From your cute kitten videos to your company’s proprietary product secrets, a majority of your digital assets would be difficult or impossible to recreate if they were destroyed and became inaccessible. Yet, it’s likely your data is at risk: one in five American computer users report they have never performed a data backup.1
If you feel like your data protection practices are lacking (or nonexistent), you can rectify data loss vulnerabilities by pledging to perform a thorough backup of your valuable data in honor of World Backup Day. With its inconspicuous genesis from a 2011 Reddit post, World Backup Day has catapulted into a globally recognized day—touted by many data protection and cybersecurity players that offer special promotions to encourage people to take action and preserve their most valuable and even mundane, digital assets.
On average, Americans spend nearly seven hours per day using the internet2, generating reams of structured and unstructured data from cryptocurrency wallets to social media comments. Backing up your personal and professional data is an essential step towards protecting it from an array of threats, including hard drive crashes, accidental deletions, theft, and debilitating viruses and malware.
It’s no coincidence that World Backup Day falls on March 31st, because if you participate, you won’t feel like a potential fool on April 1st. Here are a few tips to ensure your data is protected on World Backup Day and the days going forward.
Follow the 3-2-1 method
A tried-and-true backup methodology is to create at least three copies of your data, with two local copies on different devices in separate physical locations (e.g., computer, phone, external hard drive), and one offsite copy (public or private cloud). This method provides ample redundancy if one of your devices is destroyed or stolen or your offsite source is compromised.
Create immutable backup copies
While it may save time and expense to overwrite certain types of data when regularly performing backups, creating immutable copies (data that cannot be modified or deleted) ensures that your data is fully recoverable if disaster strikes. If storage capacity is a concern, consider creating immutable copies of your most valuable data, such as financial records, medical history, and favorite photos and videos.
Be aware of the shared responsibility model
With many people relying upon SaaS applications and cloud-based services to execute their daily work, they often assume it’s the vendor’s responsibility to protect the data they create with those applications. However, if you read the fine print of the service agreements, you’ll find that the vendor is typically responsible for the physical hosting and network required to offer reliable service uptime. Protecting the information contained within the application or service is the responsibility of the user. Therefore, you should back up all of the data in SaaS applications and cloud services to stay fully protected.
Take advantage of the spirit behind World Backup Day and ensure perpetual access to your valuable digital assets.
- Backblaze, The 2022 Backup Survey: 54% Report Data Loss With Only 10% Backing Up Daily, June 2022
- DataReportal, Digital 2023: Global Overview Report, January 2023
