Microsoft Azure data deleted because of DNS outage

Microsoft deleted several Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) databases in Azure, holding live customer information. The deletions were automated, triggered by a script that drops TDE database tables when their corresponding keys can no longer be accessed in the Key Vault, explained Microsoft in a letter reportedly sent to customers. This problem was, in turn, down to a DNS outage, according to Microsoft’s Azure status page:

Preliminary root cause: Engineers identified a DNS issue with an external DNS provider.

Source: nakedsecurity.sophos.com