A study by Arlington Research shows that about 67% of IT leaders recorded a surge in data breaches while using Microsoft 365. Elsewhere, only 32% of IT leaders from organizations without Microsoft 365 recorded email data breaches. The study sampled feedback from 500 IT leaders and 3,000 remote-working employees in financial services, healthcare, and legal services across the U.S. and the U.K. Commenting on the research finding, Software firm Egress CTO Darren Cooper acknowledged that Microsoft 365 had recorded significant adoption amid the pandemic, but the security flaws are evident. According to Cooper:
Microsoft 365 breaches happening frequently
The report added that breaches impacting Microsoft 365 are frequently happening after 15% of organizations suffered about 500 attacks last year. On the contrary, only 4% of organizations using other email suites suffered breaches. Furthermore, the researcher points out that those leveraging Microsoft 365 are likely to suffer accidental email while 26% reporting incidents caused by employees sharing data in error through email. In contrast, only 14% of organizations using other suites suffer such incidents. Interestingly email breaches involving Microsoft 365 tend to have severe impacts. According to the study, 93% of organizations have suffered more negative implications following the breaches, unlike the 84% not using Microsoft 365.
