Expert advice for World Backup Day

In 2011, March 31^st marked the first annual World Backup Day. 12 years later we continue to acknowledge the importance of and raise awareness on backing up data.

Given the rising prevalence of working from home, it is now of top priority that people both understand cyber security, as well as act on preventative measures to stop cyber criminals.

With the connected world and internet of things, devices are rarely singular entities anymore. Most are part of a larger network, meaning if one is vulnerable, they all are.

Listen to the experts

Aptly summed up by Chris Dyke, Sales Direction at Allied Telesis: “Backing-up a large network can be a complex, time-consuming, repetitive, and mundane task, the approach must be to just keep calm and continue backing up or risk a major catastrophe such as losing business data through a cyberattack.”

Christine Gadsby, VP, Product Security, Blackberry said: “We are in the midst of a data revolution and citizens and enterprises must pay closer attention to the security of their information and where it lives. With spring cleaning top of mind for many, World Backup Day serves as an important reminder that just like your closet, your data needs to be clean and organised.”

Backing up your files – so that they exist somewhere other than just your phone or computer – ensures their safety and longevity. This may mean you get to keep sentimental photos, but it also extends to more sensitive information – particularly pertinent for businesses.

Jack Bailey, Director of Sales and Channel, iland said: “If your organisation generates any business data - and it will – then it is crucial to treat every day like World Backup Day. Two years into the pandemic, business data continues to grow at an insane pace. As data grows and more data is needed to be stored and secure, this is having a dramatic effect on what organisations are demanding from their backup solutions.”

“The answer is to auto-backup as part of an autonomous management framework. This will ensure that an incremental daily back-up of the firmware, configuration, and other files important to switch operation (such as scripts) are secured,” Dyke continued.

“They will always be instantly available if required to load onto a new network device or restore a current device. Auto-backup removes a time-consuming task from network admins and provides peace-of-mind with the knowledge that there is always a complete and up-to-date network back-up available.”

Jerry Caponera, Vice President, CyberRisk at ThreatConnect believes World Backup Day should be a reminder for organisations to re-evaluate strategies, and for CISOs to communicate the importance across their entire business. By doing so, they will be able to limit threats and protect overall data which is intrinsic to their operations at a time when the world is seeing a surge of cyber attacks.

Caponera said: “Most security leaders struggle to communicate how vulnerable their organisations are to their fellow C-suite executives because they can't convert threats and vulnerabilities into the real picture. CISOs need to quantify risk in monetary terms, identify the specific threats the company is facing and then use this intelligence to prioritise operations. By taking this risk-based approach, businesses will be able to limit threats and protect overall data which is intrinsic to their operations.”

John Davis, Director UK & Ireland, SANS Institute, EMEA summarised startling statistic on cyber attacks: “A staggering 83% outlined that phishing was the most common threat vector. However, only eight percent of organisations have set up multifactor authentication and forced employees to change passwords since their most disruptive breach or attack of the last 12 months, in cases where breaches had material outcomes.”

Working from home

Companies must ensure they have unified business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) solutions in place. In terms of cyber crime, this means ramping up security measures and automated backups.

However, no matter much times and resources you put into your office’s network, working from home has opened up an entire new frontier of cyber threats.

Consultancy, Deloitte, offered the following tips for those working from home:

• Train staff to manage sensitive data
• Regular checks for new and tactical IT solutions
• Security monitoring for devices and users so companies can proactively identify and correct mistakes in managing sensitive data
• Capability and capacity assessment such as checking capability to get entire IT infrastructure running quickly after a ransomware attacks
• Validate security effectiveness for important service providers, suppliers and sales partners