Cyber-attacks are a huge problem for today’s businesses.
If you are targeted by a criminal online, then you risk losing everything— from your essential data to your reputation. The average cost of a global data breach cost has increased in 2019 and is now $3.92 million.
That means that any breach could bankrupt your business.
All businesses today handle increasing amounts of data and use data analytics in their decision-making processes. Data is what helps them get ahead of competitors, and it’s important to keep it safe from unauthorized access or loss.
One of the easiest ways to protect yourself from the potential threats of the digital world is to have a reliable backup plan in place.
A backup plan means that even if the worst happens in your company, you can quickly and easily get yourself back on track.
So, how do you design a convenient plan for your company?
#1 Assess Your Risk
You can’t have an efficient backup system without knowing what risks are the most relevant for your company. The first thing you’ll need to do is assess your risk level.
Ask yourself what the biggest threats are in your business.
This could mean meeting with your CISO, CIO or IT team to learn more about the threats in the current landscape. Ask them to assess the ones most likely to be threatened and prepare plans for them.
You’ll also need a schedule for regular backups based on how frequently you add to your database.
While there are many different strategies available for backing up your data today, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy. Build your efforts around what you know about the risks you face.
#2 Follow the 3-2-1 Backup Rule
One of the most currently reliable and best-known strategies for backup is the 3-2-1 backup plan.
When you’re protecting your data, the 3-2-1 backup plan asks you to maintain 3 copies of that content.
The first copy is the live data on your computer system or software. The second two copies are located in different formats, so your chances of loss are reduced.
For instance, your second backup may be stored on the cloud, while your third is located in a hard-drive that you keep outside of the office. Keeping at least one backup away from your physical office reduces your risk when it comes to disasters like floods or theft.
The idea behind the 3-2-1 backup rule is that no matter what happens, you should have at least one copy of your data that survives any issue.
#3 Get Your Team Up to Speed on What to Do
For a backup and disaster recovery plan to be effective, everyone in your team needs to be on board.
It’s crucial for your employees to understand the consequences of data loss and its effects on business continuity.
Something as simple as an employee securing their account with an ineffective password could be enough to demolish your entire security strategy and jeopardize your business.
Create a step-by-step plan for dealing with possible issues such as hardware failures or software problems to help you recover faster.
Everyone on your team needs to know what their role is when disaster strikes, and everyone should have the policy to follow when it comes to protecting and managing data.
Ensure that your employees know how and when to back up information, whether they’re in the office or dialing into your company from a remote location.
Decide what you’re going to do if you find out that a team member isn’t doing their part to back up too. Disciplinary action might be necessary to ensure compliance.
#4 Practice Your Strategy
Once you know which risks you face with your data, and how you’re going to protect your company, don’t just assume that your strategy is going to work.
Although it’s tempting to put your plan away and forget about it until disaster strikes, it’s better to know for sure that everything works as it should.
Check that your data recovery strategy is up to scratch, so you can be certain that it’s going to deliver the results that you need when you need them most. Test your plan so you can be sure your business will go on in case of a disaster.
Run simple tests, like creating a file inside of a folder that you can back up. Once you’ve backed the document up, you can try to recover it from the system that you’ve put in place.
From time to time, get your whole team involved in the backup recovery tests.
Ask members of staff to help you with recovering lost documents, or to walk you through the backup process.
You don’t want to find out that your plan isn’t as effective as you thought after a disaster has already struck.
#5 Centralize Your Strategy
While you should always have at least three versions of the data that you want to protect, it’s worth making sure that at least one of those versions is located in a centralized environment.
If you aren’t using cloud storage for your data yet, then now could be the perfect time to take the leap. As companies around the world continue to collect more data, the cloud is one of the most scalable and secure storage options around.
Moving one of your backup strategies into the cloud will help to improve your backup and restore processes, saving you money on the amount of space you actually need for your site.
Remember, you’ll need to have other forms of storage available, such as an external hard drive. However, using cloud storage for your live data can be an excellent way to streamline your backup strategy.
Are You Defending Your Business?
As the age of digital transformation continues, no business can afford to be without the right level of protection.
Cybercriminals are discovering new and more effective ways of accessing data without a company’s permission. Whether your organization is large or small, you need to ensure that you have the right system in place to not only protect but back up your information.
Having an automated and regular backup plan in place is the key to making sure that you’re ready for any data issue that might come your way. Backing up important data is something that every business needs to do, or they could risk losing everything.
A convenient data backup solution will ensure that your company and team are defended no matter what happens to your enterprise.
