Protecting Your Organization Against Data Loss

In today’s world, data backup protocols are one of the most important aspects of storing and handling your organization’s data. This data can include anything from your organization’s day-to-day files and records, to sensitive client information such as names, addresses, and financial information. Data loss can occur for a variety of reasons, ranging from physical hardware damage to cyberattack. In this article, we take a look at some common threats to your data and how you can mitigate the risks for your organization.

Backup Your Organization’s Data

Accidental Physical Disasters
One of the most immediate threats to your organization’s data is through physical disasters. These can include anything from a broken pipe leading to water damage on equipment, or a fire in the building. If your data is stored locally on hard drives at your office, any damaged equipment can lead to the permanent loss of this information. If your backups are also stored locally in you server room, a single disaster can destroy both your in-use and backed-up copies.
Data loss of this scale can result in devastating impacts to your organization’s ability to function, as many files that your team uses on a day-to-day basis may now be erased.

Malware Attacks
In recent years, malware attacks have become a common threat to any organization with digital resources. Some types of these malware attacks, such as ransomware, targets your data. For example, in a ransomware attack a cyberattacker encrypts your organization’s data, demanding a ransom to be paid for its safe release. In these types of attacks, the attacker relies on the leverage that your organization cannot function without its data. However, if you have up-to-date backups of this information, you can simply restore your systems, reducing its danger towards your company.

Ensure that your archives are kept organized
In the event of a disaster, time is often of the essence. In these situations, it is essential that your organization is able to restore its system files to continue normal functioning. To support this, it is important to ensure that your data backups are kept organized. This will ensure that you will be able to navigate and restore these files efficiently.

Monitoring your backups

While automatic processes are often used to automate the backup process, reducing the resource strain on an organization, it is also important to monitor the content and size of these backups, to ensure that the information that is being saved is complete and correct. It can be devastating to an organization that believes that its data is fully protected to discover that its backups for the last 6 month are incomplete or corrupted.

Ensure that Antivirus Software is up-to-date

One of the most effective methods of preventing your data from being damaged by cyberattack is by preventing intrusion. Endpoint antivirus software can assist by providing a layer of protection against malware threats. Many of these software also provide features such as file quarantining and routine system scans to ensure that your organization’s computers are always protected. Keeping this software up-to-date should always be at an upmost priority for cybersecurity, as it often serves as a first line of defense.

Working with a dedicated IT team
Data backup protocols are an ongoing effort that takes time and resources. Many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) such as GIGE Corporation offers services to assist you in keeping your data backed up, and monitoring them to ensure that you are always protected against data loss.

Don’t fall victim to data loss. GIGE Corporation has over 30 years of experience managing and deploying data backup strategies for Canadian organizations. Get started with us today by calling +1 888 366 4443 or emailing info@gige.ca