This question came to light while talking to a vendor about backups. It turns out that Microsoft does not backup any of your Office 365 data, but does have aggressive redundancy in place. This is both good and bad, here is why:

Email

Microsoft has several levels of redundancy / resiliency / protection to keep email data from being corrupted, keep multiple copies of all email data, and scan emails for security threats. If there is ever any data issues then their systems automatically detect the problem and work to fix them or when threats are detected they are automatically remediated. There is also a recycle bin for emails and users that lasts from 30 to 90 days. Once that time is over there is no recourse for getting the data back. 

Sharepoint & OneDrive

Microsoft here again has deep redundancy to protect your data from corruption, but they do nothing to check for malware or cryptoware. There is something called versioning that can help with some cryptoware, but not all. There is also a recycle bin for these services that could possibly help. 

There are several apparent gaps in coverage that Microsoft does not deal with, but there are third-party services that have stepped in to do just that. If your company is looking to keep their Office 365 data safe from internal and external threats, then contact us for assistance.