A guide to backing up your computer data
Imagine a scenario which can transform a normal day at the office of your small business into a nightmare. In a matter of minutes, everything you have painstakingly and lovingly built up becomes destroyed with the click of a mouse.
An employee has opened up a fraudulent email and within seconds, cyber criminals have locked him out of his accounts. They have access to all of the sensitive information you’ve worked so hard to protect, and you haven’t backed up your data.
These days, the amount of power cyber criminals can have over a small business is scary. Perhaps they’re demanding a ransom from you? Either way, you need to ensure that you, and all of your employees, are well-prepared.
As well as having an effective disaster recovery solution, it’s vitally important to back up your data to protect yourself from attacks before they happen. Here are a few ways you can minimise the impact an attack could have.
1. Back up all your files using a USB stick or an external hard drive. This is a cheap and effective way to make sure your data’s duplicated in a safe place.
2. For absolutely essential documents, use a printer. You don’t have to print out everything, but this is a good way to ensure your most sensitive information won’t be lost. Store it in a file somewhere safe.
3. If you’ve got a Mac, you can use Time Machine which runs automatically in the background and regularly saves work.
4. Use Cloud storage. Cara offers a 30 day free trial of cloud services.
5. Don’t forget to update your passwords frequently. It’s an added layer of precaution to backing up your data, and it will make it harder for attackers to penetrate your system.
You’ll still need an effective disaster recovery solution in place, in case you haven’t backed up for a while, for example. However, following these steps can minimise the damage you can experience from a cyber-attack.
Additionally, it’s good practice to protect your data on a regular basis anyway in case your computer fails. With any luck, if the worst happens, you’ll be able to recover all your files and avoid paying any ransom to the cyber-criminal.
It’s easy for small businesses to feel like they’re too small prey for cyber criminals. Why wouldn’t they focus their efforts on bigger players? And the answer is they do; attacks on hospitals, banks and other big corporations are becoming increasingly commonplace. But it’s easier to attack the small fish in the pond. The reason for this is that small businesses often have weaker security in place, and don’t have formal protocols requiring employees to back up data, so it requires less effort for the cyber criminal to compromise the data.
Don’t be one of them – back up your data! Contact us today for more information.
