Increased phishing, ransomware attacks, human error, and greater reliance on the cloud is why backing up data is crucial for businesses.
Over the past year, Covid-19 has led to unprecedented lifestyle changes around the world. Whether you are working from home for the first time, adjusting to the changing social distancing rules, or taking part in eLearning, the pandemic has thrown up various new challenges and cyber threats. As many organisations transitioned to a remote workforce, organisations witnessed a dramatic rise in cyberattacks from hackers looking to exploit remote employees working without the safety net of their corporate network.
According to data from Check Point Research’s 2021 Mid-Year Report, ransomware attacks in the APAC region increased by 13% since the beginning of the year, with Botnet attacks leading the cyberattack category at 41%. Globally, the average number of ransomware attacks increased each week by 20% in May and April, by 41% in the first half of the year and 93% in the last 12 months.
Given the high level of risk that this represents for companies and their data security, Check Point Software wants to highlight the crucial importance of restoring a company’s stolen or encrypted data if it falls victim to a cybercriminal. As such, the data security specialist reveals five reasons why businesses should make backups a priority:
Five key reasons why backing up data is crucial for businesses:
- Preventive measures do not always work: As cybercriminals continue to target the remote workforce, companies have started to expand their cybersecurity strategy through robust defence software, both for the corporate network and the cloud, to update systems and apps regularly, to install a VPN and to increase levels of protection on employees’ devices, as well as to provide cybersecurity training for workers. While these measures do considerably increase the level of protection for a business. It is still possible that they could fail to stop an attack, as cybercriminals constantly develop new ways to get around the defences. It is essential to have a backup plan so that no data is lost in the event of a cyberattack. If a company becomes the victim of a double ransomware extortion attack, having a backup system in place gives them the chance to quickly restore things back to normal.
- Cyberattacks are evolving: Cyberattacks are evolving every day, and cybercriminals are constantly striving to find security loopholes. Companies are often unprepared for new ransomware, phishing emails, and malware. This is why new generation cyberattacks could still get through these defenses and achieve their objectives despite the updates and protective barriers they may have in place.
- Data theft puts a company’s reputation at risk: Losing information by exposing customers’ personal data can have irreparable consequences for a business in terms of reputation and financial loss. Since GDPR came in a few years ago, allowing customer’s personal documents to be compromised can lead to litigation.
- The cloud becomes another attack vector: The cloud has indeed brought great advantages to companies, like reducing costs and allowing remote working. However, storing data on cloud platforms exponentially increases the attack surface through which cybercriminals could access the corporate network. So, it’s a good idea. In fact, it’s essential to carry out regular manual backups of the information stored in the cloud if anything outside the company’s control happens.
- Internal dangers are sometimes undetectable: Unfortunately, even with all possible cybersecurity measures and the best protection software in place, the responsibility of users is fundamental. It is essential to train employees on the different techniques and correct approaches to cybersecurity. Instilling in employees the importance of having up-to-date backups if an unforeseen event or cyber-attack can be one of the best defences.
“Having the security of a backup of our company’s most sensitive and important data gives us many advantages and protects us against any unexpected attacks, both on our company and employees, as well as on our customers and suppliers. This technique is a form of protection in addition to all the hardware and software measures we may have, even if we are migrating our data and files to the cloud,” advised Ian Raper, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand, Check Point Software Technologies.