We’ve all been there. The computer freezes and the document you’ve been working on for the last hour– without saving– is gone. It is frustrating at best, and at worst it can cause real problems for your workflow. But what happens when the data in question is everything?
Data loss can be devastating to your business. Yet, it is something that too few businesses are prepared to deal with.
We have compiled some of the most important statistics about data loss to help put the importance of having a backup and data recovery plan (BDR) into perspective.
In 2017, 61% of small businesses experienced a cyber attack and 54% experienced a data breach.
And yet 51% of businesses polled still felt they were too small to be the target of ransomware attacks. The reality is, small businesses are a popular target for all sorts of cybercrime, including an increasing number of ransomware attacks.
Small businesses often lack the security and the planning to prevent or adequately address these attacks, making them vulnerable, easy targets. The majority of ransomware victims choose to pay the ransom, but at the end of the day, there is no guarantee you will get your data back, or that you won’t become a repeat victim.
The best thing you can do as a business owner is to backup often, backup in multiple locations (consider the 3-2-1 backup rule), and don’t pay the ransom.
Source: Ponemon Institute’s 2017 State of Cybersecurity in SMBs
On average, companies lose $84,000 for every hour of downtime.
It does not matter whether the cause is a malware attack, an electrical interruption, or a natural disaster. While this number does vary depending on the source, one thing stays the same: when downtime occurs, things get costly.
For minor disruptions, such as a temporary electrical outage, it may make sense to wait it out. But if and when things escalate it is best to have a plan in place that you can refer to. This is where your BDR plan comes into play. It should be designed to consider all the “what ifs” and come up with answers and plans for those scenarios.
Source: International Data Corp
Almost 40% of small businesses permanently close their doors following a natural disaster.
One misconception is that having a BDR in place is all you need if disaster hits. When disaster strikes, your BDR plan focuses on the initial restoration of IT infrastructure and operations. A business continuity (BC) plan is needed in order get your business fully up and running again. A BC plan looks at the continuity of the entire business. Physical copies of both your BC and BDR plans should be stored both off-site, somewhere easily accessible.
Source: FEMA
46% of small businesses have never tested their BDR plan.
As important as BDR and BC plans are to your business, one of the most important steps of implementing either plan is testing. Unless you regularly test your plan, you have no way of knowing if your plan will be effective when it is really needed.
In addition to regular testing, the plan should be tested anytime something in the plan changes. It is also important for your employees to understand their role in the execution of both plans.
Source: Riverbank’s Annual BDR Survey
Don’t become a statistic.
While it does take some time and energy to prepare your business for these eventualities, it is worth the investment to ensure your business survives. Disasters happen, downtime happens, malware attacks happen. The question is not “if”, but “when”.
Contact your managed IT services provider for helping to create or test your BDR and BC plans today.
