The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, both in business and personal computer use, that most of us are not as prepared as we should be for the various risks that can affect us. Not only are we vulnerable to natural disasters and human-made factors, but we also have systems and devices that can fail us if not set up properly.

Due to the increasing number of risks that can affect our business, it’s now more important than ever that organizations take the necessary steps to ensure that they are prepared for the issues that might affect them. One of the most important steps that businesses should take is to implement a backup and disaster recovery strategy.

For instance, if a fire breaks out at your facility, which severely damages the infrastructure of your business, then all of your patient, client, or customer data might be lost. This type of incident could cause a major disruption to your ability to operate.

In this post, we will talk about various types of data loss and how they can affect your business. We will also discuss how to leverage BCDR to maintain and meet your regulatory compliance obligations.

Forms of Data Loss

In addition to fires and floods, data loss disasters can also occur due to acts such as cyber threats, or natural occurrences like hurricanes or earthquakes. This post will talk about the different types of data loss disasters and how they can affect your business.

Natural Disasters

These include natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods, fires, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. In most cases, mechanical failures, infrastructural damages, and power outages during these events are the factors that could lead to data loss.

Malfunction of Hardware and/or Software

If you don’t have a backup and disaster recovery strategy in place, then failure can be a potential issue that could affect your business. Hardware issues and outdated software versions are often the cause.

Unforeseeable Circumstances

Unforeseeable circumstances can also affect business data. For instance, a worker might accidentally lose a hard disk or external drive, your server room might experience a water leak, or there might be a pest infestation in the building.

Human factor

According to a study conducted by Aberdeen Research, human error is the leading cause of data loss. It can be caused by various accidental acts such as overwriting or deleting existing files, forgetting to backup or restore, and accidentally dropping a liquid on a storage device.

Cyberthreats

Cyberthreats can also affect your business by taking advantage of ransomware, virus attacks, and malware. They could leave your backups and data vulnerable to corruption and irrecoverable. In addition, data loss can be caused by unauthorized access by employees. A study revealed that employee actions account for up to 23% of electronic crime events.

How to Plan and Prepare

Having a proactive approach to preparing can help minimize the impact of these issues on your business.

• Define an acceptable Recovery Point Objective and Recovery Time Objective.

• Perform a business impact analysis and draft a plan on how to recover key functions in the event of a disaster.

• Back up critical business data off-site and on the cloud.

• Train your staff in backup management and data recovery.

• Set up a business continuity team that will take charge during a disaster.

• Conduct threat analysis and define recovery steps for each threat.

• Perform frequent security audits and mock drills to review the efficiency of your disaster response.

• Keep the plan up to date and make sure everyone on the team knows their role.

• Banking information should be stored in a way that it can be accessed quickly and securely in the event of a disaster.

• Invest in a robust backup and disaster management solution that is frictionless, secure, offers SaaS data backup, and doesn’t require extra hardware or network bandwidth.

Leverage BCDR to Achieve and Maintain Regulatory Compliance Obligations

Besides having a robust backup and disaster management solution, taking it seriously also involves ensuring that your business is following proper procedures and policies. Having a robust BCDR solution can help you meet various compliance requirements. It can provide continuous monitoring of your backup activity and provide you with access control over your data.

Having a robust BCDR solution can also help minimize the impact of data loss disasters. It can provide you with the necessary tools and resources to manage your operations in the event of a disaster.

Contact us to learn more about how to build a resilient recovery plan. We are Computers & Crypto of St. Pete. (727) 291-3352. Visit www.computersandcryptoofstpete.com to learn more!

Courtesy of Computer Crypto of St. Pete (Greater Tampa Area)

Courtesy of Computer Crypto of St. Pete (Greater Tampa Area)