Data backups are an essential part of corporate protection in the 21st-century. Leaving your business open and vulnerable to a hacker or a leak is paramount to failure. Customers and clients will stop trusting the brand and that is the first nail in the coffin. To prevent this from happening, a secure and regular backup program needs to exist to protect the firm.
Thankfully, the majority of companies are on the same page. An estimated 57% of enterprises already use some form of the cloud with an extra 24% planning to jump on the bandwagon. Considering 140,000 hard drives in the US fail each week and 60% of companies that lose data shut down within six months, it’s a savvy move. Still, backing up your information is only the first step in a long journey. To ensure you’re as secure as possible, it’s essential to back up your files in the correct way.
Most entrepreneurs understand that a filing cabinet isn’t acceptable, yet that doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes. Technology is complicated and a failure to follow it will result in a difficult period for the firm. To help you create a comprehensive plan, this post has put together a string of techniques successful companies use to backup their data. Scroll down to learn more and find out how you can be safer data-wise.
Sticky Fingers
Mobile devices are portable and that makes for great business opportunities. Nowadays, you can complete tasks from anywhere in the world or conduct a meeting in a coffee shop. Productivity and efficiency-wise, these machines are changing the way businesses interact. However, their gift is also their curse because they are out in the open and easy to steal. Unfortunately, people with sticky fingers won’t think twice about lifting a laptop or smartphone that doesn’t belong to them.
Once the device is gone, there is no way to backup your data if it isn’t connected to the cloud. And, efforts to retrieve these valuables often aren’t successful. The FBI says that 97% of stolen laptops are never recovered, which means only 3% are and that’s a damning stat. Of course, it’s easy to argue the files should be backed up and recoverable by following your disaster plan. But, everyone knows this isn’t possible all of the time. Maybe it’s a new laptop or perhaps the server is down.
Therefore, it’s wise to fight fire with fire by developing sticky fingers of your own. Keeping your possessions as close as possible will prevent opportunists from ruining your day.
Your Website
Your website is the essential feature of your business because it acts as a home base. Whether customers want to make a purchase or learn about the company, they start by typing your URL into Google’s search engine. In fact, it’s so important that you may flick through a web design portfolio and hire an agency to take care of your needs. Without a professional touch, it’s tough to generate leads and stand out from the crowd.
Your reputation is the reason you need to backup your data. Not only have you spent money on world-class services, but you also rely on the platform to inform and educate people. Without it, you can’t stay open 24/7, use aesthetics to draw people in, or maximize conversions. Therefore, everything from the data to the layout and the color scheme needs to be saved in case of an emergency. That way, you can get it up and running again and not have to deal with downtime.
Rsync is a fantastic tool to preserve your site. Why? It’s because it only copies and transfers files that have been modified saving you time and space on your server. It’s particularly useful if you’ve outsourced your design to a third-party as it negates glitches and prevents wastage.
The Cloud
Regular backups are the key to success. The fewer gaps there are, the less vulnerable you are to attack. Yes, a hack is still a danger and it will cause a problem, but you won’t be starting over again. Thanks to the constant, automatic uploads, you’ll have pretty much everything you need on a server or hard drive. And, this is why the cloud has become a popular tool for SMEs: it backs up data without authorization. All you need to do is tweak the settings.
Still, it’s not safe, as the many hacking scandals prove. Once in the cloud, thieves can remotely access the info if you’re not careful. A public server, therefore, is generally a bad idea. Sharing storage space with other companies means your files mix and anything can happen then. A private cloud option that is dedicated to your needs is best.
One thing that is hard to solve is the rise of employee sabotage. Whether knowingly or not, workers destroy data and this is a huge problem. What you can do in this circumstance is to perform a local backup of your own. That way, you’re covered should there be a problem with your cloud computing platform.
Ease Of Access
Protection is only one element of a successful backup. Once you store your sensitive info safely, you need to be able to recover it as and when required. And, this isn’t only a reference to finding and restoring lost or deleted files. Employees and anybody who accesses the server shouldn’t have to take an age to locate the records they need. Otherwise, it adds to the number of daily interruptions and ruins output and productivity levels across the board.
The trick is to make sure the data is backed up and easily accessible. That way, there is no need to waste time searching for information. Remember: time is money in the business world. All you need to do is create a format which makes this goal straightforward to achieve. Take accounting as an example. First of all, a folder with the title “accounting” will help, as will subfolders named “tax” or “expenses” Add the years for added effect. Do this with every sector of the company.
You can put them all on one server if you like, but you may want to spread them out over multiple ones. Not diversifying your data makes it easier for a hacker to target or to lose a variety of other ways. Although it takes extra effort, you should store folders separately. For example, you can put one on the cloud and another on a hard drive.
External Hardware
Anything connected to your server is a risk in one way or another. Let’s assume the cloud is as secure as it can be; you’re not out of the woods. Why? It’s because there are backdoors which open up your files to the world. The main culprits are wifi routers and email accounts. Their security levels aren’t as high, so hackers use them to gain entry without breaking a sweat.
External hardware comes into play because it isn’t connected to the internet in any way. As soon as you unplug it from a USB port, it is disconnected and not hackable. So, thumb drives and hard drives are very good purchases and they are constants in successful companies. Of course, it’s important to remember that their actual location is a priority. Like a mobile device, you lose everything if it’s stolen which is why it’s essential to keep it under lock and key. Preferably, it should be off-site and not in the offices in case there is a flood or a fire and you lose everything.
The great thing about them, apart from the extra security, is that they are simple to use. Plug it into your device and then drag and drop the files you want to store. It’s as simple as that.
Passwords
Passwords are vital on a variety of levels. Firstly, you don’t want to let someone access your data without having to work for it. Sadly, plenty of companies do because their passwords are easy to crack. That means the cloud service you rent is pointless as a hacker or anyone with half a brain can break in. The same goes for any feature that connects to your server and contains sensitive info.
Security aware companies understand this and make it difficult for people to guess their passwords. To begin with, they create strong ones that include letters, numbers and punctuation marks. Also, they make them longer than six to eight characters long. Probably the most important thing they do is to change their security measures on a daily or weekly basis. That way, if someone does gain access, they won’t have long before they lose it again.
Speaking of access, another feature of their plan is to encrypt files. Even if they are stolen, the info will still be secure as long as it’s an AES 128-bit encryption, the kind the military uses.
Simply put, you will lose your data if you don’t back up it and consider the potential gaps in your security plan.
