Backups Are Part Of Your Cybersecurity Plan

Introduction

It’s human nature to separate things. Unfortunately, many people think their backup system is separate from their cybersecurity plan. This is not true. Cybersecurity tools and a sound backup system are mandatory for survival.

Breach Detection And Prevention Are Key

Tools such as SOC, SIEM, and EDR are all needed to fight today’s cybercriminals. Your IT department or Managed Services Provider (MSP) will:

Ensure that Enterprise-grade security software is on all devices, updated, and operational.

Patch all systems with the latest updates.

Configure software to reduce vulnerabilities.

Restrict unapproved devices from the network.

Track the network for anomalies and remediate and take immediate action.

Make sure you can recover if attacked.

Backups Serve As The Ultimate Protection

Don’t underestimate the last item in the previous section. Backups are your last line of defense. If breached, your backups will save your company from extinction.

60% of businesses will fail after a catastrophic data loss within six months. Don’t be one of them.

The Type Of Backup Will Determine Your Survivability

We’ve been preaching about the type of backup system businesses should use for many years. But, unfortunately, many look at only cost when purchasing systems.

For instance, data-only backup systems are cheap. You can buy solutions from cloud providers. They have their place, but not as the sole solution for a business. Data-only backup systems limit what they backup, and recovery is slow. Recovery is also dependent upon internet bandwidth. The more data you have, the longer the download will take.

During recovery, time is your enemy. The longer it takes to recover, the less chance your business has to survive. Harsh—but true.

Business Continuity Should Be The Goal

A Business Continuity Solution is the ultimate protection against downtime. Unlike data-only backup, Business Continuity will provide:

An image-based solution for faster and more complete recoveries.

Instant onsite fail-over to restore server functionality from a local onsite device.

Backups are saved to two geographically dispersed data centers for redundancy.

Bare metal restore capability so you can restore systems on different hardware.

Daily backup verification, ensuring that your backups are always viable and available.

Business Continuity Is The failsafe For A Cybersecurity Program

Backup is not separate from cybersecurity—it is a part of a well-rounded security program. When done correctly, backup systems augment an organization’s overall security.

Cybercriminals are smart. They find out how to breach even the most sophisticated systems. If breached, your backup systems will determine whether your company survives or not.