Lack of safe storage, organisation, and ignorance increase risks for data Loss

An independent study has found small businesses are using USB flash drives and CDs to back up company data. These devices may be fine for the average homeowner with little data to copy but may increase data losses for small and medium companies in the UK. What is wrong with using cheaper storage solutions to back up data? Many IT professionals are choosing devices which are too sensitive to protect day-to-day operations of their company and allowing data to be lost more easily.

Nearly 90% of business officials participating recognised how damaging this would be to their business, but 62% were still backing up critical files to an external hard drive instead of a networked NAS device leaves the company more vulnerable to data loss and hacking. Many businesses said they know securing data properly is important, but they use consumer methods that may not provide redundant drives to secure critical data. Beyond this, too many employees may have access to critical files. These files are being stored on devices that fail too easily.

IT managers unable to find data increases opportunity for Losses

It isn’t only incorrectly saving data that is a problem. IT managers admit that some of their files are managed by a third-party in the cloud and these files cannot be found once inside. Up to 74% of businesses participating in the survey had no tracking method of locating files in a cloud. Files in a cloud are supposed to be safe from hackers, so why does it matter if so many senior management staff don’t know where their data is?

Using cloud service isn’t a fool proof method for keeping sensitive data safe. Files can still be lost, misplaced, accessed by unknown individuals, or leave the company with a former employee. Considering the penalties for UK businesses who do not comply with new data privacy regulations, data organisation should be made more of a priority.

Can you think of a better reason why you should not get anti-malware or a virus protection program to protect your computer? Isn’t it nice to know that you still have options if your computer is overtaken by hackers? We can help recover data lost because of hackers or simply erased.