Can Microsoft 365 Prevent and Recover from Malware?

• Microsoft 365 includes service-side features to prevent and recover from malware attacks.
• Some antimalware features are available to only the highest tier of Microsoft 365 licenses.
• The cost of premium Microsoft 365 licenses should be weighed against that of similar third-party security and backup offerings.

Microsoft 365 implements several methods to prevent and mitigate ransomware and other malware attacks. However, the included tools generally allow for faster recovery after an attack rather than defense against an attack; stronger protection against malware could require higher levels of Microsoft 365 subscriptions or add-ons.

Service-Side Protections

In addition to common malware attacks that can use an organization’s tenancy to send spam or spread more malware to other devices, malware attacks can affect organizational data in several ways, such as the following:

• Destroying data, making data unrecoverable and making it impossible for an organization to resume normal operations