lead-forensics

Seven Reasons to Back Up Your Cloud Data

1662662732

Whether your data is stored in a hosted email system, in a file sharing system such as Dropbox or Google Docs, or in an industry-specific application, it’s important to acknowledge the limitations of your providers’ backups.

Microsoft has a policy of backing up data in its system based on a complicated set of factors which result in them keeping files between 30 days and 3 months but doesn’t guarantee anything. Dropbox keeps files between 30 days and 6 months depending on the level of your subscription. Industry-specific applications are often hosted on Amazon’s AWS servers, and backups are dependent on choices made by the software company.

In short, these companies are backing up data for their own purposes, as a source of additional revenue or according to unreliable policies, so you need to back up files yourself. Here are seven reasons to back up your cloud data:

  1. Microsoft Recommends It – In Section 6.b of their Services Agreement, Microsoft states “We recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data that you store on the Services or store using Third-Party Apps and Services.”
  2. Human Error – According to Aberdeen research, more than 2/3 of data loss incidents in businesses are the result of simple human error. Busy, well-meaning employees can easily delete or move whole directories, and restoring them from a “recycle bin” is not always quick or easy.
  3. Malware/Viruses/Ransomware – In 2017, an international shipping giant was crippled for weeks by a politically motivated virus posing as ransomware. While many other organizations were also hit by NotPetya, few came as close to destroying a global commercial power as this example. In this case, the company was saved by what amounts to an accidentally offline server. If your servers are all in the cloud with no additional backup, you may not be so fortunate.
  4. Syncing Software Errors – The Sync client you use (OneDrive/Google file stream/Anchor etc.) can have errors that cause blank folders or bogus data to be written back en masse to the cloud servers. These applications are generally pretty solid, but bugs happen and when they do, huge amounts of data can be wiped out nearly instantly.
  5. Illegitimate Deletion – Microsoft/Intuit/Google/SalesForce/<software vendor> is not responsible for whether an employee should be deleting data. It is all too common for employees to “clean up their mailbox” once they know that they are looking for or have secured other work. This data cannot be recovered without a proper backup.
  6. Outside Hackers – This one is a little less common but could be disastrous. If your company is attacked by a competent hacker, only an offline copy of your data somewhere will keep that data safe.
  7. Employee Acting Maliciously – CERT has reported that 23% of electronic crimes have an “insider” component, and Gartner estimates that 64% of malicious data loss are done for financial gain. Data can be “exfiltrated” by trusted employees and replaced with bogus data or deleted altogether. If you have a competitor in your market, your internal data is at risk.

Cloud software can be a powerful tool for efficiency and productivity, but it’s only one part of a comprehensive IT plan. We regularly meet with our clients to review IT plans, including a review of backups. If you’re not confident that your data is safe, now is the time to act.

Headshots Adam 1 thegem person

Adam

Help Desk

Adam was in the Navy before he joined our team in 2015. He is cool under pressure and a calming influence on the help desk. Perhaps this is because, after staring down Somali pirates off the coast of Africa, printer and email problems don’t seem so intimidating! Adam likes to shoot things (not people – thought we should make that clear), play Xbox, and of course, shoot things on Xbox! A husband of fourteen years with two children, he has been all over the world and still calls Central Texas his home. His teammates say, “Adam has an incredible memory when it comes to our clients. He remembers names, Internet settings, applications and printers!”
Headshots Tyler thegem person

Tyler

Projects Team Lead
Tyler cut his technological teeth through four years both in part-time work and in working with one of our telephony partners. Tyler loves working and learning, and has built a larger network at his home than 90% of our clients have in their businesses! He is thoughtful with his own money, preferring to buy a home and drive an old truck rather than pay rent and car payments. His hobbies of woodworking and gardening dovetail nicely with home ownership! He’s been known to play a bit of electric guitar, he enjoys 3D modeling and printing, and drives a gray Mustang GT that he’s modded as completely as his computers! Several of our team were in the wedding party when he got married!
Headshots Aaron thegem person

Aaron Johnstone

Help Desk Manager
With more patience than Job and more experience than most people in IT today, Aaron is the go-to guy for challenging problems. He directs our team both in the maintenance and help-desk functions. Aaron has been in IT for over twenty years and has played nearly every role possible EXCEPT, he reminds us, Sales. We can test almost every system in our client base on Aaron’s home network because it’s extensive and complex. When he isn’t tinkering with computers, he loves to read, play video games with his kids, and run. Aaron’s been married to his wife for twenty-one years and they have two daughters and a son. His teammates say, “I can always count on him to have my back. If I can’t find the answer, Aaron knows where to look!”
Headshots Eli thegem person

Eli Meier

COO | CTO
Eli is our jack-of-all-trades. His degree is in English, and he intended to teach before he discovered a natural aptitude for computers. He combines the two in his role at Lighthouse, as he has a unique ability to explain complex technology in relatable, understandable conversation. Over more than twenty years working in IT, he’s written e-commerce programs for a university, set up an email cluster for a major league baseball team, and managed/executed hundreds of IT projects. He enjoys classic Volkswagens, cooking and barbeque, and hiking and camping. He and his wife have been married twenty-one years and have nine kids. Though he is 6’1”, he is the SHORTEST male in his entire extended family. We all feel badly for him.
Headshots Ray thegem person

Ray Wilson

Chief Executive Officer
Ray is our CEO and he is passionate about helping businesses – both ours and our clients’ – succeed. Except for Skip, he’s probably been involved with IT longer than anyone – he was troubleshooting computers and repairing them at his school when he was seven! As an intern while attending UMHB, he was involved with IT, but really started growing when he joined our team in 2005. When he transitioned most of our clients to managed services, our MSP business was truly born, and we then grew it from five to forty people between 2006 and 2016. In that time, he was a help desk tech, business processes consultant, account manager, salesperson, sales engineer, client services manager, sales manager, and COO. If you want to get his juices flowing, challenge him to any team sport or ask him to go snow skiing. He’s been married to his high school sweetheart fourteen years and they have three high-energy boys. Oh… and both of his parents are also small business entrepreneurs.

Schedule Your Consultation Now

Just fill our the form below and we'll get right back to you.