Protect Your Information: 8 Must Follow Data Backup Best Practices

It might alarm you to learn that the average data breach hit a record $4.4 million in 2022. This can be difficult or even impossible for many businesses to overcome. A single incident can also erode the trust your audience has in your brand. The good news is that there are numerous data backup best practices you can leverage to protect your sensitive information. Not everyone knows where to start, so we've created a brief guide to help you start on the right track. Let's explore the most useful information you need to keep in mind.

1. Make Regular Backups

It's crucial to archive your data regularly. Your information is only as valuable as its last backup. Companies that deal with sensitive data sometimes make multiple backups per day. Even low-risk targets should still back up their data at least once per week. Otherwise, dealing with a cyberattack or data loss could be catastrophic. Many firms choose to automate this process to streamline it. This ensures you can safeguard your information with little incident.

2. Keep Archives in Multiple Locations

If you store all your data in a single location, you run the risk of encountering issues if a data breach occurs. For example, imagine keeping your data archives on a single external hard drive. If a natural disaster, fire, or other unexpected event occurs, you will lose access to all the information you backed up. Instead, you should keep your data in multiple locations. It would be best if you also stored them in different formats. To clarify, you should have a physical archive and a digital one. Digital archives are best stored on a cloud server.

3. Don't Neglect Security Measures

Regardless of how you backup your data, it's imperative to properly secure it. Encryption is one of the best ways you can safeguard information. This process makes data impossible to decipher without a decryption key. Another measure to consider is implementing a zero-trust policy. As the name implies, this policy requires people to authenticate themselves each time they access data. No matter how many times they've logged into an account in the past, for example, they'll still need to provide their credentials. This eliminates the chance of hackers using compromised credentials to access information. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is also recommended. This requires someone to present multiple pieces of identifying info. MFA could include providing your password, date of birth, and employee identification number.

4. Create a Disaster Recovery Plan

Contingencies are always liable to arise, and you need to have a plan in place to ensure you react accordingly. This plan should be comprehensive and consider all probable details. It won't be effective unless you consider the most likely scenarios. Let's assume your company has experienced a data breach in the past. It's already been established that hackers want information you keep at your organization. Your contingency plan should cover all possible forms of data breaches, including those many companies wouldn't have to worry about. For instance, most businesses don't have to worry about malicious actors within the organization. It's much better to over-plan than to be unprepared. Your team should know exactly how to immediately restore compromised information.

5. Train Your Team Appropriately

Training your team will make them far more effective at handling your company's data. Even the most powerful data backup practices are useless if your team can't use them properly. It's best to create a training program that allows new hires to quickly get up to speed. You should also assess your training multiple times per year. The tech space is constantly changing, and tactics that used to work might not be suitable forever. As long as you do your due diligence, you can make changes before problems occur.

6. Minimize Redundancy

Always strive to eliminate data redundancy within your organization. This term refers to keeping the same information within two or more places in a database. Not only does this make sensitive information easier to access, it wastes precious storage space. Fortunately, handling data redundancy is a simple process. There are plenty of tools that allow you to do so automatically. These function by finding duplicates of the same information and then offering the choice to delete the copies.

7. Test Your Processes Thoroughly

Even the most robust archive methods still need thorough testing. Ensure that you test methods frequently so you can assess how reliable they are.

If you encounter problems, you can quickly make changes to meet your needs. Without the right testing, you risk having parts of your data backup policy fail. In extreme scenarios, this could result in substantial downtime and customer dissatisfaction.

8. Work with a Professional

Hiring a managed it provider allows you to simplify this process. They have the tools and resources to ensure your data stays as safe as possible. When looking for someone to work with, consider their past reputation. This provides valuable insight into what you can expect from hiring them. Other people should have no shortage of positive feedback to give. It's also essential to find someone communicative. If they're difficult to get in touch with, you could be left in the dark if issues arise. These can be difficult or even impossible to overcome for many businesses. Pricing is another important attribute to look at. You often get what you pay for, so avoid the cheapest options. These will likely fall short of your goals, and you'll need to hire a separate service provider to clean up the mess. This can cause you to spend far more than you anticipated.

Leverage Data Backup Best Practices

The data backup best practices in this list will help ensure you can meet your company's needs. You can also avoid many issues you may have otherwise encountered, allowing you to seamlessly overcome obstacles.

Eagle Point Technology Solutions strives to exceed all expectations and deliver fast results without sacrificing quality. We have over 25 years of industry experience, and we tailor our approach to each client's specific needs. You'll learn more about how we can help protect your data when you get in touch with us today.