Make Every Day World Backup Day

This April Fool’s Eve, on March 31, the organizers of World Backup Day are asking businesses and home computer users alike not to play the joker by taking a simple pledge:

“I solemnly swear to back up my important documents and precious memories on March 31st.”

Now, World Backup Day may seem like a holiday made up by—I don’t know—a company that sells backup and recovery solutions? But that’s not the case! No, while we think it’s an excellent idea, Carbonite can’t take the credit.

According to WorldBackupDay.org, the holiday was organized by concerned internet users asking the question, “What would you do if you lost everything?”

We think that it’s a great idea and a sound reminder of the potential consequences of a lost, stolen or failed device. So, are you ready to take the pledge?

Here are a few tips for celebrating World Backup Day the right way.

As more and more of our lives migrate online, ways to lose our data are proliferating. While there was once a time when we could limit our concern to hard disk failure or device theft, today’s users know it could also be corrupted by malware or held for ransom by ransomware delivered any of a number of ways.

And whether by extortion or sale on the dark web, cybercriminals are smart to the fact that personal and business data holds tremendous value. It increasingly looks like data loss—at least for a time—is inevitable.

But for those willing to take a little initiative, there are reasons for optimism. Backup and recovery solutions today are simple to manage, affordable and non-intrusive. Like the old saw “a stitch in time saves nine,” a little effort on World Backup Day could end up saving precious photographs and essential business data.

Businesses especially should remember the golden rule of data protection when securing essential data: the 3-2-1 rule of backup.

This rule stipulates that all backups should account for three instances of your data (an original copy and two backups); include two local copies on different types of backup media (such as a flash drive and on the cloud); and one off-site storage solution in case of a natural disaster or other device-destroying catastrophe (i.e., securely encrypted in the cloud).

Put another way, this best practice recommends businesses and home users:

The importance of backup is often eclipsed by the latest security scare or large attack making headlines. The details of the latest ransomware variant or astronomic ransomware demands are simply sexier than devising a plan to keep you safe from such an attack. Yet keeping your data safe is more important than ever in today’s risky online environment.

If your business or home media collection isn’t protected with a backup and recovery plan of action, we encourage you to use World Backup Day as a deadline to act. The success and proliferation of phishing and ransomware as a one-two combo mean the risk of data compromise is high. And, whether you own a business or just a scrapbook collection on your home computer, take a moment to consider all you have to lose.

If you do have a backup solution in its place, World Backup Day can serve as a periodic reminder to make sure it’s appropriately configured and working correctly. It’s no time to let your guard down. Maybe you’ve invested in a solution but failed to notice it’s stopped periodically updating. Take a moment to make sure.

Backup is one of the core pillars of cyber resilience, but it’s only a single pillar. Achieving true cyber resilience means developing a comprehensive strategy for safeguarding your digital life. That entails integrated defensive and recovery measures to give your family or organization the very best chance of weathering the storm of a cyber event.

If all else fails in a cyber resilience strategy, it is critical that solid backups are in place to arrest the fall. Backups that can be restored to a precise point in time and will allow you to continue in business without failing to achieve your objectives.

Join Us in Celebrating This World Backup Day

This year, we’d like to invite everyone to join us in taking the pledge for World Backup Day. It’ll only take a few minutes of your time and is surely better than the alternative.

And, of course, we’d be happy to help.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.