Cybersecurity Rules for Business
The rapid growth of the IT industry and the digitalization of the information space are signs of progress. But there is a downside, so it's important for businesses to recognize the importance of cybersecurity.
Backing up your business data isn't difficult. However, many people often forget how important it is to do so in a timely manner.
Important files can be lost due to a technical failure, a computer virus, or data theft. Today, let's talk about how to save and protect your information and why it's so important.
Follow us onFacebook,Telegram,Twitter or Instagramso you don't miss anything!
Why is it important to back up your data?
In May 2021, almost all the world's major media outlets reported on a ransomware attack on the operator of Colonial Pipeline Co., the largest pipeline network in the United States.
It was reported that this was one of the most serious attacks on a critical government infrastructure facility. The hacking activity triggered a multi-day fuel shortage across the entire East Coast of the United States. But curiously, one seemingly insignificant fact went unnoticed.
The company paid hackers a $5 million ransom in exchange for a program to recover encrypted data. However, it was extremely slow.
As a result, the injured party was forced to resort to using their own backups. That is, backup copies of data that help restore data in the event of loss.
The creation of backups is determined by history
The prototype of human-invented backup technology is the rewriting of religious treatises. Monks did this to prevent the texts from being lost over the centuries.
Due to the imperfection of “technical copying methods” (the treatises were copied by hand by different people), it was not possible to avoid serious distortions.
Modern methods are much more reliable, but they are truly effective only thanks to a systematic approach.
Hacking as a service
Ransomware attacks are a global threat. According to media reports, in 2020, companies that fell victim to hacker attacks paid huge ransoms: a total of approximately $350 million (in cryptocurrency).
This is 311% more than in 2019. The average size of a single payment is more than $300,000. For most domestic companies, this is an unaffordable amount, but they have to protect themselves somehow!
Representatives of major domestic fintech companies are purchasing cybersecurity insurance policies.
Small businesses that can't afford this use free Google Drive or transfer important information to an external hard drive.
Unfortunately, these methods are unreliable, since documents from Google Drive are sometimes indexed by search engines, and a portable LCD or flash drive can simply get lost or burn out.
It is wiser to use high-tech methods of data backup.
How to save and protect your information?
Prevention is cheaper, easier, and less painful than cure. Therefore, to protect your data, it's worth following a few simple rules.
- Create backups
Creating one backup isn't enough. We recommend following the 3-2-1 rule. Create at least three backups: one in the cloud and two on different storage devices. And remember: the more current data you save, the more you can restore if needed.
- Eliminate the human factor
Backup creation should be automated. For this purpose, you can use official versions of specialized data backup programs.
The intuitive interface allows you to quickly create a backup for the entire system or individual partitions, folders, or files, as well as select files of a specific type to create a copy.
Action Backup
Provides the ability to schedule file backups. You can perform full, incremental, and differential backups, create a complete hard drive image, create ZIP64 backups for secure encryption, and much more.
Veeam
A program for backing up virtual machines and monitoring virtual environments based on VMware and Hyper-V platforms. Provides data management capabilities for cloud, virtual, and physical environments.
EaseUS Todo Backup Free
Allows you to create backups of individual files, folders, and drivers, as well as a copy of the entire system (including in the cloud). The program also offers the ability to encrypt data and more.
Cobian Backup
One of the most advanced backup programs, suitable for experienced users. Its built-in archiver allows you to instantly compress and encrypt your data.
- Create backups for different points in time
Create multiple backups of the same information for different points in time. Example: You finished work at 6:00 PM, and at 10:00 PM the server was hacked and the information was encrypted. Backups were created automatically at 1:00 AM, but the data is no longer recoverable because it is encrypted.
- Practice data recovery
It's worth periodically setting aside time to practice restoring the system from a backup on a test server. This will give you a better understanding of how long this procedure will take and what difficulties might arise along the way.
Best Practices for Cyber Hygiene
If you have your ownwebsite or blog, be sure to take security measures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your online resource's data.
