You may realize that your tap is leaking by the dripping sound it makes, but your business may be losing data and you could be oblivious to this fact. In a world where we depend on our data for business survival, this is not OK.
Many people equate data loss as one of the consequences of a cyber-attack. A cyber-attack does result in loss of data, and these threats are increasing by the day. A Symantec survey estimates that targeted attacks against small businesses rose 91% in 2013, and this includes ransom ware attacks, where hackers encrypt important data, freeing the data only if those who need the data pay up. Instances of the infamous Reveton ransom ware striking companies increased by 45% between the first and second quarters of 2013, and more than one in two hundred computers on average were afflicted with ransom ware attacks in Europe and USA.
But, surprisingly, there is a good chance that even more data could be lost during your normal daily routine. Servers turning off, data not saved due to power failure or a technical glitch, files being corrupted due to failure in ejecting USB or shutting down the system properly, data overwritten inadvertently, an older version of a file overwriting a newer file – these are all common instances afflicting even the best of companies and the most efficient of executives. Furthermore, in today’s age of smartphones, tablets and the BYOD environment, even a theft of a phone could result in major data loss. The U.K. police estimates that about one in five of all thefts in Britain now results in the loss of sensitive data.
All these occur much more frequently than one would imagine, in spite of the best of efforts to streamline and automate data collection and prevent such glitches.
Regardless of the reason, data loss can be devastating to a company. Data is the lifeblood of any business, and depending on the type of data they lose, companies could become liable for damage, lose business opportunities, or lose their intellectual property and trade secrets. It could also have negative repercussions on those responsible for the data, leading to loss of morale and productivity.
Ring-fencing the data, encrypting it to prevent those who steal data and deploying security measures to prevent cyber-attacks is necessary, but there is only one way to truly prevent data loss: by having a reliable recovery strategy for everything you need to backup. The imperative for IT directors and managers should be two kinds of reliability – a reliable recovery and a reliable vendor. Look for the vendor who can ensure that your data remains available no matter what happens to your own physical or virtual infrastructure. STORServer offers comprehensive, fully integrated and scalable backup solutions that include both data protection and backup plans, with industry-leading hardware and software. If you want to make sure your data is protected, contact us today.
