Data Vulnerability Could Cost Small Businesses Dear

According to research, almost one million businesses in the UK are at risk of losing company data because they do not back it up. A further 2.8 million risk losing valuable information because they are storing back-up copies in the same location as the original data. This is according to Beaming, a business internet service provider.

Beaming’s survey reveals that 83 per cent of UK firms do back up their data, however half of these save it on storage devices or servers that are on the same premises as the source data, rendering them at serious risk should there be a malware attack or theft or loss of data.

Just as much of concern is that the remaining 17 per cent of businesses surveyed don’t make back-ups at all. The survey reports that of all company types, micro companies and sole traders are least likely to back up their data.

Old School Back-Up Routines

Some small and medium sized businesses are still asking personnel to take physical back-ups home with them, and around a third of large and medium sized organisations copy data to their own servers.

Only 35 per cent of UK businesses are said to store their back-up data off the premises, and 13 per cent of micro businesses and 15 per cent of sole traders use a cloud storage service such as Google or Microsoft as their back-up system.

The recommendation by business continuity experts is that back-ups are made to data storage facilities a minimum of 30 miles from the company premises in order to reduce the risks posed by natural disasters. A lot of businesses however that follow this guidance use cloud storage, and have not bothered to find out exactly where their data is held.

Time to Think Seriously About Data Storage

Sonia Blizzard is managing director of Beaming, the company behind the survey. She says that a lot of businesses, especially the smaller ones, are not doing enough to protect their sensitive data.

She says, ‘The introduction of GDPR has highlighted the need for secure and resilient data storage in order to mitigate the risk of significant data loss.’

‘We’d encourage businesses to think seriously about private cloud or co-location services when it comes to storing highly sensitive data or mission critical applications. These should only be accessed through the most secure forms of connectivity.’

It is vital to think about how your business would function should a loss of data occur. It is also crucial to be aware of the fines that can now be levied under GDPR following a data breach.

If you are unsure as to the integrity of your data storage and back-up methods, you should take advice from an IT security expert without delay.

Research source: http://smallbusiness.co.uk/company-data-safety-store-2544068/

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