Suffering the loss of data is one of the great trials of any company, large or small, today. In 2017, only 43% of data breaches affected small businesses, however out of those small businesses who were affected 60% of those were unable to recover and had to close. (Mansfield, 2017) A data breach can be a catastrophic event for a small business. Of course, it can be catastrophic for a large business as well. In the last few years we’ve seen companies like Equifax, Anthem, and EBay with millions of user accounts impacted in massive data breaches. (Armerding, 2017)

 

I recently had the misfortune of suffering a loss of data, myself. I was sitting and working at a coffee shop, finishing up the editing of a chapter of a client’s book. I paused for a minute to think through some changes I’d just made, when I realized the last paragraph I’d just read really belonged in a previous section. When I went to move it, I made a near-fatal mistake. I accidentally deleted the entire chapter.

 

Everything was okay, I reasoned, ctrl-Z. I can easily bring it back. But, for some reason I could not bring back the chapter. I hit ctrl-Z about five hundred more times, to no avail. The text was gone. The entire chapter of my client’s work. I checked the trash, I checked everywhere. It had simply disappeared. Now, it may be of importance for me to explain at this juncture, a key component to this story. I was working on the only copy of my client’s manuscript at the time. Yes, I was up quite a creek.

 

As there was clearly nothing I could do sitting at a coffee shop and continuing to freak out, I closed my computer and finished my coffee. I would continue this journey at home, where I had more resources.

 

Data is a company’s most valued asset. The loss of creative property, client information, or fiscal data, can spell real tragedy for any company. According to the Ponemon Institute, data breaches are on the rise, with the average data breach now costing companies over $7 million in total loss of assets and time. (Sfax Secure Fax, 2017) The effects of data loss can set your company back for months and cause unnecessary stress for you and your staff. It is important, as part of your security strategy, that you look at every available option for data protection.

 

Once home, I enlisted the help of an IT-savvy friend to recover my missing data. Throughout this process, he explained to me the importance of having a multi-pronged data backup plan. Of course, this was not my first rodeo, so I did have a multi-pronged data backup strategy. Our first line of defense was to look to my cloud backup.

 

Within no time we had located my last backup on my cloud service and found the last backup of my client’s project. I emailed the file to myself, but when I went to open it on my laptop I found that the file was corrupted. It could not be sent from the cloud service, because they did not recognize the specialized software I was using. My first line of defense was a bust.

 

We looked to my second line of defense, my One Drive backup. Unfortunately, after mining through my One Drive, we were unable to locate the missing file. Because I had been online when the file deletion had occurred, the backup to my One Drive had happened immediately, meaning I only had the file with the deletion to fall back on there.

 

I remembered that the software I was using had a backup copy within itself. I googled instructions for where to locate the copy and found my missing backup of my client’s deleted file. Third try’s a charm! Boy was I lucky! I was a wreck until I knew my data was safely secured again.

 

Since that time, I no longer leave my data security to chance. I make sure all my clients’ data is backed up in a tested, multiple strategy system and I encourage all companies and individuals to take the same precautions with their data security.

 

Of course, backing up with a cloud service is always a no-brainer. And sign up for automatic renewal on all your data protection services. You can always rethink a service while your data is safely protected. Make sure you have an additional automatic, hard-copy backup for current projects and important data.

 

Solutions for you may be more simple than hard-copy backups with every new project. Consider modern, tested solutions like Marimon’s virus protection and network security services. Here is a way to protect yourself and your data before they are even under threat. Their virus protection and network security services extend to all the devices on your network, including your mobile devices, so they’re looking for threats you are not even aware of, even those that may pop up in your search results or social media profiles.

 

Even if you devise an iron-clad multi-pronged data backup strategy, when it comes to malware you need to know that your company’s and your client’s data are well protected. It makes sense to hire a trusted resource to ensure that the viability of your business is not jeopardized.

 

Marimon has extensive resources and services to protect you from the online threats you can’t anticipate. A virus, Trojan, or other type of malware can cause your system to malfunction or you to lose your data completely. With protection across all your devices, including mobile devices, 24/7 uptime, and automatic updates, a company’s data is much better protected with Marimon virus protection and network security services as part of their data security strategy.

 

Take the time to devise, implement, and test a multi-pronged safety strategy for your company’s data. Make it a priority. If you are unsure of how to accomplish complete security, get in touch with a professional. It isn’t worth the potential complete loss of your livelihood, just because you didn’t take the time to check the real functionality of your backups.

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Armerding, T. (2017, Oct 11). The 16 biggest data breaches of the 21st century. Retrieved from csoonline.com: https://www.csoonline.com/article/2130877/data-breach/the-16-biggest-data-breaches-of-the-21st-century.html

Mansfield, M. (2017, Jan 3). CYBER SECURITY STATISTICS – Numbers Small Businesses Need to Know. Retrieved from smallbiztrends.com: https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/01/cyber-security-statistics-small-business.html

Sfax Secure Fax. (2017, Aug 19). Blog The average cost of a Data Breach in 2017 is $3.62 million. Retrieved from www.scrypt.com: https://www.scrypt.com/blog/average-cost-data-breach-2017-3-62-million/