You should Backup your data every day, Do you?

What is the overall threat to my data?

With the intensification of threats to our valuable & private data, cyber-criminals are forever generating new ways to disturb and defraud our professional and personal lives. One of the cyber threat trends that has seen a piercing increase in activity within recent years is Ransomware.

Ransomware, as the name suggest, is a means by which hackers can take something belonging to you or your business and hold it to ransom for release upon receiving a monetary payment from you. Although, there’s no guarantee they’ll even release the file upon receiving your payment!

Ransomware takes its action via the form of malicious software that restricts or removes your access to file data stored on your computer or server. Downloaded from a dishonest website or arriving on your computer via an email link or attachment, the Ransomware application hastily installs itself & begins to infect or take control of your file data without the computer user even being aware an attack has taken place.

Can we stop ourselves becoming a target?

Although it is serious to ensure you have cyber defences in place, it is almost impossible to ensure that you are 100% protected from the threat of cyber-crime, predominantly from the specific threat of Ransomware.

The malicious software used to launch a Ransomware attack is constantly evolving and can take many forms, despite security vendors constantly updating their software & threat analysis, there is a strong chance that an innocent action by one of your users will result in their machine becoming infested at some point.

What we can do if we’re confronted with an attack?

Firstly, make efforts to limit your exposure to attack by ensuring you have cyber defences in place and have directed awareness training for your team.

But, when you unavoidably suffer from an attack, your last line in the defence against cyber-crime is to rely upon sheltered recovery points from a current, ring-fenced data backup solution.

With a professional-grade backup service, you can benefit from peace of mind that your up-to-date data is stored, securely, in an alternative offsite location and is ready for recovery at a moment’s notice in the event of loss or corruption to any, or all, of your files or system data.

But we already backup data to a disc?

Having a data backup of any kind is a helpful initial step to take in a bid to recover your data in the event of any loss. However! A rudimentary backup to an external disk is by no means a reliable or secure means to achieve true peace of mind with all your system data.

There are numerous manual elements to a disk backup that limit its usefulness in a disaster; most critically, the need for a person to take the disk offsite and remember to bring it back again.

In the event of a Ransomware attack, should the disk be associated to the network, it will most likely be infected and render the backup useless. This twinned with limited means of running effective regularly arranged backups, results in a data backup to disk being a too preventive and risky means of recovery in the event of a disaster.

What do you suggest we do instead?

All businesses should function with an automated on-site + off-site backup service, confirming to the of 3-2-1 backup rule.

3 copies of your data – one active on your server/cloud storage/computers, one local backup copy and one offsite copy.

2 forms of media – varying medium of disk or device used to store the backup copies.

1 copy held offsite.

The service should be managed and monitored daily by your external IT service provider or member of internal IT personnel – with strict urgency placed on acting in the event of a failure or issue logged from the previous day’s backup.

It all sounds expensive, however implementing a professional-grade backup solution doesn’t have to cost the earth; particularly if you factor in the cost and inconvenience of a total, or even partial, loss of data.

Employing these rules within your business can go a long way to ensuring a fast & effective recovery from a disaster, should you suffer the loss or corruption of any data, however large or small.

We can help take effective action for you

At Advoco, we specialise in learning our clients’ business and best applying security technology to their needs.

If you would appreciate a free brief discussion about your operational challenges & to explore the threats to your business, please get in touch today – 0345 260 8801 or drop us a line contactus@advoco-solutions.com