In the modern age of technology, it is essential that you backup your business data. Tech has opened doors to opportunities for cyber criminals to cause real carnage on our systems – regardless of the sophistication of the security measures you implement, there is still a chance that an attack could be successful, therefore it is for this reason that you must be prepared for the worst-case scenarios.
Unfortunately, the majority of small business backup systems leave a lot to be desired, as they don’t address the most basic of backup needs and ignore some of the most common threats to your data.
Backup
Backup is the process of copying your files to a location in case the original data is lost or stolen – business owners often have two, three, or sometimes even four copies of their data spread around in different locations. In the modern world of work this is important, because you must be able to continue working in the event of a disaster and how are you going to do that without any of your vital business data?
Disaster recovery
Your disaster recovery plan should involve a set of policies and procedures that your team must follow to the letter, because this is the only way you can guarantee your vital systems will still be functional in the wake of a disaster, whether it be caused by a human or nature. Again, disaster recovery is a way of being prepared for the worst - you must be able to get back to working at some semblance of the capacity and quality you were able to pre-disaster as soon as possible.
Let’s explore some of the reasons a backup may be necessary. It is not just large-scale cyber attacks that are of concern - the real problem is much worse than that.
The Methods of Cyber Attack
Malware
Malware is a type of file that has been designed to intentionally undermine the functions of an application or an entire computer system. There are many different variants of Malware, but predominantly it is embedded into email attachments and is used to attack your network.
Ransomware
Ransomware is the name of an attack that works by locking and encrypting your access to your own data. A particularly frustrating attack - your data is still on your system and visible as it would be but you have no access to it. Once having gained access to your data, the cyber criminals will make demands for a ransom (usually a lot of money under the threat of distribution or deletion), and they then go in for the kill by introducing a sense of urgency to force your hand (knowing that if you have too long to think you are not likely to pay).
The reason is simply because paying them would be the worst possible choice for you, but why not just pay them anyway? If you are only going to be down by X amount when the data is worth far more, what is the problem? You will be more careful next time, right? Wrong - paying simply broadcasts your naivety and willingness to pay, and they may simply ask for more. Would you trust a criminal any other time? No, so why is this any different?
Phishing
A Phishing attack is only successful due to deception. Criminals assume a false identity in fraudulent emails in an attempt to fool you into granting them access to your system or releasing private confidential information.
Imbedded in the Phishing Email will be a malicious link, which will redirect you to another site which will prompt you to input sensitive information - depending on the sophistication just clicking on the link could be enough to grant access. The cyber criminal will again attempt to force your hand before you or your team get a chance to go through the Email and determine its authenticity – if believable, the user clicks the embedded link and facilitates the attack.
Check out our following article explaining what is included in our AC360 Scale offering - a backup, Disaster Recovery Plan, and management offering that gives you peace of mind about your business continuity.
Cloud Computing
AsiaCloud Solutions provides high-quality, reliable, and cost-effective Managed IT services to help your organisation succeed with IT. We offer a combination of enterprise-grade technology along with a fast, scalable, personalised service. We provide world-class IT you can rely on at affordable prices, with our specialists supporting you with a proactive service from right here in Singapore. Contact us now and find out what we can do for you.