Data security remains an essential area of concern for all business owners, not excluding individual brands. Technological advancements have gone far enough to equip people with skills in different facets of life, and the con of this is the rise of cybercrime.
With different factors that could sabotage the security of your data, it is not hard to convince any business owner on the need to beef up the security for their data, whether financial records or clients’ personal information. The more layers of protection you have in place, the lower the chances of a successful breach of your data. Here are several ways to better secure your data backup:
Establish strong passwords and passphrases
A simple thing like inputting a password for your documents can go a long way in protecting your data. Still, the passwords you choose must be complex since some people have already mastered the art of cracking passcodes.
Keep your passwords long and consider a code that is alphanumerical instead of letters or numbers individually. As suggested by previous studies, avoid using personal data to establish passwords, or sequences of numbers or characters, particularly those close together on the keyboard.
Ideally, passphrases are gaining popularity because they are more complex than passwords. To come up with a prime passphrase, consider a favorite phrase, then pick out a couple of letters methodically to form a code. You can also employ the help of a password manager tool like LastPass to help in generating complex passcodes, and store them for you, so you don’t always have to remember.
Enforce restrictions on access
Backed up data includes a couple of files that should not be disclosed to all people in a workplace. Typically, the backup process involves people, but it should not involve everyone. Limit access to only those who have a business or a role to play in the backup process.
As for the recovery process, you must be intentional on the people you allow access to the stored information, depending on the sensitivity of the data. This way, you can keep tabs on information flow within the business, as well as allocate responsibility for purposes of accountability.
As a rule of thumb, ensure that everyone in the workplace has their username and passwords for the login systems.
Have a stout firewall
A firewall is useful for protecting your network by regulating the internet traffic flowing in an out of your business. A protected network goes a long way toward ensuring your activities online are safeguarded, limiting the chances of external factors manipulating your system and breaching your data security.
The firewall offers proxy services by saving online information then sending it to the requesting system. For the many machines in an office, use a hardware firewall, for example, a router. A stout firewall will offer you adequate protection from viruses, not to mention, helps business owners setup online rules for the employees to control access to particular websites online.
Install an antivirus
Even with a stout firewall in place, an extra layer of protection is necessary. Antiviruses are very useful when it comes to getting rid of viruses that sneaked into your devices, which may compromise the data you have backed up over time. With an antivirus in place, you will always be up-to-date on possible threats, especially from external sources like USB drives, mobile devices, among others.
An antivirus will also inform you on necessary updates that will keep you on the loop with the latest advancements to better the performance of your devices. In brief, antiviruses and anti-malware are your last line of defense, should any viruses make way through your network or other sources.
Use multiple backup solutions
Data backup is a hefty task that may require you to engage more than one data backup solution. You can consider cloud services from Ottomatik, then follow that through with a hard drive, CD, or tapes. The idea of multiple backup solutions allows you to have different alternatives in case an incident occurs.
Nonetheless, not all data deserves such treatment. If data can be recovered or recollected, then there is no need of going the extra mile. For sensitive information, however, you want always to have a plan B if plan A goes wrong. Follow through with the 3-2-1 backup strategy, with three backups, two of which are in different physical devices, and one off-site.
Store data backups in different sites
If you store all your data on your laptop, for instance, and the previous data security measures fail, you may experience an irreversible data loss. For the multiple backup solutions, you determine, ensure they are not all invested in one place.
The backups in different sites should be retrieved when the on-site data is compromised, say, in case of a fire, theft or destructive storm.
Encrypt your devices
All portable backup media should be encrypted if they support it. Encryption offers added security after employing passwords and passphrases. While passwords and passphrases secure your files, data, and accounts, encryption secures your devices from unauthorized access. You can encrypt a laptop, mobile phone, hard drive, among others.
Consider strong codes for your encryptions, particularly for devices that you often move out of the business premises. Encrypting your devices lets you rest assured that in case of theft of your equipment, no one can access your information, and afterward, you can retrieve data from other backup solutions.
Organize your backed up files
Organizing your backups may not come across as a security measure, but it goes a long way in complementing the backup and retrieval process. Businesses experience a lot of data loss mostly due to mishandling of files and folders by people. Unintentional deletion of relevant information is highly likely if the stored data are not organized.
Determine a working system for organizing data during backups, which not only makes it easier to retrieve information but also minimizes the cases of data mishandling and accidental deletion of files.
A single data breach could damage your business as concerns reputation and credibility, which makes all the tips mentioned above necessary for all business owners to embrace. Bottom line, every extra measure you put in place to protect your data will decrease the impact felt in a case where disaster strikes.
