Picture this – your office has just had a power cut and you’ve forgotten to click save. Okay, you’ve only lost 20 minutes of work, but that’s 20 minutes of work you’ll never get back. With the correct solutions in place you can ensure that you can recover from data loss regardless of whether it’s 20 minutes on an unsaved document, or whether it’s a mass data breach.
What causes data loss?
Data loss can be caused by many reasons; theft, malware, natural disasters, sudden power outages, disgruntled employees or the biggest known cause of data loss – human error.
As we saw very recently, human error resulted in a data breach for the Hillsview Academy in Teesside. Malware is another human-powered cause of data loss. In recent years we’ve witnessed plenty of cases where malware has not only impacted businesses but society as a whole, such as in the huge WannaCry attack last year. Because of this attack 7000 NHS appointments were affected, radiation levels were recorded manually in Chernobyl, and German trainlines ground to a halt.
The true cost of data loss extends far beyond what we might initially think.
Fines and loss of revenue
Regardless of the imposing fines (£500,00 under the Data Protection Act, soon to increase to £20million or 4% of global turnover under GDPR) the loss of revenue caused by business downtime whilst you deal with data loss could in itself be crippling for most businesses: 51% of companies that suffer major data loss shut down within two years. If you don’t have the correct solutions in place to enable continuity and reduce business downtime, then major data loss could even cause irrecoverable damage.
Damage to reputation
Now more than ever, particularly with last year’s major cyberattacks, customers are prioritising data protection and recognising the reputational damage data loss can cause. Ultimately, exposing customer data will break the consumers’ trust, and that is something you will have to earn back.
Preventative and reactive measures
The most important thing to bear in mind is that even the most businesses can suffer data loss. The key to protection is to ensure that you have both preventative and reactive measures in place. At alphatech we recommend three complimentary solutions: Offsite Data Backup, ESET Encryption, and ESET Antivirus.
Offsite Data Backup will ensure that any lost data can be recovered quickly, reducing your business downtime. ESET Encryption will enable you to send documents in a completely secure encrypted format, encrypt emails, or even your entire machine. ESET Antivirus will protect your laptops and PCs from computer viruses, keeping you secure.
All three of these products are available individually or can be included in a monthly managed service package. As no two businesses are the same, our consultants can help tailor a package to suit your business needs. Click below or give us a call for more information.