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MSPs know that protecting clients from cyber threats isn’t just about firewalls and antivirus anymore. Identity is now the primary attack vector, and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is at the heart of it all.
If Entra ID is compromised, attackers can seize control of an entire business, shutting down access to Microsoft 365, hijacking cloud applications, and deploying ransomware across the organization.
Here’s the real question: If your client’s Entra ID environment was corrupted, how would you get them back online?
For on-prem Active Directory, MSPs could restore from system snapshots or roll back directory changes. However, Microsoft Entra ID doesn’t offer built-in restoration options for misconfigurations, deletions, or ransomware attacks (Microsoft Learn). Without an independent backup solution, recovering from an identity attack means hours (or even days) of manual rebuilding.
Cyberattacks on Entra ID Are Growing at an Alarming Rate
The latest Microsoft Digital Defense Report confirms what many MSPs have experienced firsthand: cybercriminals are doubling down on identity-based attacks (Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2023).
- 30 billion identity-based attacks per month—a tenfold increase over the past year.
- 70% of businesses hit by human-operated ransomware had fewer than 500 employees (Microsoft).
- 43% of all breaches involve small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) (Verizon Data Breach Report).
- 61% of SMBs reported experiencing at least one cyberattack in the past year (IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report).
- 40% of SMBs that suffered a cyberattack faced at least eight hours of downtime (National Cybersecurity Alliance).
- 83% of SMBs are not financially prepared for the aftermath of a cyberattack (Cyber Readiness Institute).
For MSPs, this should set off alarm bells. Your SMB clients are being targeted; and if their Entra ID gets compromised, the responsibility to restore order will land on your team.
What Happens When an MSP Has No Entra ID Backup?
Let’s walk through a hypothetical scenario that happens more often than you’d think.
An MSP receives an urgent call from a client:
“We’ve been hacked. No one can log in. Our IT team is locked out. Our Microsoft 365 environment is completely offline.”
Upon investigation, the MSP finds that:
- An attacker gained access to Entra ID through a compromised admin account.
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA) has been disabled, leaving accounts exposed.
- Security policies have been deleted, eliminating crucial safeguards.
- Several user roles and permissions were modified, allowing lateral movement across systems.
With no Entra ID backup in place, the MSP is forced to manually reconstruct security policies, group memberships, role assignments, and authentication settings. This could take dozens of hours of labor—assuming the MSP even has a detailed record of what was in place before the attack.
For clients, this means hours or even days of costly downtime. Employees can’t access their emails. Business-critical applications remain offline. Customers grow frustrated. Every passing hour damages the client’s reputation and revenue.
How MSPs Can Protect Their Clients with Entra Backup
When a cyberattack hits, speed is everything. The longer it takes to restore a client’s access, the greater the business impact. That’s why MSPs need to proactively back up Entra ID—before disaster strikes.
With Dropsuite’s Entra Backup, MSPs can:
- Instantly restore user roles, group memberships, and security settings after a breach.
- Eliminate hours of manual work by rolling back to a clean configuration in minutes.
- Ensure business continuity by preventing extended downtime for Microsoft 365 and cloud applications.
Instead of scrambling to reconstruct identity settings, MSPs can restore a client’s Entra ID environment with just a few clicks—getting them back online quickly and securely.
Beyond direct cost savings, the ability to offer identity backup services strengthens an MSP’s value proposition. Clients will trust your team to provide true business resilience, making them more likely to renew contracts and invest in higher-tier security services.
Don’t Wait Until Disaster Strikes
Cyber resilience isn’t just about prevention—it’s about how quickly MSPs can get their clients back to business after an attack.
With Dropsuite’s Entra Backup, MSPs can ensure fast, reliable recoverability for identity-based disasters, protecting both their clients and their own reputation.
Be the MSP That Keeps Clients Secure
Your clients trust you to safeguard their most critical IT assets. Don’t let an Entra ID compromise put their business—and your reputation—at risk.
Learn more about Dropsuite’s Entra Backup today or start a free NFR trial.
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