World backup day on march 31 is promoted as a reminder for organizations and users to back up their valuable data before they lose it by mistake or error. Organizations can even visit a website to pledge to back up their data.
According to a recent report by Acronis, “CYBER PROTECTION WEEK GLOBAL REPORT 2022, nearly 25% of IT managers have monthly backups, while approximately 33% back up data weekly. The report also highlights that almost 72% of the respondents had to recover data from the backup at least once, and 33% had to recover more than once. These numbers prove that regular data backups are necessary for enterprises to avoid losing important files and valuable data. Despite the desperate need to back up the data, the report highlights that only 15% of IT managers follow backup storage best practices.
Without an effective backup policy, organizations might face disastrous consequences because of workflow disruptions. Backing up the organization’s data enables the data ops teams to prevent losing valuable data loss resulting from glitches in the system where the data is stored.
The backup industry and tech industry globally celebrates 31st march annually to promote a day to backup and help organizations protect their data.
IT security wire interacted with multiple industry veterans on the occasion of the “world back up day 2023”. Here’s an overview of the interaction.
Also Read: Top 11 Biggest Cybersecurity Trends in 2023
What is the importance of the world back up day?
“On World Backup Day, of course, we can highlight the importance of ensuring all data is backed up and encrypted, but this needs to form part of a wider cybersecurity strategy. It is this proactive approach that will enable data backups to be just that – a ‘backup’ solution and a last line of defense if the worst happens,” says Mark Jow, EMEA Field CTO, Gigamon
What are the right strategies to ensure efficient data backup? And will data backup be a good investment during uncertain economic times?
“In a time of tight budgets and evolving threats, organizations must remember the basics of cyber hygiene. While not the be-all and end-all of cybersecurity, backups are an efficient and cost-effective way that organizations can better safeguard themselves from ransomware disruption and aid recovery in the event of a cyber incident. And the right strategy for these backups is key; enterprises need a blend of small and frequent, full, and long-term backups to ensure sufficient protection when implemented in tandem with encrypted, offsite storage,” says Lawrence Perret-Hall, Director, CYFOR Secure
While Data backup is a useful post-attack strategy to minimize the impact, how can businesses be vigilant to avoid instances that force organizations to recover data from backups?
“Data backups have traditionally been fundamental for business continuity, yet it seems they are becoming increasingly less vital in the fight against cybercrime. This is because backups do not protect an organization from being breached – they only reduce the impact when a breach occurs. All too often, IT teams have no time to optimize their backup policies. In fact, less than half of organizations are backing up daily. What’s more, with ransomware still a critical business threat, it’s important to remember that even encrypted data backups can be extorted and held for ransom. Therefore, while backups can be useful post-attack, it’s time we shifted our focus to 24/7/365 threat detection with the support of a Security Operations Centre (SOC) to avoid a breach in the first place,” says Rick Jones, CEO, and Co-Founder, of DigitalXRAID.
Also Read: Microsoft Cloud Vulnerability Ushered to Bing Search Hijacking, Disclosure of Office 365 Data
What strategies can organizations consider to enhance overall data security?
“When assessing and improving the security posture of an organization or its supply chain, one of the most basic controls that need to be in place is to have data backed up and encrypted. It’s the last line of defense against threats like ransomware. However, true preparedness requires a much more offensive approach that focuses on prevention, not recovery. Teams should be continuously testing the security of their environments and going as far as to emulate attackers to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses before malicious actors can find and exploit them,” says Julian Brownlow Davies, VP EMEA, Bishop Fox.
Data industry leaders suggest that data backup is essential for all business types, industries, or sizes. World Backup Day is set as a reminder to back up all the crucial files and sensitive data for all organizations and users. Decision makers need to have the best data backup strategies in place to constantly back up their data without compromising on security. Click here to read more about the best tips for data backup that business decision-makers can consider.
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