The backup benefit for cybersecurity is a critical one. An unexpected cyber-attack or natural disaster can occur without warning and wreak havoc on a corporations’ IT infrastructure. According to Veeam’s 2022 Data Protection Report, the average downtime costs a corporation $1,467 per minute. Although this is a staggering number and possibly weighed heavily by organizations that have larger monetary assets and profit margins, it still provides evidence that time is of the essence when responding to an outage. Having a plan in place prior to an incident can alleviate profit loss and minimize downtime if something does occur.
Backup Benefit for Cybersecurity – What is a Backup Within the World of IT and Cybersecurity?
A well-respected British newspaper known as The Economist, has reported that data officially became the most valuable asset in the entire world. With that, maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive business data became an essential task. Creating an identical copy of the most important data and storing it elsewhere to utilize at a later date can save businesses from copious amounts of unnecessary downtime.
There are various viable methods that businesses could utilize to backup data. Depending on the amount of data and how often data is planned on being backed up, the organization can choose to implement full backups, differential backups, incremental backups, and mirror backups. Third-party managed service providers, such as Kirkham.IT, provide a streamlined outsourced cybersecurity option for businesses that need extra assistance with the implementation of cybersecurity foundations. Disaster recovery and backups of data are both essential pieces of cybersecurity and must not be overlooked. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 40% of small and mid-sized businesses never reopen after being faced with a natural disaster. This is largely due to poor planning and the loss sensitive business data.
Best practice often recommends that organizations create three cyber security backups, two which are located on site on different devices or different methods of backups, and one that is located off-site incase there is an emergency where local backups are destroyed or corrupt. An example of these backups can include something such as a backup on a local computer, an external hard drive, servers, or through a third-party cloud-based service.
Backups As Part of Disaster Recovery Plans
If following NIST CSF or ISO 27001 publications for cybersecurity, it is highly encouraged that organizations integrate disaster recovery efforts and planning into the cybersecurity documentation and processes. Disaster recovery relies heavily on the ability to retrieve a backup of the critical data and restore services in a timely manner.
Disaster recovery documentation should outline items such as critical assets, recovery time objectives, personnel involved in the process as well as specific procedures necessary to restore services. Periodically throughout the year, management should encourage table-top exercises or dry-run throughs, so all personnel are aware of how to successfully implement disaster recovery efforts.
Cybersecurity Benefits of Backing Up Data and Creating a Disaster Recovery Plan
Apart from the obvious of saving the business time and money to ensure as little downtime as possible, there are other benefits that often get overlooked. Customers and business partners want to ensure that sensitive data that was shared with the organization remains safe and secure. Having documented processes and procedures in place or having an outsourced third-party cybersecurity team of individuals working directly with the organization can boost the reliability and trust of the organization.
In addition, as businesses grow the need for additional backups and disaster recovery efforts may require expansion to incorporate new hardware, new data, or new personnel. By working directly with a managed service provider, such as Kirkham.IT, the ease to expand and incorporate new cybersecurity measures are much easier than keeping that in-house.
As previously mentioned, it is important that if following a cybersecurity directive such as NIST or ISO that the business can meet all standards required within the directive. Doing so allows the business to achieve certification of compliance which can be an attractive feature to potential clients or customers.
In Summary – Backup Benefit for Cybersecurity
The backup benefit for cybersecurity should always be considered when it comes to your business. Natural disasters or malicious cyber attacks can occur without warning and can take down a whole business operation in seconds. Being prepared by implementing a disaster recovery plan to include performing backups on a routine schedule can save businesses time and money. Going a step further and allowing for a third-party cybersecurity team to assist with various processes to include storing data and documentation of procedures can allow for ease of future growth along with trust amongst potential clients and customers. Being one step ahead of a potentially bad situation can allow for time to plan and ultimately allow for a full recovery with minimal disruption.
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