Data is at the heart of every business. With digital transformation, every business is using data at least for their core functioning. Loss of data can not only cost a great amount of money but can adversely affect business continuity and brand reputation. While we tend to get complacent where our data security is concerned, the fact is data loss can happen to any organization whether big and small and can happen for several reasons. Having a plan for online data backup, data protection and data recovery has become imperative for every business.

Why Data Backup is Necessary

Cyberattacks

With the advancement in technology, cybercriminals are evolving too, and their targets now include not only large enterprises and internet giants but also small and medium businesses. As most companies adopt digital transformation, they generate and accumulate a treasure trove of information that draws cybercriminals. 43% of all cyberattacks target small businesses and 60% of these businesses never recover and go out of business within six months of the attack. These attacks may include ransomware attacks, where the attackers intrude and encrypt data and offer to provide decryption only after the ransom is paid.

Other forms of attacks may include phishing, installing malware, zero-day exploits but in most cases, it is the data that the attackers are looking to steal. While having a cybersecurity policy is important to counter these threats there can never be an absolute guarantee that the system will not be breached. Uploading data on a secure cloud-based service can ensure that even if the attackers manage to encrypt or otherwise destroy data, it can always be restored locally from the cloud and help the business get back online without delay.

Natural Disasters

Although not very common, natural disasters and catastrophes such as earthquakes, storms, fires, and floods can damage IT infrastructure and lead to loss of data stored on physical servers and data centers. Electrical faults and power surges can damage storage devices. Without a proper data backup plan in place, affected businesses can be crippled and data can be lost for good. Businesses with data backup and recovery solutions can resume services much faster as the backup data is stored on dedicated and robust servers at different locations or on the cloud.

Human Error

Humans are fallible and prone to errors. While working, employees may accidentally delete data or wrongly alter it. Similarly, a little negligence or lack of oversight can lead to a storage device being damaged. In some instances, disgruntled employees can steal or delete data in the absence of a strong cybersecurity policy. In fact, insider threat is viewed as a major cybersecurity concern with as much as 60% of data breaches being attributed to malicious insiders. Such data losses are unforeseeable and can be remediated with cloud-based data backup and recovery solutions.

Conclusion

As technology advances and businesses grow, so will the amount of data collected by them. Customer data especially needs to be protected as it is valuable, and loss of this data can reflect very poorly on the brand’s reputation. Storing critical data locally or even at only one location is no longer an option for businesses keen on ensuring uninterrupted services to their clients and business continuity. For businesses without a data backup plan, it is incredibly difficult to get back to doing business after a major data loss. Cloud-based managed service providers such as Datto provide secure data backup and recovery services which can be used to ensure data integrity and recovery in case of incidents involving data loss.