In recent weeks, international headlines have been dominated by the Russia-Ukraine war and its potential to escalate into cyberspace due to punishing economic sanctions by the west.
On March 21st, 2022, the Biden administration released a statement calling for the public and private sector to “accelerate efforts to lock their digital doors” in light of the Russian cyber threat.
In response to this statement from the White House, the private sector has taken action and joined the conversation. From Huntress to Keeper Security and COFENSE, the security players in the channel have made it known that they are ready for what’s to come.
Buried deep in an external link in this statement from the White House is a factsheet outlining what individuals and businesses can do to get ready for potential cyber-attacks. Buried even deeper in this fact sheet is a one-sentence mention about backing up essential data and having offline backups.
With all this geopolitical cyberwar mongering, preparing for the worst may seem like a tall hill to climb. Leaving most asking, where’s the best place to start?
With this increased cyber threat in mind and World Backup Day 2022 just around the corner, we recommend you get back to the basics of protecting your data at work, at home, and in all of your daily usage of connected devices.
When preparing for any potential cyber incursion, it’s important to start with backup, widely considered the last line of defense in any cyber resiliency plan.
Take these quick actions as it pays to be prepared:
- Test Test Test: Ensure your backups are operational, secure, and restorable whether they are on-site or in the cloud.
- Double Tap: Make a backup of your backups. This can be a second cloud backup or another physical copy off-site.
- Look into your RTO (recovery time objective): Having a backup of your data is great, but making sure your data is recoverable in a short period of time is even more critical. This helps businesses avoid costly downtime, which can be a business-ending event for many SMBs.
- Don’t forget about RPO (recovery point objective): This is the maximum amount of acceptable data loss after an unplanned incident captured in an amount of time since the most recent backup. This can vary depending on business size. For example, some organizations may just need the most recent backup from close of business, while others require a backup from the point of failure.
- Secure the bag: Ensure your essential data is in an encrypted backup and airgap your backups if that’s possible with your backup solution of choice.
- Take backup practices home: We hope businesses large and small take action, but it’s essential that you bring data backup practices into your everyday life. Your personal photos, phone contacts, and email conversations are important to you, so ensure you have a backup solution in place for your personal devices.
Nows your chance to take action by signing the World Backup Day pledge!
Organizations and individuals alike should take this moment to backup their essential data and personal memories by March 31st, 2022.
NinjaOne for your Data Protection Needs
NinjaOne offers a backup solution to help you maintain and store your crucial IT information. With features such as full image and block-level incremental backup, various storage options, and more, Ninja can help you protect all your essential IT and device data.
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