Data Backup and Recovery: The Essential Guide For Businesses
Businesses and organizations quickly realize three things during daily operations: computers can crash, people can make mistakes, and disasters can strike when you least expect them to. Data backup and disaster recovery are crucial components of running a successful company. Businesses should plan ahead and have data backup systems in place for the worst. Data backup systems that work well are built using separate drives or an offsite server to store large amounts of data. Data recovery is difficult without these systems, which can lead to data loss when the worst happens. What is Data Backup & Recovery?Data backup and disaster recovery refers to the process that involves backing your data up in case of loss, and creating secure systems to allow you recover your information. Data backup involves the storage and copying of computer data in order to make them accessible in the event of data corruption or deletion. Data can only be recovered from an earlier date if it has been backed up. Data backup is one type of disaster recovery. It is essential to any sensible disaster recovery plan. Backups of data may not always restore all settings and data. Computer clusters, database servers and active directory servers might require additional disaster recovery options, as a backup and recovery may not fully reconstitute them. Cloud storage makes it possible to back up large amounts of data. Therefore, you don’t need to store your data on an external hard drive or local storage. Cloud technologies can be used to set up mobile devices that allow for automatic data recovery. Offsite Servers vs. Independent Drives Because they offer massive data storage at a nominal cost, offsite servers are a good option for data recovery. This is especially true when you consider the inconvenience it saves in the event of an information catastrophe. It is crucial to have a secure and safe place to store your information away from your main business server. Most data recovery is painless. In the rare event that offsite servers do crash, the servers (offsite servers), have already backed up data to their drives. This makes it possible to use an offsite server as a backup and recovery method. Independent drives are another effective way to backup your business data. Terabyte drives can be purchased at a discount store or in high volume stores for a very affordable price. These drives can be used for data storage and retrieval. There are many storage volumes on the market. Depending on what data you need to run your business, you can choose to backup your data daily, weekly or monthly. However, most businesses opt for the first option. For financial data, however, a daily backup almost guarantees your data. Protecting your business data can be done with external drives. Both offsite and external storage options can be essential. It all depends on what type of business you are. Data backup and recovery work in the same way. The only thing you should consider is whether you require a short-term or long-term solution. Also, whether the shorter-term option will be more expensive than the longer-term one. External storage offers more storage, but comes at a recurring fee (payments), while external drive storage is usually a one-time cost (purchase cost), unless the drive fails. Cloud Backup and RecoveryCloud backup or online backup refers to a backup strategy that sends a copy your primary data over a private or proprietary network to an offline server. A third-party service provider (CSP), hosts the server and charges a fee depending on how much bandwidth, capacity or users are used. Cloud data backup can help your company’s data protection strategy, without increasing the workload on your IT support staff. Cloud backup copies data, then stores them on separate media or in a separate storage system. This allows for easy access in the event of a recovery situation. You have several options: Backup your data directly to a public cloud. This involves writing your data to a cloud infrastructure provider. Backup your data to a service provider. You write your data to a CSP that offers backup services in its managed storage. Cloud-to-cloud backup is available for data that lives on the cloud using SaaS (software-as-a-service) applications. This method copies your data into another cloud. Because of the large amount of data, it can take several days for the initial backup to upload over the network. Cloud seeding allows cloud backup vendors to send you a storage device such as a tape or disk drive to back up your data locally. The device is then sent back to the CSP. After the initial seeding has been completed, the provider will only back up your data over the internet. Online data backup systems are usually built around client software applications, which run according to the service level purchased. For example, if you contract a CSP to backup your data daily, the application will compress, encrypt and transfer your data every 24 hours to the CSP’s servers. The CSP might only offer incremental backups after a full backup is completed. This will reduce bandwidth usage and the time it takes to transfer data. Cloud services usually include hardware and software that you need to protect your data. Cloud subscriptions can be purchased on either a monthly or yearly basis. Cloud backup services are also popular among SMBs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) and large corporations. Cloud data backup services can be used by large organizations and companies as an additional option. Learn more about Cloud Backup. Backup vs. Recover The primary difference between backup or recovery is that the former can be used to make a copy of the original data in the event of a database crash, while recovery is the process of restoring the database to its original state after a disaster. Backup refers to a representative copy or data. It includes the essential elements of a database, such as control files and data files. Backup of the entire database is necessary because unexpected database failures can happen. There are two main backup types: Physical Backup: This backup is a copy or a replica of the physical database files. It includes log files, control files, and archived redo logs. It’s a copy of files that store data in another location. This is the basis of the database recovery system. Logical Backup: This is the logical backup that is created from a database. It includes procedures, views and functions. A logical backup is not sufficient to provide structural information. In the case of a database failure, recovery allows you to return it to its original state. This improves the reliability and stability of your database because it allows you to restore the database to its original state after a sudden failure. Log-based recovery is a great way to recover your database. Logs are records that contain transaction records. If you store your logs in stable storage, it will help you recover your database from a failure. It includes information about the transactions to be executed, transaction states and modified values. All of these pieces of information are stored in the order they were executed. Types of data backup Although data backup is a simple concept, it can be challenging to implement an efficient and effective strategy. Software applications for backup are designed to simplify the process of performing recovery and backup operations. Backup is not the end goal. Backup is just a tool to help you achieve your goal of protecting your data. These are the most popular backup types: Full Backup: This is a complete and basic backup operation. It copies all of your data to another media such as a tape, disk, or CD. A complete backup of all your data can be made in one media set. This takes longer and uses a lot more storage space, so it is often used in conjunction with a differential backup or an incremental backup. Incremental Backup: This operation copies only the data that has changed from your last backup operation. Backup applications will keep track of all backup operations and record them. This operation takes less time and uses less storage media. Differential Backup: This backup is similar to an incremental one. It copies all data from the previous episode, but each time it runs it copies all data that has changed since the last full backup. Importance Data Backup and Recovery Backups are created copies of data so that you can retrieve your primary data in case it fails. Data corruption, malicious attacks and accidental deletion can all lead to primary data loss. Backup copies can be used to quickly restore data from an earlier time point to help your business recover from unplanned events. To prevent loss or corruption, it is important to keep a backup copy of your data. You could use a USB stick, external drive or other medium to store the additional data. Or you could use something more substantial like a tape drive or disk storage medium or cloud storage container. The alternate medium can be stored in the same place as your primary data, or it could be stored remotely. Remote storage is a good option if you live in an area where there are high chances of weather-related incidents. To get the best results, backup copies should be made on a consistent and regular basis in order to reduce data loss between backups. The more time you wait between making backup copies, the greater chance of data loss when trying to recover from a disaster. Don’t wait for months to create backup copies. You also have the option to keep multiple copies of your data, which gives you insurance and flexibility to restore your system to a point that wasn’t affected by malicious attacks or data corrupt. What is Disaster Recovery Backup?Disaster recovery (DR) in IT is part of security planning. It is usually developed along with a business continuity program. It is a set of policies and procedures designed to protect an organization or business against any negative events, such as cyberattacks, device or building failures, natural disasters or other significant consequences. Designing strategies to help your business quickly recover its data, hardware and applications for business continuity is crucial. Sometimes, it is considered part of business continuity. A thorough analysis of the business and risks involved in creating a disaster recovery plan is necessary. These steps assist in identifying the IT services that will support your company’s most important business activities. These steps also assist in setting recovery time and recovery point goals. There are three types of disaster recovery measures: Preventive measures: These are designed to prevent an event from ever happening. Corrective Measures are measures that are taken to correct an existing system in the case of a negative event or disaster. Detective Measures: These are designed to detect and discover negative events. A good disaster recovery plan will help you maintain business continuity, even in the most dire situations. Regular checks and exercises are also a good idea to make sure that you have disaster recovery plans in place. This will ensure that all departments within your organization follow the same steps. The Importance and Benefits of Disaster Recovery (DR). Your organization can quickly resume mission-critical functions after a disaster. Disaster recovery is a way for your organization to do so quickly. Businesses today are more dependent and used to having high availability. However, their tolerance for downtime is significantly lower. A disaster can have severe consequences for your business, especially in today’s highly competitive market. It is possible for businesses to fail following significant data loss. Disaster recovery has become an integral part of business operations. Two measurements are used in DR or downtime: recovery time objective (RTO), and recovery point objective [RPO]. RTO is the time it takes for an organization to retrieve its backup files and resume normal operations after a disaster. RTO, in other words is the maximum amount of downtime your organization can tolerate. Your organization cannot afford to be offline for more than two hours if its RTO is 2. RPO: This is the maximum file age your organization can recover from backup storage in order to resume normal operations following a disaster. Your minimum backup frequency will be determined by your RPO. If your RPO is 5 hours, then your system should back up data every 5 hours. RTO and RPO can help you choose the best disaster recovery strategies, tactics, and technologies for your company. To meet tighter RTO window requirements, you will need to ensure that your secondary data is easily accessible whenever needed. One effective way to quickly restore data is recovery-in-place. This technology allows you to transfer your backup files to a live status on your backup appliance. It eliminates the need for data to be moved across a network. This helps protect against storage and server failures. To prepare for a disaster, you must have a holistic approach that includes software and hardware, power and networking equipment. Testing is also required to ensure that DR can be achieved within the RTO and RPO targets. Although implementing a comprehensive disaster recovery plan can be a daunting task, the potential benefits are substantial. What is a Disaster Recovery and Data Backup Plan? Your business is at risk of losing its data forever, incurring unnecessary expenses and causing massive downtime without a solid data backup and DR strategy. These are five compelling reasons to have a data backup plan and DR plan. All Data is a Target: No matter if you’re an attorney, dentist, owner of a pet shop or Fortune 500 company, your data remains vulnerable to attacks. Hackers, viruses, malware and accidents aren’t picky. They can attack your business for a variety of reasons, including acquiring sensitive data or fulfilling a vendetta. It’s easy to lose data: Most data loss is caused by human error or hardware malfunctions, rather than natural disasters. It is easy to lose your data. Some data is irreplaceable: You cannot recover some of your business information once it has been lost. It’s not fun to lose data. Without it, it makes it extremely difficult for employees to work. It’s difficult to manage clients without their account status, contact information, or without your mission-critical business apps. Your restoration efforts will automatically turn into rebuilding efforts if you don’t have a solid recovery plan. Your reputation is important: Losing data or downtime will have a significant impact on the perception of your business by other stakeholders and their relationships with you. A bad reputation can severely impact your business, especially if stakeholders are unable to trust you with their data. Backup and Recovery Software Database Management System (DBMS), is a software package that allows you to manage your databases efficiently and effectively. This makes it possible to properly organize your data. DBMS offers many benefits, such as the ability to store, retrieve, and manipulate data from databases. You can also perform transactions with it and protect your data. Veritas NetBackup is a good backup and recovery program. The Bottom Line Backup and recovery and disaster recovery do not have to be mutually exclusive. Best practices will incorporate both. To protect your business from unplanned losses, you need to have a consistent and reliable data backup and recovery plan. Data backup is only one part of a disaster recovery plan. The latter is part of a comprehensive security plan. You can ensure business continuity by preparing for the worst. Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if need help setting up your data recovery and disaster recovery strategies for your company.SpartanTec, Inc. Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence via Blogger https://ift.tt/2WhDjOW September 28, 2021 at 10:07PM
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Top 5 Features Firewalls Must Have
Traditional firewalls are designed to protect networks from traditional cyber threats. Network firewalls need to be able to protect sensitive data and networks of organizations as the cyber threat landscape changes and grows. We have listed the top five features below that firewalls should have:#1. Organized Security Management Companies must deal with the rapidly growing network security complexity. As mobile devices, cloud deployments and Internet of Things devices join traditional workstations and servers on the corporate network, most companies’ networks become more complex. Cyber threats are also becoming more sophisticated and diverse. Companies must therefore deploy, monitor, maintain, and upgrade their cybersecurity systems to manage cyber risk. The next-generation firewall for an organization should not increase security complexity but help to reduce it. An integrated Unified Security Management (USM), firewall functionality allows an organization’s security staff to manage and enforce security policies throughout their entire network environment. This allows security personnel to keep pace with company’s digital attack surface and reduce cyber risk. #2. Preventing Threats Cyber threats can be accessed for longer periods of time, which will make it more costly to repair. Cyberattacks can be costly and cause additional damage in many ways. Ransomware can cause productivity loss and decreases in profits. Even simple malware can be difficult to get out of a system. Threat prevention is key to minimising the damage cyberattacks can do to a network. An organization can eliminate the threat to its network by identifying and blocking the attack before it crosses it. A network firewall that integrates threat prevention functionality, including anti-phishing and anti-malware, as well as integration with high-quality threat information feeds, is an integral part of any organization’s cybersecurity strategy. #3. Identity and Application-Based Inspection The network landscape of an organization is always changing due to digital transformation efforts. To achieve certain goals, new applications are installed on the corporate network. Others are removed when they are no longer needed. Different applications require different policies. Different applications require different policies. Some applications might be of high priority traffic. Others should be blocked, throttled or managed on the network. The next-generation firewall of an organization should be able to identify the application that generates particular streams of traffic and apply application-specific policies. Organisations can also be made up of people with different roles and responsibilities. The identity of each user should be used to determine the organization’s security policies. An organization’s employees should have access and the ability to use different applications. The managed firewall should allow policy creation and enforcement that is based on user identity. #4 Hybrid Cloud Support Nearly all companies use cloud computing. The vast majority of them use hybrid cloud deployments. Public and private cloud deployments have distinct security requirements. Organizations must be able enforce the same security policies in all cloud-based environments hosted at different vendors. An organization’s next-generation firewall must include hybrid cloud support. The firewall should be easy to deploy and scale in any cloud environment. It should also allow security teams to manage all their security settings from one console. Gartner estimates that 99% of cloud security problems by 2025 will be caused by customers. This pcroblem should be avoided, and the firewall should make it easy for the company to address. #5. Scalable Performance Cloud-based infrastructure has been adopted by many organizations due to its flexibility and scalability. We want to reap the benefits of both the cloud and the on-premises infrastructure. This simply means that you choose a NGFW Template in the cloud. This applies to on-premises systems, and it means that you should look beyond legacy HA clustering options. Hyperscale refers to an architecture’s ability to scale as more users are added to it. This means that the system can seamlessly add and remove resources from the environment to create a larger distributed computing environment. To build a reliable and scalable distributed system, hyperscale is essential. Hyperscale is simply the tight integration between storage, compute and virtualization layers in an infrastructure to create a single architecture. It can be difficult to choose the right firewall for your company. There are many options available and not all are created equal. There are many options for firewall solutions, from small gateways to large-scale solutions. Understanding the essential features of a next-generation firewall is the first step to choosing one that will protect your network security. This guide will help you understand what features to look for when choosing a firewall. After you have identified what you are looking for, you can contact SpartanTec, Inc. so we can help you determine which firewall solution will work best for you.SpartanTec, Inc. via Blogger https://ift.tt/2XLizzq September 24, 2021 at 10:38PM
How to Protect Your Small Business from Cyber Threats
Nearly all SMBs around the globe are internet-dependent. Cyberattacks are making headlines daily. Small and medium-sized business owners (SMBs), need to recognize that cyber risk is a business risk. Although headlines often focus on large corporations or household brands, cyberattacks on small and medium-sized companies are increasing. Ponemon Institute’s recent Global State of Cybersecurity in Small and Medium-Sized Business Report found that nearly two-thirds of small business had been the victim of a cyberattack in just the past 12 months. This number rises to 76% in the United States, a 20 percent increase over three years ago. These attacks can have severe consequences for businesses, including data loss, employee downtime, and the cost of restoring operations. Data breaches can cause reputation damage, legal damage and financial loss. A single data breach costs SMBs an average of $149,000. An attack on a small business can be fatal for those with limited resources. According to reports, 60% of small businesses have had to close down after a cyberattack. Cybersecurity For Small BusinessesEvery small business owner can take proactive measures to identify potential threats and protect company data with the help of a cyber security company. Cyber risk should not be considered a problem only for IT departments. It must also be considered as one of the most dangerous sources of risk to an SMB. Security should be a top business priority. A recent survey from the U.S. Small Business Administration found that 88% of small-business owners think their business is at risk of being cyberattacked. This is not surprising, given that many companies had to quickly adapt to a remote working environment due to the pandemic. Many organizations did not have the necessary cybersecurity infrastructure or training to deal with the increased risk. A recent survey of cybersecurity professionals at U.S. companies found that 20% of respondents said they had suffered a security breach due to remote workers. Cyberattacks are becoming more common and targeted. SMB owners need to understand their business’ vulnerabilities and the resources available to them to prevent, detect, and respond to such attacks. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, a U.S. federal agency, assists SMBs in developing and deploying a customized cybersecurity program by providing best practices, self-assessments and a roadmap of resources. SMBs can be exposed to a wide range of cyber vulnerabilities if they don’t manage them. Inform employees about cybersecurity. Business owners need to raise awareness about the risks and take steps to mitigate them as part of their cybersecurity program. It’s more than just a technical conversation. It’s a strategic conversation. Employees are often the first line of defense. They can help a company with its cybersecurity efforts in many ways. * Install software patches and updates immediately: These patches and operating system updates are essential to protect company assets. * Protect passwords from disclosure with strong passwords: As more people work remotely and use personal devices for work, it is important that employees keep their personal and work passwords separated to minimize the chance of someone gaining unauthorized access to company data and systems. Global State of Cybersecurity in Small and Medium-Sized Business Report: 70% of SMBs reported that passwords of their employees were lost or stolen in the last year. * Identify suspicious activity such as emails or website links coming from unknown sources. The same report found that 57% of SMB attacks were sophisticated phishing attacks. SMB owners need to help their employees understand the risks and the mitigation steps that can be taken to stop unauthorized access to company data. Cyber insurance can help protect your business assets. Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated and frequent. Business owners need to prepare for them, rather than waiting for it to happen. It is no longer about “if” but “when” a cyberattack will occur. SMB owners often purchase insurance policies to protect their business from the risks associated with running a business. These policies cover everything: workers compensation, general liability, errors, omissions, and many other things. Cyber insurance is often overlooked by business owners. Cyber insurance is a valuable tool for businesses to recover from cyberattacks or data breaches. It also pays for recovery steps such as credit monitoring, notification of affected parties, legal fees, investigation into the breach, and so on. It is crucial to find trusted providers who have the experience and expertise to help business owners assess and quantify their risks and then create insurance policies that meet the needs of each insured. It is important to review cyber policies in detail to determine what types of attacks are covered, how much coverage is available for business continuity, and any exclusions. Although cyber insurance may seem overwhelming, small businesses have many options to make it affordable and accessible. Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated and frequent. Small business owners need to take steps to safeguard their assets and data. Owners can help their business recover from data breaches and cyberattacks by understanding the risks, developing a proactive cybersecurity plan, educating employees and raising awareness about them, and protecting company assets with cyber insurance. Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you want to protect your small business from various types of online threats and how our team of IT experts can help your company.SpartanTec, Inc. Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence via Blogger https://ift.tt/3nTTGNa September 22, 2021 at 10:18PM
What is Residual risk? Why Residual Risk Matters in 2021
Residual Risk is the risk or vulnerability that remains after all remediation and risk treatment efforts have been completed. Even with a well-planned vulnerability sanitation program, there will always be residual risks. They will always be there, so managing residual risk requires setting a threshold and then implementing programs to reduce all risks below it. Continue reading to learn how you can identify and manage residual risks on your digital surfaces. Why is Residual risk so important in 2021?Because ISO 27001 regulations make it a mandatory requirement, reducing residual risk is crucial. This information security standard is part of the ISO/IEC 2700 family. It helps organizations to quantify the safety and security of assets before and during sharing with vendors. Before sharing any data with vendors, organizations must pass a residual security screening in order to be compliant with ISO 27001. Since President Biden signed Cybersecurity Executive Order in 2021, residual risks have been given an increased importance. Organizations are now expected to reduce residual risk throughout their supply chains to limit the impact on third-party breaches by threat actors from nation-states. Organizations must use both attack surface monitoring solutions and residual risk assessment to meet the strict compliance requirements of ISO/IEC 27001, as well as Biden’s Executive Order. What is the difference between Inherent Risk & Residual risk? Inherent risk refers to the risk inherent in an IT ecosystem if there are no controls. Residual risk refers to the risk that remains after cybersecurity controls have been put in place. Information security teams and CISOS can use inherent risk assessments to help them establish a framework for designing security controls. Inherent risk assessments are not useful beyond this high-level evaluation. Residual risk assessments are the most valuable, as they help to identify and remedy exposures before they can be exploited by cybercriminals. Inherent vs. Residual risk Assessments The main difference between residual and inherent risk assessments is the fact that the former takes into consideration the impact of controls and other mitigation options. The likelihood of an incident happening in a is as expected. These definitions are essential for every assessment program. Inherent possibility – A probability that an incident will occur in an environment without security controls. Inherent Impact – An incident that has an inevitable impact on an environment with no security measures. Residual possibility – The likelihood of an incident happening in an environment that has security controls in place. Residual Impact is the impact of an incident in an environment that has security controls in place. Effective security practices controls can make it difficult to distinguish between residual and inherent risk assessments. These results do not suffice to prove compliance. They should be verified with an independent audit. The greater the dependence and effectiveness on existing internal controls, the longer the path between inherent and residual risk. Learn more about residual risks assessments How to Calculate Residual riskBefore you can create a risk management strategy, it is necessary to determine all residual risks that are unique to your digital environment. This will allow you to define your specific requirements and measure the effectiveness of your mitigation efforts. It is difficult to calculate the residual risk within an ecosystem. The formula works at a high level as follows: Residual risk = Inherent risk – Impact of risk controls. To evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of recovery plans, residual risks can be compared to risk tolerance or risk appetite. This will force an audit of all security controls in place and reveal any deficiencies that could lead to excessive inherent risks. This valuable analytics allows security teams to conduct targeted remediation campaigns and support efficient allocation of internal resources. This calculation should be left to intelligent solutions in order to guarantee accuracy, as the modern attack surface is constantly expanding. The following process is used to calculate your residual risk profile. Step 1: Calculate your inherent risk factor. Calculate RTOs of critical business units The Recovery Time Objectives for Critical Processes (RTOs) is what determines the inherent risk factor. These are those with the lowest RTOs. This means that each business unit’s RTO must be calculated first. Learn how to calculate Recovery Time Objectives. Calculate the Potential Impact for Each RTO Category This list should be sorted by potential business impact after the RTO for each business unit has been calculated. RTOs with lower criticality have a greater impact on organizations and are therefore more damaging The following business impact score should be assigned to each RTO: 1 = Insignificant Impact 2 = Very Little Impact 3 = Moderate Impact. 4 = Critical Impact 5 = Catastrophic Effect Example: If A business unit is composed of processes 1, 2, 3 and 4 with RTOs of 12, 24 and 36 hours, respectively, a business recovery plan should be only evaluated for process 1. This is because process 1, which has the lowest RTO and is the most important business process within its business unit category, has the highest RTO. Business unit A’s RTO is less than 12 hours. This would make it a highly critical process, and should receive an impact score of 4 to 5. Assign a Threat Score to the Business Unit It is then necessary to map the threat landscape for each business unit. An attack surface monitoring solution is required to ensure that vulnerabilities are detected accurately. Each unit should be given a threat score based on its vulnerability and potential for exploitation. The threat level scoring system works as follows: 1 = Low 2 = Minimum 3 = Moderate, 4 = Very High 5 = Critical Calculate the Inherent risk factor of the Business Unit The following formula can be used to calculate the inherent risk: Inherent risk = [(Business Impact Score) + (Threat Landscape score] / 5 The resultant inherent risk score will range from 2.0 to 5.0. It can then be classified as: Between 2 and 3, which is the lowest level of inherent risk Between 3 and 3.9 = Moderate inherent danger Between 4 and 5, – High inherent danger Step 2: Identify acceptable levels of risk Each organization’s regulatory compliance requirements will determine the acceptable risk levels. All acceptable risks must have minimal impact on revenue, business objectives and service delivery. How to define acceptable levels of risk Each asset must be identified as having acceptable risks. A comprehensive inventory of assets can make this a daunting task. This acceptable risk analysis framework will help to distribute the effort and speed up this process. The acceptable risk analysis framework can help you achieve this. All assets should be identified using digital footprint mapping. Each asset or group of assets should be assigned to a owner. Identify the assets’ current and possible vulnerabilities. Quantify the probability of these vulnerabilities being exploited. The following formula can be used to calculate the risk of each asset: Risk = Likelihood x Impact Where: – The probability of a vulnerability, exposure, or threat is what we call the likelihood. – Business criticality is the key to impact. The acceptable level of risk should be expressed as a percentage. Acceptable risk = 20% if the inherent risk factor is lower than 3. The inherent risk factor should be between 3 and 3.0 = 15% acceptable risk (moderate risk tolerance). A range between 4 and 5 is considered an inherent risk factor. This equals 10% (low-risk tolerance). The higher the percentage, the more stringent the cybersecurity risk management requirements. The higher the level of cybersecurity risk control, the greater the chance of recovering from a cyberattack. This formula calculates the maximum risk tolerance: Maximum risk tolerance = Inherent tolerance percentage x Inherent danger factor The final risk tolerance threshold can be calculated as follows: Risk tolerance threshold = Inherent danger factor – Maximum risk tolerance. Example: The corresponding inherent tolerance for risk is 15% with an inherent risk factor 3 The maximum tolerance for risk is 3 x 15% = 0.45 The risk tolerance threshold is now: 3.45 – 0.45 = 2.55. To be considered as mitigating controls, they must have a combined capability of 2.55 or more. These risks are more costly than their business-related consequences. Even with the best solutions, there will always be new risks that go beyond the threshold. For example, the risk of data leakage. These risks can be mitigated by a dynamic, whack-amole management style. This involves quickly identifying new risks that exceed the threshold and pushing them down with appropriate remediation actions. It is important to keep residual risks below the acceptable risk threshold as long as possible. Step 3: Assign Weights to All Mitigating Controls. All controls that help to protect a recovery plan need to be given a weight according importance. The most important controls are: Recovery strategy – Also called the Incident Response Plan. Recovery exercises – The amount of experience required to test the recovery strategy Other controls that are common include: Training and awareness for cyber incidents Third-party risk analysis Data leak detection and remediation. Based on your Business Impact Analysis, (BIA), assign a weighted score to each mitigation control. To determine your overall mitigating state, add the weighted scores of each control. Step 4: Calculate your residual risk. Completing the residual risk formula requires you to compare your overall mitigating state number with your risk tolerance threshold. If your mitigating state number is equal or greater than the threshold for risk tolerance, you are considered to be within the tolerance range. If your mitigating state number is less than your risk tolerance threshold, you are considered to be outside your tolerance range. A lower result means that it will take more work to improve your business’s recovery plan. The reverse is true: the better your recovery plan, the greater the results. Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you need more information about residual risk and managed IT services.SpartanTec, Inc. Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence via Blogger https://ift.tt/3Cjfe9V September 17, 2021 at 03:11PM
Understanding The Basics of Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is important. Cybersecurity is important in 2021. Cybersecurity is essential because it protects all types of data from theft or damage. These include sensitive data, protected health information (PHI), personally identifiable information (PII), and personal information. Your organization is vulnerable to data breaches and can’t be protected without a cybersecurity program. Cybercriminals will find you irresistible targets. Global connectivity and the use of cloud services like Amazon Web Services to store sensitive information is driving both inherent and residual risk. The risk of your company being the victim of a successful cyberattack or data breach is increasing due to the widespread poor configuration and sophistication of cybercriminals. Cybercriminals are smarter than traditional cybersecurity solutions and can now be relied on by business leaders. Cyber attacks can strike at any level of an organization. Your staff must be educated about basic social engineering scams such as phishing, ransomware attacks (think WannaCry), and other malware that can steal intellectual property and personal data. Businesses of all sizes cannot ignore cybersecurity, thanks to the GDPR and other laws. Businesses of all sizes are frequently affected by security incidents, often making the news and causing irreparable reputational damage. We have created a post to help you understand cyber security and the various elements that cybercrime can cause. Cybersecurity is something you need to be concerned about. What is Cybersecurity?Cybersecurity refers to the process or state of protecting computer systems, networks and devices from cyber attacks. Cyberattacks are a growing threat to sensitive data. Attackers use new methods powered with social engineering and artificial Intelligence to bypass traditional security controls. The truth is that technology is becoming more important to the world. This dependence will only increase as new technology is introduced. Our connected devices will be able to access our Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks. Intelligent cloud security solutions are needed to protect customer data and promote strong passwords. You can read our complete guide to cybersecurity here. Cybersecurity is becoming more important. Our society is technologically more dependent than ever before, and this trend is not slowing down. Social media accounts now allow anyone to see data leaks that could lead to identity theft. Cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Google Drive now store sensitive information, including social security numbers, credit card information, bank account details, and bank account details. It doesn’t matter if you are a small business, an individual or a large multinational corporation, you depend on computers every day. This is combined with the increase in cloud services, poor security, smartphones, and the Internet of Things, and you have a multitude of cybersecurity threats that weren’t possible a few decades back. Even though the skillsets are getting more similar, we need to know the difference between cybersecurity or information security. Cybercrimes are being addressed by governments around the globe. The GDPR is an excellent example. This has caused data breaches to be more publicized by requiring all EU-based organizations to: Communicate breaches; Appoint a Data Protection Officer; Require consent from users to process data. Anonymize data to protect privacy. The European trend toward public disclosure is not restricted to Europe. There are data breach laws in every 50 states, but there is no federal law that governs data breach disclosure in the United States. Commonalities include the requirement to notify affected persons as soon and as promptly as possible. The government must be notified as soon as possible. California was the first state in 2003 to regulate data breach disclosures. It required businesses or individuals to notify the affected parties “without unreasonable delay” as well as “immediately after discovery”. Victims may sue for as much as $750, while companies could be fined up $7,500. Standards boards such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology have released frameworks to assist organizations in understanding their cybersecurity risks and improving cybersecurity measures. Cybercrime is on the rise. Cybercrime is growing at an alarming rate, with information theft being the most costly and lucrative segment. Cloud services are a major driver of increasing identity information being exposed online. It’s not the only target. It is possible to disrupt or destroy industrial controls that control power grids and other infrastructure. Cyberattacks can also be used to steal identity. They may attempt to alter or destroy data to create distrust within an organization or government. Cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated and changing the targets they choose, how they impact organizations, and their attack methods for different security systems. Ransomware, Phishing, and Spyware are the most common forms of cyberattack. Social engineering is still the best. Poor cybersecurity practices and third-party vendors that process your data are another common attack vector. Vendor risk management and third party risk management are crucial. The Ninth Annual Cost of Cybercrime Study by Accenture and Ponemon Institute found that the average cost of cybercrime has increased by $1.4 Million to $13.0million over the past year, while the average number of data breaches has risen by 11 percent to145. Information risk management is more important than ever. Data breaches could include financial information such as bank account details or credit card numbers, personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI), personally identifiable data (PII), trade secret, intellectual property, and other targets for industrial espionage. Data breaches can also be called unintentional data disclosure, cloud leak, information loss, or data spillage. Cybercrime is also growing due to the distributed nature of the Internet, cybercriminals’ ability to attack targets beyond their jurisdiction making it extremely difficult for police to enforce laws. The ease and profitability of dark web commerce and the proliferation of mobile devices. What is Cybercrime’s Impact? Cybercrime can cause damage to your business in a variety of ways. Economic Costs: Theft of corporate information, theft of intellectual property, disruptions in trading, and the cost of fixing damaged systems. Reputational Costs Loss of customer trust, loss of future customers, and poor media coverage. Regulatory Costs GDPR, and other data breach laws, could result in your organization being subject to regulatory sanctions or fines. No matter the size of your business, you must ensure that all employees are aware of cybersecurity threats and how they can be mitigated. Regular training should be provided and a framework that can be used to help reduce the likelihood of data breaches or leakage. It is difficult to assess the costs of security breaches, both the direct and indirect ones, due to cybercrime’s complexity and difficulty in detection. Even a small security incident or data breach can cause significant reputational damage. Consumers expect more sophisticated cybersecurity measures in the future. How to Protect Your Organization Against Cybercrime There are three steps you can take to improve security and reduce the rdata bisk of cybercrime. Educate staff Human error was responsible for 90% of all data breaches in 2019. However, this worrying statistic has a silver lining. The majority of data breaches could be prevented if staff were taught how to recognize and respond to cyber threats. These educational programs would increase the value all cybersecurity solutions investments as it would stop staff from knowingly bypassing costly security controls in order to facilitate cybercrime. Protect your sensitive data. Invest in tools such as firewalls to limit information loss, monitor third-party risk, and assess the risk of fourth-party vendors. Continuously scan for data leaks and credentials. If left unattended data leaks could allow cybercriminals to gain access to sensitive resources and gain access into internal networks. It is important to have a data leak detection solution that can monitor leaks in the third-party network. Data breaches of 60% or more occur through compromised third parties. It is possible to prevent most data breaches by shutting down vendor data leaks. As part of a cyber security risk assessment strategy, companies should stop asking “Why is cybersecurity important?” and instead ask “How can I make sure my cybersecurity practices are adequate to comply with the GDPR” and “protect my business from sophisticated cyberattacks.” Is your business at risk of data breaches? SpartanTec, Inc. Charleston SC protects your business against data breaches and improves network security by monitoring the security status of all your vendors. SpartanTec, Inc. Charleston SC offers third-party data leak prevention that can be trusted to a team cybersecurity professionals to speed up security program scaling. Click here to test the security of your site to get a free instant security score now.SpartanTec, Inc. Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence via Blogger https://ift.tt/3Agopaw September 14, 2021 at 11:40PM
Companies are migrating quickly to the cloud — but at what cost to security?
Cloud computing is an important step towards our digital future. However, migration has accelerated rapidly in recent years leaving many businesses at risk of cyberattack. This article will discuss the risks of cloud migration as well as the advanced software solutions that can be used to strengthen your defense. The pace of digital transformation has increased at an incredible rate. In every industry, there have been significant changes in the operating systems, network, workforce structure, and other areas. Complete systems, including sensitive data, have been migrated to the cloud as a result of the abrupt transition to remote work. Cloud computing security has many benefits, including cost savings, efficiency, and accessibility. However, cybersecurity risks are much more serious than those of rapid migration. Companies have rushed to implement cloud migration plans. This leaves data and teams vulnerable to cyberattack. Many teams will continue to work remotely, while others have switched to a hybrid-workforce model, which combines on-site and remote workers. We are beginning to feel the full impact of workforce transformation and the cloud sector has taken on the burden. Devo Technology’s latest report “Beyond Cloud Adoption” reveals that 90% of businesses increased their cloud computing use as a result the global pandemic. The report was based on a survey of IT security personnel and examines how cloud computing is changing security techniques and technologies. According to the study about cloud computing:68% think that cloud computing has made IT security operations more complicated. Survey respondents agreed that cloud computing has resulted in an increase in security data analysis. Over three quarters (79%) expect that cloud computing security spending will increase over the next twelve months. Transitioning to the cloud poses many challenges, not only because of complex operations but also because of new data. Migration to the cloud can lead to reduced visibility and control, compliance violations and an increased risk of malware, data breaches, and other problems. Cloud migration isn’t slowing down, despite the risks. Devo Technology reports that the cloud computing train is now at its destination. Large and small organizations are shifting workloads to the cloud and developing cloud-native apps. They also embrace SaaS applications. But, the implications remain: Cloud adoption success requires knowledge of cyberthreats, ongoing security management, and tactical security decisions. Here are the top risks associated with cloud migration. 1. Exploited cloud apps IBM data shows that cloud applications are the most popular entry point for attackers in cloud cases. This includes tactics like brute-forcing and exploiting vulnerabilities. Shadow IT is when employees go outside of approved channels and create vulnerable cloud apps. Security of your application Application security can reduce the chance of code hijacking, hacking, and other threats. You can obtain account authorization and authorization, records about users’ in-app activities, and encryption for cloud-based information with the right tools. Your team will be protected with powerful post-deployment protection that allows them to continue accessing the apps they need. Risk #2: Ransomware attacks Ransomware has quickly become the cyberweapon choice for hackers. Ransomware is a form of extortion malware that encrypts your files and operating system, and demands a ransom to unlock them. Malicious software, such as ransomware, can cause vulnerabilities in the cloud. It is often introduced to your system via phishing emails or poorly configured servers. Security: Email security + Network and Infrastructure security Email security software provides a strong defense against malicious messages in your email inbox. It reduces the risk of spam messages, viruses, malware, phishing attempts and other threats. These attacks can be prevented with advanced email security. Additionally, increased security for your network devices will reduce vulnerabilities in your IT environment. These software solutions can secure your internal communications, resource sharing, data, and user files. Risk #3: Data breach Your data is the foundation of modern businesses, so it is crucial to protect it. Companies are increasingly using the cloud to store sensitive data due to the shift towards hybrid and remote work. This increases the risk of data loss as hackers have access to personal files, intellectual property, and other information in the cloud. Defense: Data security + Identity access management Cybersecurity solutions can keep your most important information safe, compliant, and uncorrupted. They include tools for encryption, tokenization, access, and tokenization. Identity and Access Management (IAM), solutions increase visibility and control over users in your network. They simplify how you manage user roles, track access activity and enforce permissions and policies. Scale up and modernize with confidence Smart security software can help make cloud migration positive, despite the inherent risks. Secure cloud solutions can help your business modernize and scale confidently, regardless of whether you use a hybrid, public or private cloud model. The right tools allow employees to share resources across the cloud easily. You can also focus on higher-priority goals knowing that your data is secure and safe. Call SpartanTec, Inc. for more information.SpartanTec, Inc. Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence via Blogger https://ift.tt/3yZBlzY September 09, 2021 at 11:40PM
What is cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity is a collection of technologies and methods that help to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and availability computer systems, networks, and data from cyber-attacks and unauthorized access. Cyber security serves two purposes: to protect organizational assets against external and internal threats, as well as from disruptions due to natural catastrophes. Because organizational assets can be made up of many disparate systems, a coordinated effort across all information systems is necessary to ensure effective cyber security. Cybersecurity therefore consists of the following sub-domains. Application Security App security is the implementation of various defenses in software and services within an organization against a variety of threats. This includes designing secure applications, writing secure code and implementing strong data input validation. Threat modeling is also required. It reduces the possibility of unauthorized access to or modification of application resources. Identity Management and Data Security Frameworks, processes, or activities that enable authorization and authentication of authorized individuals to access information systems within an organisation are called identity management. Data security is the implementation of strong information storage systems that protect data in transit and at rest. Network Security Network security is the combination of hardware and software measures to safeguard the network and infrastructure against unauthorized access, disruptions, or misuse. Network security is essential to protect your organization assets from external and internal threats. Mobile Security Mobile security is the protection of personal and organizational information on mobile devices such as cell phones, laptops, tablets, and other smartphones. From various threats like unauthorized access, device theft or theft, malware, and others. Cloud Security Cloud security refers to the creation of secure cloud architectures for organizations using different cloud service providers like AWS, Google Azure, Rackspace, Rackspace, and Azure. A well-designed environment and architecture will protect you from various threats. Disaster recovery and business continuity planning (DR&BC). Disaster Recovery &BC is about processes, monitoring and alerts that assist organizations in preparing for the possibility of a disaster and resuming business operations after it. User education It is important to train individuals on topics related to computer security. This will raise awareness about industry best practices, organizational processes and policies, as well as monitor and report malicious activity. Cybersecurity: The challenges and importanceThe rapidly changing technological landscape and the fact software adoption is increasing in many sectors, including finance, government and military, retail, hospitals and education to name just a few, means that more information is becoming digital. It is also accessible via wired and wireless digital communication networks as well as the ever-present internet. Criminals and other evil-doers have a lot of valuable information. It is therefore important to use strong cyber security processes and measures to protect this sensitive information. Recent high-profile cyber security breaches at Equifax, Yahoo and the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have highlighted the importance of having good cyber security strategies. These security breaches resulted in extremely sensitive user data being lost that has caused irreparable damage to their reputation and finances. As the trend indicates, cyber-attacks are not slowing down. Attackers target both small and large companies every day to steal sensitive information or disrupt services. Effective cyber security strategies are also difficult to implement due to the constantly changing technological landscape. Software is constantly changing as it is updated or modified. This creates new vulnerabilities and issues that can be exploited by cyber-attackers. Many companies are migrating to the cloud their IT infrastructures, which creates new design and implementation challenges. This leads to a new class of vulnerabilities. Companies don’t realize the risks inherent in their IT infrastructure, and fail to implement cyber security countermeasures until it is too late. What is a Cyber-attack?Cyberattacks are a deliberate effort by internal or external threats or attackers, to exploit and compromise confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of information systems of target organizations or individuals. Cyber-attackers use illegal tools, methods and approaches to damage and disrupt systems or gain unauthorized access. Cyber-attacks can be of many types. The following list highlights the most important ones criminals and attackers use in order to exploit software.
What is the difference between cyber-attacks and security breaches? Cyber-attacks are not the same thing as security breaches. Cyber-attacks, as we have discussed, are attempts to compromise security. Cyber-attackers use various types of cyber-attacks to try and exploit the confidentiality, integrity or availability a software or network. A security breach is an incident or event that results in the compromise of sensitive information, unauthorised access to IT systems, or disruption of services. With the determination that any one of their cyber-attacks would cause a security breach, attackers continue to try numerous cyber-attacks on their targets. Security breaches highlight an important part of a comprehensive cyber security strategy. This is Business Continuity and Incidence Response. BC-IR assists organizations in dealing with successful cyber-attacks. Incidence Response focuses on responding to security incidents and limiting their impact, while Business Continuity deals with keeping critical business systems online. 11 cyber security best practices that will prevent a breach 1. Cyber security awareness and training should be conducted Without employees being educated about cyber security, company policies, and incident reporting, a strong cyber security strategy will not work. Employees can make malicious or unintentional actions that could lead to costly security breaches, despite having the best technical defenses. The best way to decrease negligence and potential security violations is to educate employees through classes, seminars, and online courses. 2. Perform risk assessments An organization should conduct a formal risk assessment in order to identify all valuable assets. Prioritize them according to the potential impact of a compromised asset. This will allow organizations to decide how best to spend their resources in protecting each asset. 3. Reduce Threats To reduce the threat to their IT systems, it is essential that IT teams identify, classify, remediate, and mitigate vulnerabilities in all software and networks. Security researchers and attackers discover new vulnerabilities in software every once in a while. These vulnerabilities are then reported to the software vendors and made public. These vulnerabilities are often exploited and abused by malware and other cyber criminals. These vulnerabilities are patched and mitigated by software vendors regularly. It is important to keep your IT systems current in order to protect your organization’s assets. 4. The principle of least privilege should be used Software and personnel should have the minimum permissions they need to carry out their duties according to the principle of least privilege. This reduces the risk of security breaches that result in lower permissions for software and user accounts. However, they cannot impact assets that have higher permissions. Two-factor authentication should also be used for high-level accounts with unrestricted permissions. 5. Secure password storage and policies All employees should be required to use strong passwords that conform to industry standards. To protect against compromised passwords, they should be required to be changed periodically. Password storage should be consistent with industry best practices, which include strong hashing algorithms and salts. 6. Create a Business Continuity Plan A solid BC-IR plan and policy will ensure that your organization is able to respond effectively to cyber-attacks or security breaches. It will also help you keep your critical business systems online. 7. Perform regular security reviews Security issues can be identified early and quickly by having all software and networks undergo periodic security reviews. Security reviews can include network and application penetration testing, source code reviews as well as architecture design reviews and red team assessments. Organizations should prioritize security vulnerabilities and take steps to mitigate them as soon possible after they are discovered. 8. Backup data Regular backups of all data will increase redundancy. It will also ensure that sensitive data is not lost, altered or compromised after a security breach. Ransomware and injections can compromise data integrity and availability. Backups can help protect in such cases. 9. Encrypt data in transit and at rest Strong encryption algorithms should be used to protect sensitive information. Encrypting data ensures confidentiality. It is also important to have effective key management and rotation policies. All web applications/software should employ the use of SSL/TLS. 10. Secure software and networks should be designed Always ensure security when designing applications, software, or networks. Remember that security is more expensive than refactoring and adding security features later. Security-designed applications help to reduce threats and make sure that software/networks fail safely. 11. Secure coding requires strong input validation. Injection attacks can be prevented by strong input validation. Software and applications are programmed to accept input from users. This opens them up to attack. Strong input validation filters out malicious payloads that could be processed by the application. Secure coding standards are essential when creating software. This helps to avoid many of the vulnerabilities outlined in OWASP or CVE. SpartanTec, Inc. Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence via Blogger https://ift.tt/3jPEa2o September 07, 2021 at 11:38PM
All you need to know about disaster recovery and backup (BDR)
It’s impossible to predict the future. Hard drives can fail without warning, cyber-attacks increase, and natural disasters could strike at any moment. Data security is best ensured by backing up data quickly and making it recoverable as quickly as possible as well as having a business continuity plan. This will minimize downtime when the unexpected happens. Backup and data recovery have come a long ways. The days of manual recovery and media-vaulted backup are long gone. BDR solutions today offer secure, fast, monitored and continuous backup as well as rapid data restoration via cloud-based architecture. There are many options and methods available to meet every business need. Backup evolution Tapes were copied on a tape and kept in a vault. This process has remained unchanged for many decades. The reliability and trustworthiness of on-site backup solutions is almost as old as computing itself. There are many backup solutions available, whether it is a database that requires backing up, unstructured file, applications or any other type of data. Although the backup can be saved to tape, optical media or disk, the end result is the exact same: a backup media collection that is stored in a vault. On-site backup always included an off-site component. This was usually someone taking the media and moving it to another location. This is sometimes called “off-site media backup”, but it’s actually “off-site media vaulting”. This vaulting method of off-site backup has been used for the past 20 years. It involved either moving media or, more progressively, setting up a storage repository at a remote location along the WAN, and tunneling the backup data across what were almost always lower bandwidth WAN links once the backup was complete. This limited the amount of time a backup could be performed or limited bandwidth available for business users. Storage costs rose in an era when storage was still too expensive for most people, except large enterprises. The evolution of backup led to a new type of off-site backup ten years ago. Online backup allows solution providers to back up data to a hosted, off-site platform. This eliminates the need for media transport. The same evolution has seen backup merged with cloud computing, transforming the previous generation. As bandwidth has improved, it is now possible to use third party services to manage online off-site backup. Virtualization has made hardware more abstracted. Combining increased bandwidth with commoditized hardware and the evolution of business continuity, off-site backup and disaster restoration solutions have enabled continuous data protection without the need for expensive systems such as those made by Tandem. Cloud-based offsite backup is not sufficient in the event of a disaster. Data on off-site and on-site backups will not suffice to recover from a disaster. It will be necessary to replace the computer systems and the networks connecting them in order to restore the data. Definitions & key terms Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR), a combination data backup and disaster recovery solutions, is designed to protect a company’s business continuity. Remote data backup refers to the process of backing-up data created remotely and branch offices (ROBOs), and securely storing it. ROBOs need backup and recovery solutions to support their data protection policies as well as business service levels. The backup window is the time frame within which backups will be scheduled to run on a system. They are usually scheduled at times of low usage (i.e. These are often scheduled during times of minimal usage (i.e. after hours). The recovery time objective is a benchmark that indicates how quickly data should be recovered in order to maintain business continuity after a disaster or unplanned downtime. The Recovery Point Objective is a benchmark that indicates which data must still be available in order to allow normal business operations to resume after a disaster or unplanned downtime. This is usually based on file date (i.e. This is often based on file age (i.e., all files backed up prior to date X must also be recovered). Administrators can use RTO to help them determine how often backups should be performed. The area of security planning that deals in disaster recovery is designed to protect an organization from the negative effects of major events. In this context, significant negative events can be anything that could put an organization’s operations at serious risk. This includes crippling cyber attacks or equipment failures, as well hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. Cloud disaster recovery is an element of a disaster recovery plan. It involves keeping copies of enterprise data in the cloud storage environment as security measures. Business continuity is a loosely defined collection of planning, preparation, and related activities. It’s designed to ensure that critical business functions are maintained even after major incidents or natural disasters. Different types of backup Full backup means that all files and folders (or the entire computer) are backed up. This is often used to create a backup of all files and folders. Then, it’s followed by incremental or differential backups. A full backup will contain all data selected. The entire list of files and folders that were copied will be copied again when the next backup is performed. Although this makes it easier to restore data, it can also cause backups to take a lot of time and consume a lot of storage space. A differential backup is a backup process that starts with a full backup and then backs up any changes made since that backup. This makes backups and restores much quicker, but also allows for faster storage utilization. Although incremental backup can be used in the same way as differential backup, incremental backup stores any changes made since the last backup cycle, regardless of whether it was full or incremental. Mirror backup, as its name implies, is a real-time replica of the source that is being backed up. Mirror backups are able to delete files from the source and mirror them. Mirror backups must be used with caution, as files that are deleted accidentally, sabotage, or by virus infection may also be deleted in the mirror backup. Some people do not consider mirrors to be backups. Mirror backups with a 30-day deletion are offered by many online backup services. This means that if you delete a file from your source, the file will be kept on the storage server at least 30 days before being deleted. This allows for a balance between safety and affordability, while allowing backups to grow as online storage can be quite expensive. Many backup software utilities do provide support for mirror backups. These are the advantages Backup is clean and doesn’t contain obsolete or old files There are disadvantages It is possible that files from the source may be accidentally deleted, or by sabotage. Local backup refers to any backup that is made on-site. Storage is typically connected directly to the source computer to be backed-up or through a local area network. This is the simplest form of data backup and prevention. However, it comes with many inherent disaster-related risk as there is no offsite redundancy and no cloud component. Remote backup, also known as cloud backup, is an offsite backup type that allows users to restore and administer backups from anywhere. This backup offers some of the best protection against unplanned downtime and natural disasters. Hybrid backup and Business Continuity PlanCloud backups, also known online backup, are primarily focused on copying files to remote locations. This is an excellent option for disaster recovery. Hybrid backup mixes cloud backup with local backup to provide system recovery, file restores quickly, and disaster recovery. Hybrid backup is a combination of cloud backup and local backup. Local backup is usually a USB drive, drive that’s shared within the network , or NAS device. Hybrid backup is a combination of both cloud backup and local backup. This utility runs in the background, transparently and easily. Cloud backup adds an extra layer of protection to the data on the computer system. Hybrid cloud data backup backs up every production server as a virtual image. This can be done by either making a copy or converting physical servers into VM images. These images are stored on the local appliance just like regular file backups, but they also have a platform that can be restarted in the event of a primary server going down. This allows a single appliance to act as a standby server for multiple primary servers or VMs. Although failover is not automatic, many hosted disaster recovery service providers can offer what’s basically high availability (HA), to production server environments as part their backup infrastructure. Final step is to transfer these VM images into the cloud provider’s database center. This data center has sufficient compute resources to start any of them in case of a disaster at client’s location. Disaster recovery and data backup are two different things. Backup software and the person responsible can fail. Backups without recovery are the same as not backing up. There are additional steps that you must take to ensure you can successfully restore your data if you do need it. These include assembling the right recovery environment, which includes the right operating systems, servers, storage, and the right people, processes and tools to restore the backed-up data. Why do companies require back up and disaster recovery?1. Backup software may fail Many organizations have been left hanging by their backup software after a disruption due to an inexplicable faith. Let’s take the example of the Civil District Court in New Orleans. After a server crash, what appeared to be a basic recovery of the county’s conveyance as well as mortgage records databases turned out to be a much bigger problem than a night in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. The installation of an updated version of backup software, despite indications that it had been successful, failed to be discovered. For nearly a year, the new backups were not being installed, even though they were supposed to have been successful. Old copies were also deleted every 30 days. End result: All entries and changes made after the most recent backup were lost. 2. Recovery must be supported in your mind Steven Covey best states this in 7 Habits for Highly Effective People: “Begin With the End in Mind.” This applies to data backup and disaster recovery. Backup your data as though you might ever need it. This is an example of why it’s so important. One of our partners used third-party companies to manage their backups. The third-party company backed up data from multiple servers and applications, stripping it across tape. Their main concern from a backup standpoint is not to restore data; it’s about backing up data as fast as possible. The IT team had to recover their data after a major disaster. They quickly discovered that stripping their data made it nearly impossible to assemble a million pieces of jigsaw puzzle. They couldn’t find the tapes they needed to complete this “puzzle” in the end. 3. Data backup is just the beginning Chapter one of disaster recovery is having a backup copy of your data at an offsite location. Chapter two refers to having the right systems to recover your data. This means you must have the right storage systems, operating systems, hypervisors and servers in your recovery environment. Your production environment should be replicated in your recovery environment. This is not an easy task as there are so many changes in a production environment every day that IT staff are often too busy to capture. Let’s assume you have the right environment for recovery. Chapter three concerns having the right people and processes to help you recover when you need them. This problem is all too common: The Oracle guy wasn’t available, the Windows guy didn’t want to travel, and the runbooks were not up-to-date or based on an older operating system. This is not to say data backup and disaster restoration are the same thing, but both are essential for long-term technology resilience. The right recovery mindset is essential. a) Data backup according to your recovery plan b) Connecting the correct recovery systems to properly backed up data. c) Create a programmatic approach for recovery by arming oneself with the right people and processes and the right tools and making sure they are all available at the appropriate time. Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you wish to have an effective business continuity and backup plan for your home.SpartanTec, Inc. via Blogger https://ift.tt/3DMyWwo September 03, 2021 at 11:13PM |
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