What are the risks to critical data?
Data is the lifeblood of businesses of all sizes. It’s not just your customers’ personal details. It also includes the proprietary information that gives your business value. Whether it’s a secret recipe or detailed financial forecasts, your critical data is central to your success. Managed backup services protect your business by preventing your data from being wiped completely. And, just as importantly, improve your customers’ confidence that their information is safe in your hands.
Within the last month, we’ve heard how the UK government is struggling to recover 400,000 records from its police database that were wiped due to human error.
There has also been an increase in cases of corporate espionage, sabotage and security violations as a consequence of the pandemic. With more employees working from home and morale low, the risk of misconduct has grown significantly.
Data loss is also a very real consequence of cybersecurity breaches such as a ransomware attack. In December 2020, one breach cost a US trucking company $7.5 million. It’s also true that many victims must rebuild their systems from scratch.
Apart from the financial impact, the Data Protection Act 2018 (GDPR) dictates that you must notify customers of a serious data loss. That includes explaining its consequences and the measures you’ve taken to deal with the issue and mitigate the personal impact.
If you can’t recover the data, then neither can you recover the reputational cost to your business. In fact, around 10% of small companies end up folding completely as a result of a data breach.
The importance of cloud backups and recovery
Managed backup services automatically back up your system, providing a failsafe that minimises the risk of data loss.
As a rule of thumb, you need to back up every eight hours of critical data. That means you should back up the work of one person every eight hours. Or two people every four hours, 240 people every two minutes, and so on.
Backing up your data to the cloud is (unfortunately) not as simple as clicking that little ‘save’ button. A cloud services provider (CSP) has to offer a specific level of service, security, backup integrity and accessibility.
A CSP’s data centre is the backbone that supports your data’s integrity. It stores your files across a cluster of servers. That means your data is safe even if one were to go down. And more servers results in safer and more accessible data in the event of disaster recovery.
Each data backup happens incrementally. Here, the system saves seed data in temporary storage before transferring it to the cloud via a high-speed internet connection.
Managed backups can also provide multiple recovery points. As a result, older versions of data can be restored if the latest version were to be maliciously changed or encrypted. Both are good examples of what can happen after an insider or ransomware attack.
Since the CSP monitors your managed backup service, there is almost no need for intervention from yourself. They will ensure there is always space for your data, optimise your system and warn of upgrades in advance.
How managed backup services help your business grow
Done properly, managed backup services can operate quickly, cheaply and with minimal disruption to your business. It is the definition of a no-brainer but really, it’s not just about convenience. Backing up your data means backing yourself against losing the revenue and reputation critical to the health of your company.
If you use a CSP that adheres to ISO 27001, customers know their information is protected to a global standard. It means automatic access to a world-class information security policy, objectives, risk assessment and treatment methodologies.
A robust data protection plan doesn’t just instil confidence in your management and employees. It also demonstrates to your customers that they can trust you with their information – and their money.
To learn more about how you can make the most of cloud services to support, enhance or protect your IT infrastructure, contact us for a free trial or demonstration.
