It's no secret that data backup has been around for a long time, dating all the way back to the days of floppy disks. Unfortunately, data loss still happens due to viruses, hard drive crashes, and other mishaps. In fact, most people who use technology have experienced data loss at least once.
The numbers are staggering, with approximately 140,000 hard drive crashes happening each week in the US alone. As a result, there has been a robust growth in the cloud backup market, especially in recent years.
One crucial aspect that has changed with data backup is the need for better security. Simply backing up data to avoid losing it is no longer enough. It's now become a matter of data protection.
This means that backups need more cybersecurity protection than ever before. They are facing numerous threats such as sleeper ransomware and supply chain attacks. Cloud-based backup is convenient, accessible, and effective, but security considerations are necessary with an online service.
Businesses must consider data protection when planning a backup and recovery strategy. The tools used must protect against the growing number of threats, such as data center outages, sleeper ransomware, supply chain attacks, and misconfiguration of security settings.
Here are some of the things to look for when reviewing a backup solution:
• Ransomware Prevention: Protection from ransomware is crucial since it can spread throughout a network and infect any data that exists, including cloud platforms syncing with devices. Ensure that any data backup solution you use has adequate protection from ransomware.
• Continuous Data Protection: Continuous data protection ensures that the system captures the latest file changes, mitigating data loss that can occur if a system crashes before the next backup.
• Threat Identification: Look for threat identification functions in a backup service. It looks for malware in new and existing backups, which helps stop sleeper ransomware and similar malware from infecting all backups.
• Zero-Trust Tactics: Zero-trust security measures include measures such as multi-factor authentication and application safelisting. All users and applications need ongoing authentication, and some of the zero-trust features to look for include multi-factor authentication, distinct file and folder permissions, contextual authentication, and verification of permissions for file changes.
• Backup Redundancy: Ensure that your cloud backup provider has backup redundancy in place. This means that the server holding your data mirrors that data to another server, preventing data loss in the case of a server crash, natural disaster, or cyberattack.
• Air Gapping for More Sensitive Data: Air gapping is a system that keeps a copy of your data offline or separated in another way, ensuring that you have at least one other copy of your backup, walled off from common internet-based attacks.
If you need help with secure backup and data protection solutions, don't hesitate to give Layer 2 Computers a call. Our team can offer guidance and advice on the best practices to keep your business safe and secure from data loss.
