Imagine someone holding all your business data to ransom. Is this even possible? Sadly, yes. Ransomware programs typically encrypt user files on computers (including those with pdf, docx, and the other commonly used extensions). You receive a message demanding ‘ransom’ which is typically demanded in dollars or bitcoins. You are given details of an account into which to pay, and if you stall, the price increases. Should you pay, you never know whether the key you are given, will unlock your data or not! With a Cloud based backup system, your data would still be safe and sound.

Save your data, save your business

According to Carte Blanche, damage due to ransomware was sitting at the R1.2 billion mark in 2015, with attacks on the increase. The good news is that businesses do not need to fall victim to this extortion provided that they outsource their data backup to a reputable company offering secure data storage in the cloud. In this way, criminals are not able to access sensitive data and confidential company information, and viruses cannot cause irreparable harm to the running of your business.

Save time, save money

Another advantage to a Cloud based backup system is that backups are fully automated, freeing up time spent by the business owner and his team, on arduous manual backups. Not only is money saved in terms of time spent doing physical backups; money can also be saved when using a credible cloud storage solution, in that the more data there is to be backed up, the cheaper the process becomes, per gig.

Automatic backups: good business practice

The risks associated with physical data backup to external hard drives and tape drives, are completely eliminated. Theft is no longer an issue; neither are physical disasters such as flooding or fire.

They say that ‘assumption is the lowest form of communication’, and in the case of one employee believing that another employee performed the backup the previous night, this is all too real! With cloud backup, human error is a thing of the past. A good cloud backup system automatically backs up data every night.

A backup is only as good as its restore test. A great backup system should perform integrity checks automatically, every single night, offering business owners peace of mind that all their data is perfectly safe, no matter what.

Find out more

We hope that the information in this article will be of value to you and your business, and encourage you to either review your existing setup or immediately implement some of the advice given. If you are not sure how to get started with this, or uncertain of how it affects you and your unique circumstances, please get in touch with us and we will gladly offer you some additional guidance.