Almost 30,000 websites are hacked into every single day. Over 60% of companies have experienced a breach at some point. Losing important data can ruin a business’s reputation with its customers.
Those who don’t implement regular data backups as part of their ongoing monitoring of business IT services can find themselves having to start over and rebuild from the ground up. It’s an expensive and draining process that causes many companies to close their doors for good.
Data backups don’t only act as a line of defense against breaches. They can help you easily reboot your systems after a natural disaster and protect you from human error.
Check out this guide to learn more.
Protect Your Data
The main benefit of having a server backup is that it protects the large amounts of data that you gather every day. If you were to lose a customer’s information or employee data, it could cause you to have to close your doors.
Having backup information will allow you to recover your systems, no matter how much data you lose.
Preventive Measures Can Fail
You can have a strong firewall and virus protection in place and still fall victim to a hacker. Cybercriminals are crafty enough to find ways around common preventive measures.
Data backup solutions act as a second line of defense. You might not be able to stop yourself from losing data, but you can control the speed at which you recover it.
Human Error Is Common
Hackers aren’t the only thing that threatens your data. Employees can be just as large of a risk.
All it takes is one person falling for a phishing email for you to lose everything. You also can’t control the strength of your employee’s passwords.
One of your workers could delete a file by accident. If you have a backup of that file, it’s not a big deal. If you don’t, you’ll lose it forever.
Disgruntled employees may delete your data on purpose. If you have the proper protections in place, they won’t be successful in their attempt to ruin you.
Cybercriminals Are Creative
As stated above, if there are holes in your firewall, a hacker will find them. Cyberattacks are always evolving. While malware is the most common type of attack, it’s not the only one that you may have to contend with.
Ransomware is a good example. It’s a type of malware in which a hacker will lock your data or computer behind a paywall. Paying the requested ransom doesn’t guarantee the release of your information.
If you back up your data, it won’t matter. You won’t even have to consider giving in to the hacker’s demands if you have an extra copy of all the information they stole.
IT support companies can also assist in ongoing backup and recovery should you need help.
Natural Disasters Can Happen at Any Time
Fires, earthquakes, and hurricanes can happen at unexpected times and shut down your servers for months if you’re not prepared for them.
If you’ve backed up your data, you can start over from where you left off with your business. Instead of being shut down for months while you rebuild, you’ll only have to stop regular operations for a few weeks or days.
Losing Data Hurts Your Reputation
Losing your reputation is the worst part of a data breach. If you misplace a customer’s personal information, they’ll be hesitant to do business with you again.
If you’re known for losing track of employee data, potential candidates are going to think twice before they put in an application.
That’s why you need a data recovery plan. Being able to respond to breaches quickly will prevent your reputation from suffering as much.
You’ll Keep a Competitive Advantage
Your competitor’s loss is your gain. Let’s say that a hurricane blows through your area and hurts several businesses.
If you have a disaster recovery plan in place that includes data backups, and your competitors don’t, you’ll be able to resume operation faster than them. Their customers will get tired of waiting on them to get their servers going and turn to you.
How to Backup Your Data?
Now that you know why data backups are important, it’s time to talk about how you can go about it.
The best options are removable devices, external hard drives, and cloud backup services.
Removable Devices
The simplest way to back up your data is to use a flash drive or disk. For smaller businesses, they will contain enough space to hold all your information.
They won’t be as practical if you grow into a large corporation. In order to back up all your data, you’ll need several disks. It won’t be long before you begin to lose track.
External Hard Drive
External hard drives are easier to keep track of than small flash drives and disks.
They can hold a large amount of data, but they do pose the same kind of problem as disks. As you grow your business, you’ll need to invest in more and more hard drives.
Cloud Backup Services
Cloud backup services will hold all your data in a remote location where you can pull from it at any time. Even though it’s completely digital, it’s safe. Most services use data encryption, and there’s no chance of hardware failure.
Backups occur automatically with no effort from you. You won’t have to invest in multiple disks or hard drives.
The Importance of Data Backups
Without regular data backups, you leave your servers vulnerable to cybercriminals and natural disasters. Losing customer and employee information will have a large impact on your reputation.
Having backups won’t only prevent you from losing data. It will also work alongside your firewall and virus software to keep your company safe.
To get information on our cloud backup services and schedule a consultation with Be Structured, the leading outsourced IT support Los Angeles has to offer. Contact us today.
