You would rather not think about it: you open a folder and every file is encrypted. Or your mailbox is empty on Monday morning. Or an employee accidentally deletes important customer data and only notices three weeks later. Without a good backup, there is no way back. In the second edition of The Digital Compass we explain what a backup really is.
A backup you cannot restore is not a backup
Many organisations still see backups as something to sort out one day, or something the IT provider “takes care of”. But criminals deliberately try to encrypt or destroy your backups too. Read more in Ransomware: how criminals hold your organisation hostage.
When you need a backup
Data loss does not have to be the work of a hacker on the other side of the world. A backup protects you against:
- Human error. The most common cause of data loss is not a hacker, but someone accidentally deleting or overwriting something.
- Technical failures. A corrupted mailbox or a crashed laptop with crucial information can do more damage than you think.
- Ransomware. Criminals encrypt your files. Without a working backup you are powerless.
- Sync errors in the cloud. If a file in OneDrive or SharePoint is deleted or overwritten, that is neatly synchronised, mistake included.
Why OneDrive is not a backup
“We have everything in the cloud, right? OneDrive keeps versions, doesn’t it?” We hear that a lot. But with cloud services the rule is usually: the supplier is responsible for the availability of the service, you are responsible for your own data. Recycle bins and version history are useful, but not an equivalent of a full backup. Microsoft 365 does not make full backups of your data by default.
What a good backup really means
Automatic, of all important systems. Not now and then, not “when someone remembers”, but daily, automatic and checked.
At least one backup that is not connected to your network. Ransomware groups know that organisations depend on backups. They deliberately look for connected NAS devices, backup servers, cloud storage mapped as a drive and synchronised folders. If they find them, they encrypt or wipe your backups too. An offline copy prevents you from being left empty-handed.
The 3-2-1 rule. Three copies, on two different types of storage, one of which is offline.
Encrypted. Your backups contain all your important information. If they are not encrypted and an attacker gets hold of them, he has everything.
Tested regularly. The most important step, which almost nobody takes. Many organisations only find out something went wrong at the moment they need the backup.
What you can do today
- Make sure all critical data is backed up automatically every day.
- Make at least one offline backup.
- Test every month that restoring works.
- Record who has access to the backups and keep that as small as possible. Do not use shared accounts.
- Do not keep backups in your regular network “because it is convenient”. You make it convenient for an attacker too.
- Make a plan for when things go wrong: who do you call, what do you do first, and which systems do you restore first?
An independent backup of your Microsoft 365 data is part of Cyber Resilience. Want to know how your organisation is doing first? Take the free Cybercheck.
More in The Digital Compass
This article is based on the second edition of The Digital Compass (in Dutch). It also covers logins, authorisation, smart licence choices and email security.
