We want to talk about the importance of data backup. Many of the organisations we help come to us with next to no cybersecurity tools or measures in place. But what we also see – and it always surprises us – is organisations that have sophisticated cybersecurity setups… but no backup solution. Backup is an essential cyber security measure, but is all too often overlooked.

Why you should backup

Growing data sets and increasingly frequent cyberattacks mean that the risk to your business data is higher than ever before. Organisations can take weeks or months to get back to normal business operations, and some never recover. Backing up your data and being able to handle data loss effectively is paramount.

Backing up means making a copy of your data and storing it in a secondary location so that it’s ready to be restored in a data loss scenario. This might be caused by simple human error through to a cyberattack with malware infecting your entire system.

People tend to save their data in one place – ‘My Documents’ for example – but if a user were to accidentally delete that folder, the only copy of all that data is gone and, without a backup solution, is unrecoverable. And it’s exactly the same in the Cloud: we access our files on different devices, but it only lives in the one place.

Without backup, any data loss – no matter how big or small – will cause business downtime which will cost your business.

What data needs to be backed up?

As a minimum you need to backup your business critical information. What would you need to continue working if you couldn’t access your devices as normal? Perhaps you’d need your clients’ contact details, your financial accounts, and your HR files.

Consider how long it has taken you to gather all this information. Could your business operate without access to it? Would your staff be able to work sufficiently? These are all questions we recommend asking when thinking about which data to backup.

How to backup

An automated and easy to use Cloud-based backup tool is essential.

We work closely with Redstor who provide a comprehensive Cloud-based backup and recovery solution. Redstor automatically backs up your data to two secure UK based datacentres and uses military grade encryption at all points of the process to keep your data safe. You’re able to choose which data to backup and a retention period that suits your business. When it comes to recovery, you simply select which data you want to restore and where to restore it to via a management portal, and the restoration is near instant.

Backing up is a crucial strand of cybersecurity, so if you’re not backing up already, now is the time to start!

If you need any further advice or information, please get in touch as we’re happy to help.

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