Well, like so much in life, the answer really is “It Depends”. Let’s step back and take a look at why we bother making backups and what we hope to accomplish.
Many times, a small business owner forgets that one of the most valuable items in their business is the data, documents, and other intellectual property created by their employees. So, by making backups, what you’re really doing is protecting some of the most valuable assets of your business. And these assets do need a lot of protection.
As a general rule, threats to your data come from three main areas.
First, is accidental deletion.
You’ve probably done it yourself – hit the delete key by accident, and “poof”, that important file is gone. Just like you make mistakes, so do your employees.
The second big threat to your data is hardware failure.
A hard disk, flash drive, or other media that stores important data files. And with that failure goes some of your data.
The third main threat - and perhaps the biggest one in many businesses - is that of ransomware.
We all know that ransomware encrypts your data and asks for a payment to recover your files. But did you know that ransomware often deletes your backups before encryption, thereby making recovery from backups impossible?
"Did you know that ransomware often deletes your backups before encryption, thereby making recovery from backups impossible?"
That’s why current best practice recommends that you store some of your backup copies to immutable storage. “Immutable” simply means that is cannot be changed. So, when you make backup copies to immutable storage, you’re simply putting those copies on some kind of storage that can’t be changed. Even if ransomware tries to delete your backups, it can’t because this storage can’t be changed.
We’ve added a new product in our Lock Your Data backup family to help you make backups that ransomware can’t delete. Lock Your Data – Gold can store backups in the cloud in immutable storage. Then if ransomeware hits your business – which it very well may – you can recover your important data and get on with the business of business.
Our team would love to talk with you about how this new backup plan can be implemented in your business. We’ll work with you to determine what to back up, how often to make backups, and how long to keep the backups that you make. We can even work with you to create a test plan to verify that your backups really are providing the protection you expect against the most potent threats of today.
Practical Cybersecurity Webinars:Series 2 Starts November 14, 2024!
Learn practical information your business or organization can put to use to improve your cybersecurity stance with the short, monthly webinars.
- Preparing for Insider Threats
- Easy Policy Management
- Intro to Microsoft Copilot
- What’s Included with Microsoft 365
- Get Ready for Windows 11
- Getting Your “Digital Clouds” Under Control
Registration is FREE!
