SaaS solutions like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer multiple benefits to businesses — from enabling seamless collaboration to boosting productivity — but security and data resilience can be a weakness among them. While SaaS providers offer built-in protections, MSPs and organizations must realize that relying solely on native security features isn’t enough to stop today’s advanced phishing attempts, insider threats and data-sharing risks.
In this article, we’ll examine the hidden risks of relying solely on the out-of-the-box capabilities of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, how cyberattacks are evolving beyond native protections and why MSPs need purpose-built SaaS security platforms to deliver layered protection.
Understanding the strengths of built-in security
The built-in security features in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer strong baseline defenses, such as spam and malware filters, MFA, encryption and device management controls. These tools help organizations stop known threats, enforce access hygiene and support basic compliance requirements.
These capabilities form an important first line of defense by blocking common or known attacks, keeping unverified users out and ensuring sensitive data isn’t easily compromised. They are effective against predictable threats and easy-to-detect attacks.
However, cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated, adopting more targeted, stealthy and AI-driven techniques that easily bypass static filters and rule-based systems. Phishing emails are more convincing and personalized than ever, insider threats are more complex and data exfiltration is more difficult to trace. Without higher-tier licenses, add-ons or separate products, native tools may not provide the comprehensive protection needed to counter today’s sophisticated cyberthreats.
The blind spots in Microsoft 365 & Google Workspace
With cloud threats evolving rapidly, relying exclusively on built-in security features can leave dangerous blind spots that expose both businesses and MSPs to risk. Below are the most critical areas to watch:
Phishing and business email compromise (BEC)
Phishing attacks show no signs of slowing down. In the second quarter of 2025, the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) recorded over 1.13 million phishing attacks, up from just over 1 million in the first quarter.
Spear-phishing and impersonation emails now mimic trusted senders and slip past even the most advanced spam filters. Native protections in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace can struggle to detect zero-day phishing campaigns that use new domains or advanced social engineering tactics. A single missed email can lead to credential theft, account takeover and costly BEC incidents.
Insider threats and account misuse
Insiders or individuals with authorized access can pose serious risks in cloud environments where it’s difficult to distinguish between legitimate commands and malicious actions.
A compromised Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace account gives threat actors trusted-user privileges, enabling them to send malware, access sensitive files and manipulate data unnoticed. While Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace offer native controls and alerts, such as data loss prevention rules (DLP) and Insider Risk Management, add-on or standalone tools are required to access comprehensive User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) capabilities for detecting insider threats and account misuse.
File-sharing and data leakage risks
SaaS platforms have changed the way businesses access, share and store data. While features like unrestricted file sharing in Google Drive or OneDrive allow users to share files seamlessly, they can also lead to unintentional exposure of confidential information. Without granular visibility into who’s accessing, downloading or forwarding files, sensitive data can be easily lost or exposed to people outside of the organization. MSPs need stronger, policy-driven controls and alerts to prevent data from being shared beyond the organization’s boundaries.
Limited threat response and recovery
Although Microsoft and Google design their platforms with strong prevention and detection capabilities, their native response workflows and automated remediation are generally less mature or comprehensive than those of dedicated incident-response solutions.
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace include investigation and logging tools; however, advanced automation and centralized response capabilities, such as automated investigation and response (AIR) in Microsoft Defender, are typically available only in higher-tier licenses, add-ons or separate products.
Shadow IT
The ease of SaaS adoption allows employees to connect new SaaS tools often without approval or oversight. This growing wave of Shadow IT introduces unmonitored data flows and weak security links across the organization.
According to the Cloud Security Alliance’s 2025 CISO Plans and Priorities report, just over 20% of organizations have full visibility into their SaaS applications. That means the vast majority operate blindly, unable to see where sensitive data is stored, shared or exposed.
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace do provide basic app-management and permission controls, and allow admins to list approved apps and review access. However, they often lack full visibility into unauthorized or user-connected “shadow apps,” such as those granted OAuth permissions without oversight, unless additional discovery tools or configurations are enabled. For MSPs, this lack of visibility makes proactive security management challenging.
Third-party app connections
Every app integration can be a potential entry point for cybercriminals to exploit OAuth permissions and API connections to infiltrate systems and steal data. In environments like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, where integrations are everywhere, a single compromised app can lead to widespread data loss or account compromise.
Why today’s threats demand more than just native protections
As the cloud becomes the backbone of business operations, cybercriminals are shifting their focus to SaaS platforms like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, the very tools organizations rely on most. These environments hold a goldmine of sensitive data, communications and credentials, making them prime targets in the modern threat landscape.
Gone are the days of simple brute-force attacks. Today’s threat actors use social engineering, lateral movement and multistage phishing campaigns to quietly infiltrate cloud ecosystems. They exploit human trust, weak configurations and gaps between services to bypass native defenses that were never designed to detect such coordinated, adaptive threats.
For MSPs, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Clients trust their MSPs to deliver uncompromising security and resilience while ensuring business continuity. A single breach can erode that trust overnight, damaging both reputation and revenue.
That’s why leading MSPs are embracing purpose-built SaaS security platforms that go beyond what Microsoft and Google provide. Solutions like Kaseya 365 User empower MSPs with continuous threat detection, automated response and data resilience, delivering the kind of layered protection today’s cloud-driven world demands.
Beyond baseline: Strengthen Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace with Kaseya 365 User
Native tools are a good starting point toward strengthening security, but these tools alone can’t close the growing security gaps in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Google and Microsoft do offer advanced security features to effectively combat evolving threats. However, accessing these capabilities often requires higher-tier licenses or add-ons, which can significantly increase costs and complexity. That’s where Kaseya 365 User comes in. It delivers a powerful, purpose-built SaaS security layer that protects what most built-in defenses can’t.
With Kaseya 365 User, you get all the essential security components — from advanced email security and cloud detection and response to security awareness training, dark web monitoring and backup and recovery for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace — to deliver true business continuity and peace of mind to clients.
The all-in-one SaaS security solution empowers you to go beyond “good enough” protection, giving you complete visibility, faster response and stronger resilience across every SaaS layer. Kaseya 365 User is priced up to 70% lower than piecemeal alternatives, allowing MSPs to minimize cyber-risks and operational costs while maximizing security and profitability.
Discover how Kaseya 365 User makes protecting data and users in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace environments effortless. Learn more.
