We create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. As of 2016, the world's data usage required 100 million servers, and that number is constantly increasing. At the same time, ransomware attacks have spiked since last year, doubling their frequency. You have a share of this data, but are you taking adequate measures to protect it? You have some options. We recommend starting by backing up your data, and we generally favor a cloud backup. From hard drive failures and ransomware attacks to natural disasters and human error, the possible ways to lose data are myriad. However, if you back up your data, you significantly improve your odds of recovering from any disasters or incidents that happen to your business. However, when you start to look for backup solutions, you may run into 4 common data backup myths that could throw you for a loop. Data Backup Myths (And Why They're Wrong) Myth #1: Data Backup Costs Too Much Backups aren't cheap, but downtime is far more expensive due to downtime and lost productivity. It can affect your revenues and regulatory compliance, which impacts your ability to stay in business. Depending on the severity of the loss, your reputation can also suffer, making growth more challenging. Myth #2: You Need One Copy of Your Data Just as Klingons have major organ redundancies, so too should you have data backup redundancies. Ideally, you should have two extra copies of your data on different types of storage. For example, one hard drive and one external drive or cloud storage. We recommend a cloud backup solution in part because off-site storage prevents your backups from being lost in the event of a local natural disaster. Should your office flood, for example, your data are still on an off-site server. Myth #3: Multiple Copies Guarantee Successful Backups While you definitely want multiple copies of your data, that doesn't do you any good if your backups aren't actually working. Regularly check to verify that your backups are updating and that you can download the files successfully. Backups are just copies of your files, so they are vulnerable to loss or corruption. Test backups regularly or outsource the task to a managed service provider (that's us!). Myth #4: All You Need for Disaster Recovery is a Backup Solution You should invest in backing up your data, but you should also plan for effective disaster recovery. A disaster recovery plan will include the amount of data recovery needed to restore basic operation, the amount of time required to recover the data, and a roadmap for how to move forward. While backups are extremely important, they aren't the whole puzzle. Partner for Success If you want to delegate your backup solution or to get expert input for your disaster recovery plan, we can help. Our team has expertise in data backup strategy, endpoint security, compliance, and data protection, and we monitor novel cyberthreats to find vulnerabilities quickly. Give us a call at 616-776-0400 to explore your options.