft environment, including M365, Azure Blob, and Azure VMs. When integrated, the backup service should become another layer of protection, and backups should be automated. Look for backup solutions that offer automated tracking to monitor changes and automatically identify and resolve issues.
MSPs require a solution that enables them to minimize management overhead. A single, intuitive console provides control of all customer accounts, backups, and billing. This single-pane-of-glass streamlines the deployment, management, and updating of a backup solution.
Automation helps an MSP optimize the solution functionality and reduce management overhead. A backup solution that handles Entra ID data should automatically protect new accounts added to your Microsoft estate.
Some backup and recovery services set limitations on recovery and charge extra fees. Select a backup and recovery solution that enables large-scale recoveries and migrations at no additional cost.
A backup solution that offers additional support across the entire Microsoft 365 environment, including Azure Blob and Entra ID, can help boost margins.
Choose a backup solution that works with your MSP company by offering 30-day trials to your prospects. An added benefit is a solution that provides co-branding opportunities.
