Critical Data Backup Solutions

No matter your line of business, your data is invaluable. Even with a strong network security strategy in place, sound data backups are critical. You can greatly reduce your chances of a data breach by implementing a layered security strategy, but there is no foolproof method of prevention. Therefore, data backups represent your only real guarantee against data loss or having to pay a ransom in the event of a ransomware attack.

What is a data backup?

Backups are copies of computer data, such as contracts, drawings, recipes, forecasts, quality data, compensation plans, and other contents stored on a hard drive. The verb backup means to make a copy of a computer file or other data to protect against accidental loss or corruption.

Types of Backups

There are many different types of backups, each serving their purpose.

• Standard backups focus on creating copies of files from one or multiple systems across a network.
• System backups are complete copies of a system, including the settings and preferences of the operating system. Depending on the need or capabilities of a business, many perform scheduled backups of files, while having system backups for baseline configurations when new machines join the network.
• Incremental and differential backups focus on the changes between files on a system but are different in the focus of the changes. A differential backup will only back up any files that have changed since the last backup. Incremental backups, on the other hand, only backs up the changed data found in files. Between these two types of backups, incremental backups are considerably faster than a differential backup

There were nearly 200 million ransomware attacks globally in the third quarter of 2020 alone. Cybercriminals are evolving – no longer targeting just frontline systems, but recovery solutions and data backups. The consequences of these attacks are devastating, and agencies must consider platforms with security built in, as well as backup and recovery measures to prepare for ransomware attacks that target the last line of defense: data backups.

Recent guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency recommended that agencies should routinely backup systems, reinforce basic cybersecurity awareness and education and revisit cyber incident response plans.

As IT leaders focus on looming threats, they must develop a data strategy with security and recovery performance in mind — to avoid system down time. Such a strategy helps prevent the devastating effects of cyberattacks that could reduce productivity, cost millions, threaten mission-critical work or interrupt essential citizen services.