[BreachExchange] Are you properly backing up your business data?

[Destry Winant]

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/05/16/are-you-properly-backing-up-your-business-data.html

It’s critical that you protect your business’ important assets,
including perhaps the most important of all: its data. One of the best
ways to do this is by implementing a solid backup solution. But what’s
the best way to approach data backup? After all, every business is
going to have different needs.

Here we will address these different needs, and how your organization
can implement a reliable backup solution.

The first part of implementing a backup strategy is to look at what it
means to take reliable backups of your data. A reliable backup is one
that you can count on to work for your company if for some reason your
network or infrastructure is damaged or fails.

Of course, you’ll always hope that you never have to use the backup,
but that doesn’t mean that you’ll never have to. The idea is to
prepare for the worst, even if you never need it, if only to make sure
that an unexpected event never puts your company in jeopardy.

Why do you need a backup?

Before wondering why anyone would risk their business like this, keep
in mind that many organizations out there don’t back up any of their
data. In reality, everything should be backed up, as a worst-case
scenario could ensure your business’ demise. This is why all
businesses need to be mindful of data backup and take steps to secure
their futures.

Since you presumably know the value of your organization’s data, what
kind of backup solution should you implement? Let’s talk a little bit
about how you can minimize the effects of data loss while ensuring
that you’re not wasting your budget away on a solution that doesn’t
work.

Creating reliability with your data backup

Putting together a winning data backup strategy is easier said than
done. Your business has different data needs than others, as well as
different priorities and strategies. Some companies will want a
comprehensive data backup solution that backs up every single file on
the network, while others might only need specific parts of it backed
up. Either way, creating a reliable solution will be at the core of
your data backup endeavors, as you’re wasting valuable revenue if
you’re not optimizing your solution to meet your needs.

What do we mean by reliable? In the event of a data loss scenario, we
mean that your data should be able to be recovered in a usable format.
Your ideal backup solution would need to be relevant, available, and
secure.

Here are some suggestions to help you get the most protection from
your data backup solutions.

- A hard drive-based backup system is a good jumping off point. You
can connect an external hard drive or a network-based storage device.
This backup can work while you’re working, as well as provide a
physical copy of your data. The main advantage of this is so that it
can be restored quickly.
- A cloud-based platform is also important. Your data backups can be
sent to an off-site premise via the cloud. The cloud also provides
encryption so that your data won’t be at risk to data thieves or
hackers.
- Make copies of data at intervals. Your data backup solution will
need to take backups at certain intervals. Depending on the solution,
you should be aiming for at least every 15 minutes.
- Ensure verification. Your data backups are useless if they don’t
work. Make sure that you regularly test your backups and make sure
that you have a solution that gives you positive or negative
verification to keep you in the loop about the effectiveness of your
backup.