Nobody said that running a business was easy or stress-free. But few things are as terrifying as waking up one morning, going to the office (whether that office is inside or outside your home today) and finding that all of your data is gone and you’re locked out. Cybersecurity professionals have been known to spontaneously grow grey hairs at the thought of it.
Protecting against ransomware, cyberattacks and hacking events are vital in the modern business world. There are multiple methods in stopping ransomware attacks – which are one of the fastest-growing crimes in the world and require next to no technical knowledge to enact – but your last line of defence will be the backup and the disaster recovery plan.
In the pre-internet days, a disaster recovery plan was generally planned for physical events – fires, floods, physical burglary, and whilst the risks of those haven’t gone away, it is now much more likely that a business will be attacked through the digital world: a successful attack is performed on a UK business every 19 seconds. Data from a leading insurance company suggests that the average demand for a ransomware attack is £25,700.
A backup and disaster recovery plan is your last line of defence against such ransomware – activating it will limit downtime whilst circumventing the attackers demand to release your data because obviously, you will have access to the very thing they’ve attempted to lock you out of. As a result of the huge increase in ransomware attacks, there has been a proactive response from the good guys, such as companies building DRasS – Disaster Recovery as a Service. These are predominantly cloud-based services, which can give you instant or near-instant access to your backed-up files and folders should the worst happen.
But DRaaS doesn’t just protect you in the event of a ransomware attack (though statistically, that is the most likely reason to use one). A cloud-based disaster recovery plan can be a lifesaver in almost any situation – the aforementioned fires and floods, power failures, human errors, non-ransomware cyber-attacks. Even acts of terror, should the unimaginable happen. We understand that it’s sometimes easier not to think about these things (out of sight, out of mind, right?) but such an attitude will, for all but the most fortunate, inevitably end in catastrophe. The clue is in the name: ‘disaster recovery plan’
That’s why disaster recovery and backup plans are so vital to a functioning business – when they work, you’ll barely notice them. When they don’t, and when you don’t have one, you will wish you could turn back time. Though there are many options that we can delve into later, two basic elements make for a great backup and disaster recovery plan – regular backups, whirring away in the background, and a plan that is regularly tested for weaknesses. When searching for a solution, these two elements are essential.
At Intalect, we have our own system, iCONTINUE, giving you peace of mind to run your business, knowing that, if all else fails, we have your back. Find out more here.
