Data loss is one of the worst events that can befall a business. When this happens, you either have to spend a lot of money and manpower on recovering that lost information or rebuilding your database altogether. Data loss happens when important business information becomes unrecoverable or corrupted. There are many ways it can happen.
For one, a cyberattack can let hackers steal or lock you out of your data. In fact, information loss brought on by recent cyberattacks cost U.S. businesses over $5.9 million. This is seconded only by business disruption, which cost around $4 million.
Another common reason would be software or hardware problems on your computer(s). Hard drives are made of moving parts that can fail due to drops, heat issues, firmware corruption, and more. When these components fail, they take all your important business data along with them. A power surge could also send enough electricity into your computer to fry most of its components, including storage drives.
Information loss can quickly and easily ruin your business’ operations. So how can you protect your company against it?
Protect Your Hardware
Power surges happen when electricity is interrupted and started again, and can send high-voltage electricity into your appliances, causing irreparable damage. This can happen when lightning strikes or your power provider turns your electricity off and then on again in quick succession.
You can’t prevent power surges from happening, but you can protect your computers from them. Hire an electrician to inspect every outlet and ensure that they’re all grounded. You should also have them install a surge protection device on your electrical panel. And to really make sure that your computers are safe, plug them into an uninterrupted power supply (UPS). These devices have built-in surge protection and an internal battery, giving you time to save your work and shut down your PC properly.
Diverse Backup Methods
Saving all your data in just one computer or a few hard drives is a big risk for your business. If they break, they take all your information down with them. You should use the 3-2-1 backup rule. This means you should have three backups of important data in two different storage types. Then, store one copy in an offsite backup solution.
Ask your IT administrator or service provider to install network-attached storage (NAS) in your office. This is a central server where you and your employees can drop copies of the files you work on. You can also hire an archiving compliance solutions provider that can automatically save your website, email, and messaging data. When it comes to offsite backups, use cloud storage solutions such as Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive.
Restrict Data Access
Even if your workers exercise care when accessing your NAS, some might end up accidentally deleting important and confidential files. To prevent this from happening, ask your IT team to create access levels. This allows you to restrict access to high-level data to executives or certain employees only. Be sure to update the access list as time goes on to be sure that only authorized users can enter this level of the server.
Data loss spells disaster for your business. It can cause major productivity disruption and loss of customer loyalty if you end up losing their sensitive data. Protect your high-level information by following these suggestions. With fully-protected equipment, a diverse backup scheme, and data access restriction, you’ll rest easy knowing that your data is safe and easily recoverable.
