Cyberattacks are in the ultimate spotlight right now. If you’re like any other business in the US, you’re probably taking an alarming note of your security – with good reason. The Washington DC police April ransomware attacks are reaching a dead end on negotiations, and gas prices are shooting up while supply in the southeast US draws scarce as Colonial Pipeline still works out its multi-million-dollar extortion from Russian hackers.
The recent news makes you wonder – if the nation’s government and the largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the U.S. can’t protect themselves from malware, ransomware, and cyberattacks, then who can?
You can if you start building a comprehensive security plan and leverage an experienced partner to assist you.
At Clients First, we specialize in proactive security, backup, and disaster recovery solutions. Our number one goal is to make sure our clients don’t end up a growing statistic in businesses of all sizes who experience the intense consequences of a cyberattack, including but not limited to expensive ransoms, legal implications, lost integrity with customers, and in too many cases, the cost of the business itself.
Over 90% of businesses that have lost their data for more than ten consecutive days were out of business within one year. This is a prime example of why having a business continuity plan is so important.
For more information read: The True Cost of IT Downtime now.
With compromised cybersecurity becoming so pervasive, you should be doing one of these two things starting yesterday: looking to expand your protection with a new data backup partner or evaluate the effectiveness and coverage with the one you have.
Here, we are providing you with the detailed information about data backup and security you need, along with the top 10 questions you need to ask your current or prospective provider to ensure your guarded (or at least you are taking the right steps to get there as quickly as possible).
Regardless of the business you have, if you have any IT downtime, it comes at a cost to your business. In some cases, like that of the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attacks, it also comes at a cost to your consumers and shines a big unwelcome spotlight on your own vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, many people associate IT downtime strictly with IT, but it’s about the business as a whole. Recent news is opening people’s eyes to this pretty quickly.
Rule of thumb is that if you go more than ten days without access to your data, it has a larger chance of being the end of your business. The potential loss of your business is why backing up your data and having a disaster recovery plan are so important.
A business continuity solution can help your business get back on track almost immediately in the event of any data loss, cyberattack, ransomware attack, or malware invasion.
The concept of Backup as a service (BaaS) is when a business purchases cloud-based hosting, storage, recovery, and backup services from an provider. Many small and medium businesses utilize these services to keep their data protected and allow their business to grow. BaaS offerings can include everything from database management, cloud storage, user access, remote updates, and any other services that allow the business to focus on the front-end user piece of the application and process without having to worry about the more technical aspects of maintenance and management.
Cloud data backup services simply make duplicates of all critical data that your business has. Disaster recovery plans are in place so that if something happens, you have a plan to reassess your information and systems.
When you’re using public cloud solutions, you’re using a web-based service where a third party manages services on a shared, secured internet where you’re allowed to pay based on the amount of bandwidth your business personally consumes.
A private cloud consists of cloud resources used by and dedicate to one business exclusively. Private cloud environments can be located on-site at the company or hosted by a third-party – the services and infrastructure are always maintained on a private network and dedicated to the organization. With a private cloud service, you’re able to build, develop, and manage your own cloud service. Unlike a public cloud solution, you’re in full control.
Hybrid cloud solutions combine the best of both public and private cloud solutions. Your data will be backed up with both an internal and external cloud system. This way, you have some control over the protection and a third-party provider to keep your data secure.
To learn more read: 5 Essential Benefits of Hybrid Cloud Disaster Recovery
Once you understand the layout and importance of the components above, you’ll want to make sure you’re asking the right questions before committing to a provider who should be protecting you from the growing cybersecurity threats to businesses today.
Here are the top 10 questions you should be asking your data backup provider. Your data backup provider should be able to answer these quickly and supply you with supporting documentation.
With the increased risks of cyberattacks, having a disaster recovery plan in place to recover that information will keep your business running and protect you from the catastrophic outcomes that these assaults can cause should be at the top of the priority list. The choice is clear: delay and pay, or plan and prosper.
Clients First offers different storage size and performance options to make it easy to match the right solution to your needs. Should your storage or feature requirements change, we offer a riskfree upgrade program that allows your security and backup solution to grow at the speed of your business. For more information on EverSafe, contact our infrastructure experts today!