Data Backup vs Data Protection
People have needed to back up data since the days of floppy disks. Viruses, hard drive crashes, and other mishaps cause data loss. Almost everyone who uses any type of technology has experienced data loss at least once.
In the US, about 140,000 hard drive crashes occur weekly. Over a period of five years, 20% of SMBs suffer data loss due to a major disaster. This has driven the growth of a robust cloud backup market.
However, in the last few years, one thing that has changed with data backup is security. Simply backing up data so you don’t lose it is no longer enough. Data backup has evolved into data protection.
First Steps To Protection: Awareness
This means that backups require more cybersecurity protection against threats such as sleeper ransomware and supply chain attacks. Cloud-based backup is beneficial due to its convenience, accessibility, and effectiveness, but online services require specific security considerations.
When planning a backup and recovery strategy, companies must consider data protection and ensure that the tools used can safeguard against the increasing number of threats.
Some of the modern threats to data backups include:
- Data Center Outage: The “cloud” refers to data kept on a server. That server is internet accessible. Those servers can crash. Data centers holding the servers can also have outages.
- Sleeper Ransomware: This type of ransomware stays silent for a long while after infecting a device. The period of quiet gives it time to infect all backups. Then, when it’s activated, the victim cannot find a clean backup to restore.
- Supply Chain Attacks: Supply chain attacks have spiked. They include attacks on cloud vendors that companies use. Those vendors suffer a cyberattack that then spreads throughout their clients.
- Misconfiguration: Misconfiguration of security settings often presents a problem. Bad security settings allow attackers to gain access to cloud storage. Those attackers then download and delete files as they like.
What to Look for in a Data Protection Backup System
Merely backing up data is insufficient. It is essential to ensure that the application used provides adequate data protection. When reviewing a backup solution, consider the following factors:
Ransomware Prevention
Ransomware has the ability to spread throughout a network and infect any existing data, including data on computers, servers, and mobile devices, as well as data in cloud platforms that sync with those devices.
95% of ransomware attacks attempt to infect data backup systems.
Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that any data backup solution used has protection from ransomware. Such protection features restrict automated file changes that can occur with documents.
Continuous Data Protection
Continuous data protection is a feature that backs up files as users make changes, as opposed to systems that have a set schedule, such as once per day.
Adding continuous data protection guarantees that the latest file changes are captured, reducing the risk of data loss in the event of a system crash before the next scheduled backup. In today’s world of rapid data generation, losing a day’s worth of data can be extremely costly.
Threat Identification
Data protection involves taking proactive measures to safeguard files. When searching for a backup service, consider the presence of threat identification functions. Tools like these do great things for malware and virus prevention.
These functions detect malware in both new and existing backups, preventing sleeper ransomware and similar malware from infecting all backups.
Zero-Trust Tactics
Cybersecurity professionals worldwide advocate for zero-trust security measures, which include features such as multi-factor authentication and application safelisting.
A zero-trust approach involves continuous authentication for all users and applications. Therefore, being logged into the system today does not necessarily mean they are entirely trustworthy.
When searching for a zero-trust backup solution, consider the following features:
- Multi-factor authentication
- Distinct file and folder permissions
- Contextual authentication
- Verification of permissions for file changes
Backup Redundancy
Backing up files to a USB drive or CD results in having only one copy of those files. If something happens to that copy, data loss may occur.
To avoid this risk, cloud backup providers should have backup redundancy in place. This involves the server holding the data mirroring that data to another server, preventing data loss in the event of a server crash, natural disaster, or cyberattack.
Air Gapping for More Sensitive Data
Air gapping is a system that involves keeping a copy of your data offline or separated in some other way, such as on another server disconnected from external sources.
If you handle highly sensitive data, you may want to look for this feature. It helps guarantee that you have at least one additional backup copy that is walled off from common internet-based attacks.
Why Is This Published By A Business Phone Company?
Here at NoContractVoIP, we believe that your success creates our success. And, since we specialize in business communication, we work to help you communicate better while staying safe. We create the cutting edge communication systems that modern companies need.
To talk to a business phone system specialist, call 866-550-0005 or contact us today.
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