Business Continuity in the Face of Ransomware
Ransomware is one of the most prevalent and persistent threats facing businesses today. While ransomware attacks saw a decline in early 2024 following the takedown of the Lockbit ransomware group by law enforcement, attacks quickly rebounded in Q2 and continued their upward trend for the remainder of the year. Alarmingly, the number of active ransomware groups surged by a staggering 40%, jumping from 68 active groups in 2023 to 95 in 2024.
With increasing reliance on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications for operations, collaboration and data storage, SaaS apps such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 have become prime targets for cybercriminals. Traditional backup methods or relying solely on built-in cloud security measures are no longer sufficient for today’s constantly evolving cyberthreats.
Businesses need a robust SaaS backup and recovery strategy to ensure critical operations run without interruptions in the event of a disaster.
Read on to discover why a proactive SaaS backup strategy is more critical than ever and how Spanning and Datto SaaS Protection can help protect your valuable SaaS data without breaking a sweat.
The rising threat of ransomware and data loss
Ransomware attacks can be devastating for businesses of all sizes. According to reports, nearly one-third of businesses are forced to pause operations — some temporarily, others permanently — after falling victim to a ransomware attack. The Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024 revealed that the average breach cost due to ransomware reached $4.91 million. The same report also found that, on average, businesses took 297 days to identify and contain a ransomware attack.
The harsh reality of today’s ransomware attacks is that you cannot guarantee that you can fully recover your data despite paying the ransom. On average, ransomware attacks result in the permanent loss of over 40% of affected data. Some ransomware victims even face additional ransom demands or threats of data leaks.
SaaS adoption is rapidly growing across industries, especially in productivity and collaboration tools like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. According to The State of Backup and Recovery Report 2025, over 50% of workloads and applications are currently run in public cloud environments, and this figure is projected to grow to 60% within the next 24 months. It’s no surprise cybercriminals are gravitating towards cloud-based SaaS apps.
Why native security from cloud service providers alone isn’t enough
While industry-leading cloud service providers (CSPs) like Microsoft and Google offer built-in security measures such as encryption, access controls and basic threat detection, these defenses alone aren’t enough to tackle today’s ever-evolving cyberthreats, such as ransomware and phishing.
Native security tools offered by CSPs may not provide real-time detection, advanced threat intelligence or automated response capabilities needed to stop attacks in their tracks. Additionally, cloud-based SaaS platforms operate on a shared responsibility model, where the CSPs secure the underlying infrastructure while businesses are responsible for protecting their own data, endpoints and users.
To stay ahead of ransomware threats, your organization needs a proactive, automated and scalable backup strategy to minimize data loss and ensure uninterrupted business continuity.
Best practices for implementing a robust SaaS backup strategy
A comprehensive SaaS backup strategy is vital not only for defending against ransomware threats but also for protecting critical business data from accidental deletions, misconfigurations and system failures. Consider the following best practices when implementing a backup strategy for your business.
Conduct a risk assessment
Before implementing a backup strategy, your organization should identify mission-critical SaaS applications and assess potential security vulnerabilities. Analyze data sensitivity, access permissions and compliance requirements to understand which applications require more stringent backup policies.
Set up automated backup schedules
Manual, complex backup processes are not only time-consuming but also prone to human error. Look for SaaS backup solutions that offer automated backups to ensure continuous protection and reduce the burden on your IT team.
Define recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs)
By clearly defining RTOs (how quickly data needs to be restored) and RPOs (how much data loss is acceptable), your business can design an effective backup strategy that meets organizational needs. Make sure these objectives align with your business continuity plans to minimize disruption in case of data loss or a ransomware attack.
Regularly test backup and recovery processes
Your backup plans are only useful if they work when you need them the most. Once your backup is set up, it is important to conduct disaster recovery tests regularly to verify that your critical SaaS data can be restored quickly and accurately when the need arises. These drills are also critical to understanding if your recovery procedures meet established RTO and RPO goals.
Educate teams on ransomware prevention
Humans are naturally prone to error. To strengthen your business’s security posture, complement your SaaS backup strategy with employee training on ransomware prevention and incident response. Keeping your team informed about current cybersecurity trends and providing the right tools can help prevent potential attacks before they cause damage.
Introducing Spanning Backup and Datto SaaS Protection
Spanning Backup and Datto SaaS Protection — key components of Kaseya 365 User — offer a modern, reliable and cost-effective solution for effortless SaaS backup and recovery. These solutions provide businesses and MSPs with automated, secure backups and flexible restore options to mitigate ransomware threats effectively. Whether you are an IT professional or MSP, Spanning Backup and Datto SaaS Protection make it easy to safeguard your Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 data.
Key benefits
Spanning Backup and Datto SaaS Protection are cutting-edge backup solutions that enable IT professionals and MSPs to seamlessly manage and protect SaaS data. Some of the key benefits include:
Powerful yet easy to use
Our SaaS backup solutions are powerful yet easy to set up, manage and use. You can start protecting new users in just minutes. Spanning’s self-service restore empowers end users to find and restore lost data without IT intervention. Datto SaaS Protection’s streamlined onboarding helps MSPs protect their clients quickly and easily while managing their backups from a single pane of glass.
Automated and continuous backup
IT pros and MSPs no longer have to worry about manually backing up data again. Spanning and Datto SaaS Protection run quietly in the background, automatically capturing and securing your files without interrupting your workflow.
Trusted security
Your sensitive SaaS data is protected with enterprise-grade security, including intrusion detection, data encryption, spam filtering and strict access controls. This ensures that only authorized personnel can access critical business information.
Quick recovery
Our solutions’ flexible restore options, such as point-in-time, granular and non-destructive restore, make recovering lost or corrupted data effortless. Find what you need instantly and recover data with just a few clicks — without overwriting existing information or causing downtime.
Ransomware protection
Point-in-time backups capture daily snapshots of each user’s data, allowing you to browse their account at any specific point in time. In the event of a ransomware attack or data loss incident, you can quickly restore entire accounts to a safe state from before the event.
Granular and flexible restore options
Whether you need to recover an entire system, a specific file or a shared folder, our backup solutions allow you to find and restore exactly what you need without hassle.
Immutable backups
Datto SaaS Protection stores your data in an immutable format, meaning that once it’s backed up, the data cannot be modified, destroyed or tampered with. This ensures your valuable data remains pristine, secure and recoverable at all times.
Compliance and security assurance
Our backup solutions are certified and compliant with key regulations, including SSAE 16, HIPAA and GDPR. Using a compliant solution helps reduce the risk of legal and financial penalties while staying aligned with industry standards.
Ensure business continuity in the face of ransomware with Spanning or Datto SaaS Protection
Ransomware and other data threats, such as accidental deletions, sync errors and IT outages, can strike at any time. Without a reliable SaaS backup strategy, your business could face costly downtime and permanent data loss.
Take control of your Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 data with Kaseya 365 User. With a single Kaseya 365 User subscription, your business gains access to essential security components, including Spanning Backup and Datto SaaS Protection, to protect your precious SaaS data.
Fortify your organization’s resilience and ensure uninterrupted operations, no matter what challenges arise. Discover how Kaseya 365 User ensures your critical data is protected and recoverable at all times. Learn more.