Understanding Office 365 Customer Key

• Office 365 Customer Key lets customers retain control over encryption keys that protect their Office 365 data.
• Customer Key helps comply with privacy standards and other rules that forbid third-party control of encrypted data.
• The feature does not address security requirements and could shift risk back from Microsoft to customers.
• It requires premium licenses for all users in the organization.

Organizations can now control the encryption keys used for core Office 365 services. However, due to additional costs and potential compliance responsibility effects, organizations should consider the licensing and use of this capability very carefully.

Service Encryption for Office 365

Office 365 hosted services have multiple layers of built-in technology to protect customer data. Each technology is generally designed to protect against a specific threat and deliver a specific protection. For example, BitLocker protects data while it is stored on disks. (For further explanation of these capabilities, see the chart “Office 365 Data Protection“.)