KPMG's Microsoft 365 Data Loss Disaster: A Wake-Up Call
Backup Central, Monday, March 18th, 2024
Another doozy of a cloud disaster. In the latest episode of The Backup Wrap-up, we dove deep into the jaw-dropping tale of KPMG's Microsoft 365 data loss debacle. This global consulting behemoth found itself in a world of hurt when an admin accidentally nuked months of critical Teams chat data for a mind-boggling 145,000 employees, all during the chaos of the 2020 pandemic. If that doesn't send a shiver down your spine, I don't know what will!
Let's break down what went wrong. Some well-meaning but misguided Microsoft 365 admin decided to tinker with the retention policy to delete a single user's Teams chats. Seems harmless enough, right? Wrong! Faster than you can say 'oh, snap!' that little tweak ended up applying to the entire organization. We're talking countless crucial conversations and files, gone in an instant. Can you imagine the panic that must've ensued when they realized the scale of this disaster? 145,000 employees, all relying on Teams to keep the wheels turning during the pandemic remote work craziness, suddenly left high and dry. It's enough to make your head spin!