The three most common cloud backup mistakes and how to avoid them
Since cloud computing was first rolled out to the public, it has been identified as a target for hackers. Bad actors will go after the biggest players in the game and tear down their defenses with apparent ease. Take, for example, the case where AWS credentials were stolen by a disgruntled former employee and used to delete critical customer accounts, causing their ex-employer $700,000 in losses.
If such an attack seems detrimental to your business, you can gain peace of mind by learning from the mistakes of others in the past and recognizing the importance of backups to smooth operations. Cloud backups are a crucial line of defense against data loss; mistakes and oversights in a backup strategy are akin to sabotaging your safety net. By neglecting cloud backups, business leaders are putting their sensitive customer data at risk, losing customer trust and tarnishing the company’s reputation. Data breaches can lead to legal repercussions and financial losses.
What are the common mistakes that turn backups from a help to a hindrance?
VP and GM of EMEA, Wasabi.
1) Inability to draw up a well-considered strategy
Too often, business leaders will replace a carefully tailored cloud backup strategy with a “set-it-and-forget-it” approach. To ensure you get the most out of your cloud service provider and that your backups have the best possible protection, it’s critical to understand the nuances of cloud technology and its potential risks.
It may be tempting to choose the first major cloud provider at the top of your Google search, but not all cloud providers are created equal. They differ in their security protocols, data handling practices, and recovery options, so it’s best to research which one best suits your specific backup requirements as determined by your business needs.
A comprehensive cloud storage strategy includes regular evaluations, frequent testing, and adjustments to changing business needs, such as changes in capacity, access methods, or level of security depending on new regulatory requirements.
Also important to consider is how often backups are performed. A happy medium is between frequent enough to prevent data loss, but not so frequent that you are taking up unnecessary storage space. Completing the backup is only half the story; equally important is the ability to restore that backup quickly and effectively to ensure operations resume with minimal disruption.
2) Ignoring safety measures
Once a customized backup strategy has been established, it must be implemented within the strictest security parameters. Research from Proofpoint shows that more than two-thirds of companies will experience a ransomware attack in 2023. Backups are a favorite target for ransomware attacks because victims are more likely to pay the ransom if they lose access to their primary and secondary backups. Hackers will often try to delete your backups so that you cannot recover data from them.
Without effective security measures, your organization’s data remains vulnerable to breaches, especially in today’s AI-driven threat landscape. A single layer of security is no longer enough. A proactive approach is best when implementing security measures, building an impenetrable foundation of protection rather than patching the gaps after the fact.
Encrypting your backup is essential to prevent unauthorized access. Similarly, enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) can prevent unauthorized access even if your credentials are compromised. Additionally, immutable backups (which no user, administrator, or third party can delete or damage) in the cloud are a proven ransomware mitigation strategy to ensure that no one can modify or delete your data. Finally, security-conscious cloud providers are starting to develop and offer multi-user authentication (MUA), which means that if a hacker gets their hands on the account with the immutable backups, they won’t be able to delete your stored data without additional authorization from your chosen security contact.
Only by combining encryption, MFA, immutable backups, and MUA can you be confident that your organization’s data is protected with the most secure tools available. You’ll have a secure backup that you can restore to your production servers in the event of a cyber incident or accidental data loss, without having to pay a ransom.
3) View on storage capacity
A common mistake made by cloud users is overestimating the capacity of their storage. Customers are easily misled into thinking that the cloud, and therefore their backups, are unlimited. In reality, your backup capacity is limited by your budget. Naivety around storage capacity can lead to data loss when the limit is reached, as well as unexpected extra costs when you try to secure extra space at the last minute.
To avoid this, you need to forecast growth, understand your business’s capacity needs, and predict if and when it will wax and wane. Forecasting not only ensures you have enough space for continuous backups, but at the other end of the spectrum, it also means you don’t have to pay for unused space and waste your company’s resources.
In summary
It’s safe to say that cloud backups can make or break a business. By understanding the common mishaps and vigilantly guarding against them, you can not only protect your organization from bad actors and mishaps, but also ensure you’re getting the most out of your cloud provider. By carefully crafting a strategy that’s tailored to your business needs, proactively integrating security measures, and taking capacity requirements into account, you can rest easy knowing that your organization’s information is protected.
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