For years, backups were the quiet heroes of the IT department: rarely discussed, occasionally tested and usually discovered to be indispensable only when something went badly wrong. Commvault’s new Microsoft 365 capabilities aim to change that by making backup data part of the security investigation—not merely the last resort after an incident.commvault+1
The company has announced Threat Scan and Data Posture 360 for Microsoft 365, designed to help organisations find hidden threats in protected Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams data, identify sensitive information and determine which recovery points are safe to restore.
The timing matters for Asia-Pacific enterprises. Microsoft 365 is deeply embedded in daily work across the region, from Hong Kong financial firms and Singapore-based regional headquarters to manufacturers, logistics providers and public-sector agencies. Email, shared files and collaboration platforms remain attractive targets for attackers because a single compromised attachment or shared folder can spread quickly across users, partners and supply chains.
Commvault’s answer is a “discover-to-recover” approach. Data Posture 360, formerly Risk Analysis, maps where sensitive data such as personally identifiable information and intellectual property resides across Microsoft 365 and highlights exposure risks. Threat Scan searches protected backup data for malware, ransomware, encryption activity, data anomalies and other indicators of compromise.
The more important capability may be the third: identifying clean recovery points. Rather than restoring data blindly and risking reintroducing malware into production, security and IT teams can isolate compromised content and restore only known-good data. Commvault says this can reduce reinfection risk and accelerate recovery.
“During a cyber incident, knowing what data can be safely restored is just as important as having a backup,” said Matt Pancheri, IT manager and systems administrator at Spokane Industries.
Commvault is also applying current threat intelligence to historical backup copies stored immutably, allowing organisations to detect threats that were unknown when the data was first protected.
“Resilience and compliance depend on identifying threats fast, understanding if sensitive data is exposed, and what’s safe to restore,” said Pranay Ahlawat, chief technology and AI officer at Commvault.
Threat Scan and Data Posture 360 for Microsoft 365 are planned for early-access preview in the coming weeks, with general availability targeted for early 2027. Both will be paid add-ons to Commvault Backup & Recovery for Microsoft 365.
Key takeaway: Backup is only useful if teams can trust what is inside it.
