World Backup Day: Date, Celebration And Importance Of Backup

World Backup Day: Date, Celebration And Importance Of Backup. Photo KnowInsiders

Backing up and keeping at least one extra copy of your data on a separate storage device or in the cloud is a way to protect your data even if the original copy is inaccessible, destroyed or damaged.

What is a backup?

A backup is a copy of all your important files — for example, your family photos, home videos, documents and emails. Instead of storing it all in one place (like your computer or smartphone), you keep a copy of everything somewhere safe.

Why should I back up?

Losing your files is way more common than you’d think.

One small accident or failure could destroy all the important stuff you care about.

There are several scenarios that could take place where having a backup of your data would be useful:

Your phone gets stolen, and you lose all your pictures and videos

An external hard drive crashes, deleting your home videos

You forget your laptop in a cafe and you've lost all your homework

A virus holds your data hostage until you pay to remove the restraints

You accidentally delete something important

What should I back up?

If you tally the value of your files and its replacement cost, you will find out the degree of importance you put into your files. For example, a family genealogy database would take much more effort to recover than your music files. While the level of significance varies for every individual, you should back up everything that matters to you in order of importance. Doing so will dictate how frequent you should back up each of them. Here’s a quick checklist of what you should back up:

Documents – personal, work, social, financial, and medical records won't be easy to replace or recreate. Make sure you back them up on a regular basis.

Contact details –for mobile devices, make sure you have a copy of your contact list on a different system or the cloud. Just make sure you and you alone know the password.

Music, movies, pictures, and videos – for those who painstakingly select and collect their media files and curate their precious photos, losing these files could be heart-wrenching (not to mention expensive). Back them up as you would your important files.

Emails, messages, notes, calendar – we call have important emails, SMS, and notes that we’d like to store in case we need to remember things we jotted down in the spur of the moment.

READ MORE: How To Backup iPhone Into Computer With Simpliest Ways?

Where should I back up?

According to Schofield’s Second Law of Computing, data doesn’t really exist unless you have at least two copies of it. This concept tells us that we should make reliable backups so at least one backup will survive. While this is a wise recommendation, you can further protect yourself from data loss by following try the 3-2-1 rule: backup at least three copies in two different formats with one of those copies offsite. Three copies mean three different copies in different places, two copies means you should use two different methods to store your data.

One way could be via an external hard drive, and the other through a CD/DVD. Lastly, consider storing your data in a different (offsite) location, such as at home, in the office, or in the cloud. Some cloud services, such as SafeSync, offers automatic synchronization to make it easy and convenient. Lastly, consider network attached storage (NAS) for other backup options as well. Just make sure you either automate the backup process, or develop a regular schedule.

When should I back up?

Given the increasing likeliness of disasters, data loss or destruction from cybercrime, and physical device loss and theft, backing up should be part of your regular digital life routine. Doing so will spare you the trouble of scrambling to replace your important files in case the worst happens.

When did World Backup Day start?

World Backup Day was started in 2011 by digital consultant Ismail Jadun. It is celebrated on March 31st every year – a date chosen because it’s the day before April Fools Day…and of course you’d have to be a fool not to backup your data!

The day comes from humble roots; Jadun conceived the idea when he saw a Reddit post by a tech user who had lost their hard drive and wished someone or something had reminded them to back up their data.

“I thought it was a wonderful idea,” said Jadun, who then set up a day to do just that. “It’s wonderful to see people and schools around the world promoting the importance of backing up our data.”

WORLD BACKUP DAY DATES

How to celebrate World Backup Day

Copy your files to an external hard drive

Set aside 15 minutes to an hour to back up all of the existing files on your desktop, laptop or pc. Simply purchase a hard drive of your liking - we recommend 1TB drives or more - and copy your files to the drive.

Play in the clouds

Can't buy a hard drive in time? No worries! There are plenty of companies that specialize in storing your documents online. Do your research and figure out which service works best for you. We recommend the Google Cloud, WMware Storage or Barracuda Cloud Storage, but they are all great!

Back that thing up party

Invite all the employees on your team to back up their files with one of the methods above. This will create a safer culture among your staff and prevent any projects from slipping through the crack. The last thing you need is a client asking for a file that was wrongfully discarded.

Adhere to the 3-2-1 rule

Businesses especially should remember the golden rule of data protection when securing essential data: the 3-2-1 rule of backup.

This rule stipulates that all backups should account for three instances of your data (an original copy and two backups); include two local copies on different types of backup media (such as a flash drive and on the cloud); and one off-site storage solution in case of a natural disaster or other device-destroying catastrophe (i.e. securely encrypted in the cloud).

The importance of backup is often eclipsed by the latest security scare or large attack making headlines. The details of the latest ransomware variant or astronomic ransomware demands are simply sexier than devising a plan to keep you safe from such an attack. Yet keeping your data safe is more important than ever in today’s risky online environment.

If your business or home media collection isn't protected with a backup and recovery plan of action, we encourage you to use World Backup Day as a deadline to act. The success and proliferation of phishing and ransomware as a one-two combo mean the risk of data compromise is high. And, whether you own a business or just a scrapbook collection on your home computer, take a moment to consider all you have to lose…

If you do have a backup solution in its place, World Backup Day can serve as a periodic reminder to make sure it's appropriately configured and working correctly. It’s no time to let your guard down. Maybe you’ve invested in a solution but failed to notice it’s stopped periodically updating. Take a moment to make sure.

Strive for comprehensive cyber resilience

Backup is one of the core pillars of cyber resilience, but it's only a single pillar. Achieving true cyber resilience means developing a comprehensive strategy for safeguarding your digital life. That entails integrated defensive and recovery measures to give your family or organization the very best chance of weathering the storm of a cyber event.

If all else fails in a cyber resilience strategy, it is critical that solid backups are in place to arrest the fall. Backups that can be restored to a precise point in time and will allow you to continue in business without failing to achieve your objectives.

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