Backup

Data Resilience 101

admin — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 23:49:19 +0000

Data Resilience 101 admin Wed, 12/22/2021 - 17:49 Backup Todd Gifford

What is data resilience?

You know when your car breaks down or when the fuses blow, and the lights go out at your house? Often both of those things are problems, but you can work around them: You can call breakdown recovery or grab a taxi, and if the lights go off, sometimes the power is still on elsewhere, or you have a torch. Both of those situations and the workarounds supply a level of resilience – when there is a problem or something breaks, you can still walk around the house at night and see where you are going or make it work or the airport on time.

Data resilience is your ability to take a hit on your data availability or integrity and keep your organization running.

Why do you need data resilience?

Let’s get this out there: All organizations rely on their data; they always have. That accountancy firm from a hundred years ago had loads of data – it was just on paper. Architects, mechanics, the hospital, manufacturers, software developers, those of us who write blogs – everything we do has data at its core or associated with it. Many organizations even have data about their data – how much there is, where it is, who has access to it, how long they should hold it – the list goes on.

Let’s take an example – an oil pipeline. How much data is associated with pumping oil through a pipe? Probably quite a bit: flow rates, volumes pumped, pressure, leaks, maintenance records, valves, staff, locations, emails, diagrams, bills, wages, security information, etc.

What happens if all that data is lost or modified? No oil. No bills are issued, or revenue paid. Maybe a massive environmental disaster.

So – data. How about that – it’s critical to your organisation.

How to make data resilient

Data resilience requires planning. All organizations have some of the same types of data (like finance or HR) – but its value is different depending on the organisation.

Step 1: Collect the business requirements for data resilience – these will inform what to protect, how often to protect it, and how quickly it may need restoring after a data resilience event:

Know what data is essential to your organization. Work with department heads and those who use the data to perform their jobs. Categorise the data into high, medium and low based on the sensitivity of data (such as HR or medical) and how it would affect your organization if it were changed or unavailable.
Know where the data is – if you can’t find the data, you can’t control it and protect it.
Know who needs access to the data and how often
Work out how long each area of your organization could function without access to its data. This will allow you to work out the maximum time you could be without access to data, known as the RTO or ‘Recovery Time Objective.’
Work out how much data you can afford to lose – this is known as the RPO or ‘Recovery Point Objective’.

For some organizations – those last two will be zero. As in, the data needs to be ‘always available’ with ‘no loss’. Ouch – those are some tough asks – but not impossible. There will always be some risk of data loss due to Murphy’s Law – (if something can happen, it will) – but we can do our best to minimize the likelihood.

Step 2: Data resilience design

Data resilience design requires answers to the previous questions, but it also needs to consider the systems you are using. Is all of your CRM in Salesforce? Staff using Dropbox for corporate data without permission? Email and finance data in Microsoft 365?

Here are some pointers for design:

Control where the data is and where it can go
Secure those locations – understand who can access the data
Make those systems and locations as available as they need to be. This is key as the budget likely won’t stretch to allow every system to have 99.999% uptime. The payroll server only needs to run once a month, for example. That real-time ambulance tracking system – that one needs those five-nines of availability.
Despite all that resilience – you do need to take a backup.

For me – the cloud offers a cost-effective way of achieving a high level of availability at an affordable price, as those expensive infrastructure and maintenance costs are shared across many organisations.

Step 3: Back up the data

This is probably the number one thing on the list of data resilience must-haves. Backups. Back up your data somewhere that lives separately from your primary data (i.e. – consider AWS instead of Azure if your primary data is hosted in Microsoft, and vice-versa).

All the security and outsourced hosting won’t protect you from every incident – in fact, most cloud service providers bury it in their terms of agreement that they are not responsible for your data loss. When looking at your resilience plan, it’s important to ask - are you hosting your data in the cloud? In someone else’s cloud platform?

There is a backup for that as well – often called cloud-to-cloud backup or SaaS Backup

Backups provide you with a point-in-time recovery option. Between those points-in-time, however, there could be some data loss (most enterprises backup systems every hour, for example).

Step 4: Archive or backup? You may need both.

Need to make sure there is as close to zero loss on those legal emails or conversations about patients? For that, you need a real-time copy of everything that happens. This can be in the form of replication to an offsite location for virtual systems or an information archive for cloud systems to capture real-time data, like emails or Teams conversations.

Even if you have backups in place, if you work in an industry with any level of compliance requirement, having an archive can be the fastest and easiest way to source a copy of your communications. Where a backup brings you a step further – it can back up files, images, projects and other data in addition to your communications. When it comes to legal requirements, it’s crucial to practice as much due diligence as possible. You can read more about the difference in archive and backup here.

Summary – data resilience

The first rule of data resilience is to ensure you implement backup. The second rule of data resilience is to always have a backup. You can hone your data resilience approach by taking input from your organization. Likely nobody will be comfortable with data loss, but they may be able to operate without some data for a period of time (RPO vs RTO).

Follow the steps and plan your approach. Not only will this enable you to concentrate your efforts and budget in the right areas, but it will also enable you to show the board or the regulator what you are doing and why.

And don’t forget the third rule of data resilience – always have a backup, and make sure it is stored away from where the primary system is. Run all of your environment inside Microsoft 365? An excellent choice – but don’t keep the backups there as well, just in case.

Todd Gifford, BEng, CISSP, has 22 years of cybersecurity experience and is the CTO of Optimising IT, a UK-based Managed Service Provider whose goal is to help you pragmatically manage risk. Connect with Todd on LinkedIn or visit Optimising IT to learn more about how they can help you choose and implement the best cloud-to-cloud backup solution for your business.

Secure Modern Workplace

A rundown of backup recovery and data loss

admin — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 17:14:30 +0000

A rundown of backup recovery and data loss admin Fri, 12/17/2021 - 11:14 Backup ��Ƶɫ

As a business owner, knowing how to protect your digital data is a must when it comes to avoiding disruption to your business. Your business's essential data may be on a device that can get damaged, and data that is stored online may be accidentally deleted. Fortunately, data backup and recovery services make getting your data back if something happens to it easier than you might think. Here is an overview of what data backup and recovery typically look like and how they can benefit your business!

What Is Data Backup and Recovery?

Data backup and recovery describe the steps business owners can take to make sure they still have access to their digital assets, files, and other data in case something were to happen to the original version. Data that has been properly backed up in advance can usually be recovered if it is accidentally deleted, your device is damaged, or your business becomes the target of a cyber attack.

Difference Between Backup and Recovery

Data backup and recovery are two closely related concepts, but they are not exactly the same thing. Data backup is a preventative measure that should be taken long before you experience data loss or other problems with your data, while recovery is the process of getting your data back after a problem occurs. Properly backing up your data is an important step in making sure that you are able to recover it if you need to, as the process cannot be done in reverse if data that has not been adequately backed up is lost.

Types of Backups

Your business has several options when it comes to backing up your data. Although you will need to begin by performing a full backup, incremental and differential backups tend to be more efficient options for backing up new data.

Full Backups

A full backup creates an extra copy of all the data on your system. This type of backup is the most thorough, and it is an essential starting point when backing up your system for the first time. However, it is usually not the best choice for adding new data once the majority of your information has already been backed up because it is a very time-consuming process that typically takes many hours or even days to complete.

Incremental Backups

Under most circumstances, incremental backups are a better option when it comes to backing up new data. Because you do not need to back up your entire system over and over, selecting this option allows you to only create a copy of new files or other types of data that have not yet been backed up. As long as you have done at least one full backup in the past, an incremental backup is a faster and more efficient option for making sure you have a backup copy of all the files you need.

Differential Backups

Differential backups fall in between full backups and incremental backups. Like incremental backups, they only affect some of your data, but they use your most recent full backup as a starting point instead of your most recent incremental backup.

Types of Recovery

There are also several types of data recovery methods to choose from, some of which can work better for certain types of data failure than others. Some of the most common types of data recovery include granular recovery, instant mass restoration, volume recovery, virtual machine disk recovery (VMDK recovery), bare machine recovery, and instant volume mounts. Assuming your data was backed up properly before its failure, you can choose which type of recovery is the best fit for the type of data you lost and what problem caused it to disappear.

Importance of Backup and Recovery

Here are several reasons why considering data backup and recovery before you need them is essential when it comes to protecting your business!

Your Data Is Essential to the Operations of Your Business

Digital data security has quickly become a far bigger concern for many businesses than it was even a decade ago, although it has been an important consideration for as long as it has been used for business purposes. Your business likely relies on a wide range of categories of digital data to function normally on a daily basis, and abruptly losing access to that data can hinder your business from accomplishing as much as it should. For this reason, taking steps to ensure the overall security of your data is a must when it comes to keeping your business up and running.

No Business Is Immune to Data Loss

No matter how strong your security measures are, your business's devices and programs can fail or experience a cyber attack. Laptops can wear out and no longer turn on, files can become corrupted and unable to be opened, human error can cause you or an employee to accidentally delete data, and your business may become the target of a ransomware attack or other cyber security concern. Although your IT team should certainly take steps to reduce the likelihood of these problems, it is impossible to guarantee that they will not cause your data to disappear.

Ramifications of Not Backing Up Your Data

Although it is understandable that your quest to find ways to save time and money for your business may not automatically include investing time and money in data backup and recovery programs that you may never need to use, it is important to carefully consider the ramifications of cutting corners in an area that has the potential to cause extreme financial losses and productivity setbacks if something happens and your data cannot be recovered.

Cyber criminals are becoming more sophisticated even as cyber security programs become stronger, and banking on never experiencing a cyber attack because you are taking precautions could be catastrophic for your business. Simple human error, such as accidental deletion, can also destroy hours, weeks, or even years' worth of hard work.

At ��Ƶɫ, we prioritize helping our clients take steps to avoid the damage that data loss can do to their businesses. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you take steps to protect your data from a wide range of potential losses or to get started!

Secure Modern Workplace

What is Cloud Backup And How Does It Work?

admin — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 22:23:00 +0000

What is Cloud Backup And How Does It Work? admin Tue, 12/07/2021 - 16:23 Backup ��Ƶɫ

Flash drives, CDs, and floppy disks may have been your go-to devices for saving files for years, but they are no longer the best option for most businesses. These physical devices are prone to damage, and having to save backup copies of your business's files on additional devices can take up a significant amount of storage space. Cloud-to-cloud backup storage is an innovative option that uses secure online storage space to back up your data. Your company's data is vulnerable to expensive data breaches and lost time that can result from lost data, and investing in a reliable backup method now is more economical than attempting to recover lost data later.

What Is Cloud-to-Cloud Backup?

No matter how secure your cloud IT programs are, they are not immune to failure. For this reason, having a reliable backup strategy in place to protect your business's data in case the unthinkable happens is a must in order to avoid losing both your productivity and important information about your company and your customers. Although physical backup devices, such as flash drives, are still available, these methods are also prone to failure, and cloud-to-cloud backup offers a more secure and reliable form of backup that does not depend on physical devices.

Cloud-to-cloud backup utilizes third-party online storage to protect your data in case something happens to your company's devices or network. This method involves sending a digital copy of your data to a company that is not part of your business to ensure that there is another copy of your important information available if your CSP's servers fail, files are corrupted, flash drive goes missing, or other traditional storage method is otherwise damaged.

How Does Cloud-to-Cloud Backup Work?

Cloud-to-cloud backup uses an application to make a copy of your business's data and send it to an offsite digital location where it can be easily accessed if something happens to your original files. Although this "location" is typically the public cloud that can be accessed from anywhere, it can also be a private cloud location that is hosted and managed by a third party company.

Cloud-to-Cloud Backup

Although cloud services tend to be more reliable than physical storage devices, any storage solution still has the potential for something to go wrong. Cloud-to-cloud backup is a new type of cloud backup service that adds an additional layer of protection to your data that has already been backed up in the cloud by copying it to a second cloud location. This provides additional peace of mind for your most important and confidential data by making it even more difficult to lose access to.

Reading the fine print for each of the programs your business utilizes is also essential when it comes to identifying ways that cloud-to-cloud backup can benefit your business. Users are also "jointly responsible" for their data, which means that not backing it up to a third-party service may cause it to be deleted by Microsoft 365, Google, Salesforce, or other platforms. Ensuring that your data is properly backed up to a cloud-to-cloud platform ensures that it will continue to be readily available, even if you do not use it within a specified amount of time.

Advantages of Cloud Backup

Choosing cloud backup over a physical backup storage option can have a variety of benefits when it comes to keeping your company's information protected over time. Here are some of the most significant benefits of choosing cloud backup for your business!

Better Data Protection

Cloud backup provides more secure and reliable data protection than physical data backup devices because it is less vulnerable to most types of damage. The cloud cannot be physically damaged, it is much less likely to become corrupted than other types of files that are saved directly on a device, and it is better protected from hackers and other cyber security threats than other backup storage methods. These benefits make cloud backup one of your best long-term storage options for keeping years of your company's data secure over time.

Automatic Data Backup Services

Your data backup system only works if your data is properly saved periodically, and your employees may forget to manually save information as often as they need to in order to make sure that no information is lost. Most cloud backup storage solutions automatically back up changes to your files over time instead of depending on your employees to do so, which can help to cut down on potential losses.

Ransomware Protection

Ransomware can put nearly any business in immediate danger when it comes to losing access to your data. Threat actors that carry out ransomware attacks are experts in corrupting or encrypting your files to make them unusable even if they do not disappear from your system, and having a cloud-to-cloud backup service that is capable of immediately recognizing a threat and creating a backup version of your original and uncorrupted data is a must to ensure adequate data recovery. This method ensures that the right version of your data is saved to increase your chances of uninterrupted productivity.

Choose ��Ƶɫ | AppRiver for All Your Cloud Backup Needs

We recently acquired CloudAlly, a cloud backup platform that takes protecting your company's digital data to the next level. This platform includes unlimited data retention and a more secure option for backing up your data than many average cloud backup options, and it's housed inside our Secure Cloud communications security portal for easy management.. It also works cohesively with a wide range of product suites, including Microsoft Office 365, Google Workplace, and many other popular tech tools, which gives you the peace of mind of knowing that your cloud backup storage adequately protects work that is done on a wide variety of platforms and will continue to be an ideal option even if you decide to change suites in the future.

At ��Ƶɫ, we prioritize providing our clients with a variety of options for protecting their data. Although you have several options for backing up your data, choosing our secure cloud-to-cloud backup storage option gives you the peace of mind of knowing your company's data has multiple layers of protection. Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of choosing cloud-to-cloud backup for your business or to get started!

Secure Modern Workplace

Why (and how) you should test your backup and recovery plan

admin — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 21:05:00 +0000

Why (and how) you should test your backup and recovery plan admin Tue, 11/30/2021 - 15:05 Backup ��Ƶɫ

There’s no doubt about it: ransomware and security threats are on the rise. Backing up your data is now more important than ever to protect your business in the event of an attack or security breach.

As a rule of thumb, anything that enables your business to run should be backed up. But implementing a backup solution should never be the entirety of your Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) plan. Rather, it should be your starting point.

If you’re not regularly checking and testing your backups, you won’t know whether you’ll be able to restore lost data until you’re in crisis mode—and with some recovery efforts taking months, you could be in for a rude awakening.

Backing up your data is a best practice. As the ISO-27001 Information Security standard recommends, “Backup copies of information, software, and system images shall be taken and tested regularly in accordance with an agreed backup policy.”

So, what do you need to know about backup and recovery testing? We’ve got you covered.

Why backup and restore efforts fail

The truth is, backup and restore efforts can fail for any number of reasons, and the time to identify those reasons should not be when your organization is already under attack. Let’s look at some common reasons for failure:

Hardware incompatibilities or faults. Sometimes it looks like a backup was successfully written, only to have no device able to read it.
Mismatch of encryption/decryption keys.
Bugs in backup software that make it impossible for specific files or directories to be restored.
The backup process is not updated to reflect changes in the IT environment.
Malicious individuals overwriting backup rules.

The bottom line is that backups can fail, and if you’re not regularly testing them, you won’t know until it’s too late.

Ready to test? Here’s what to keep in mind

There are a few things you should consider when planning and carrying out backup and recovery tests.

Aim to carry out a full system restore. Make sure you have enough disk space or cloud storage to restore the entire backup, and compare your storage utilization with what would be required for the backup.

Spot-check your recovery test. In the event of real-life data loss, the most common recovery requests you’ll get are for one-off files and folders, contacts, or team artifacts. Make sure your backup solution’s search and filtering capabilities are working well. You can test this with metadata and keyword searches, granular artifact recovery, and recovery of various types of files. Make sure you’re also comparing the content and size of the restored files to the original files to ensure there have been no errors.

Implement offsite backups. This includes any restore applications or encryption keys. As Fabian Wosar, Emsisoft’s CTO recently told us while discussing whether or not you should pay ransom in the event of a ransomware attack, “You can back up your data locally, but you also need to mirror those backups to an outside location that you can’t easily access,” adding, “You should only be able to upload—and not delete—any data. If you can get around it, a threat actor will, too.”

Understand your network dependencies. As Wosar says, “You need to come up with a playbook and figure out the interdependencies of your services and servers so that you can rebuild everything.” This includes identifying any regulatory requirements, figuring out who needs to be informed in the event of an attack, and creating an action plan for restoring services. Figuring this out ahead of time will save you a lot of stress in the future.

The definition of IT security is constantly changing, and the stakes are being raised right along with the number and severity of threats that exist for today’s organizations. Making sure you have a plan for how to regularly test your backup and recovery efforts will go a long way in keeping your data—and sanity—intact.

Secure Modern Workplace

Why Your MSP Needs to Add a Backup Service (and How to Choose a Vendor)

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 01:51:41 +0000

Why Your MSP Needs to Add a Backup Service (and How to Choose a Vendor) admin Wed, 11/17/2021 - 19:51 Backup ��Ƶɫ

When workplaces went virtual in 2019, more companies than ever moved to cloud-based SaaS platforms like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce. While many are well-versed in the benefits of these platforms—they enable collaboration, scalability, and the ability to work truly remotely—their pitfalls are less well-known.

Ongoing threats like phishing scams, human error, sync issues, and malicious intent make SaaS data susceptible to data loss. With more business-critical data living in the cloud than ever, this is not a breach any company can afford to endure.

But with every risk comes an opportunity, and for MSPs, the opportunity here is a big one. Adding backup services to your offerings will protect your customer’s data, add to your monthly recurring revenue (MRR), and position you as an industry leader in terms of your offerings. Let’s take a closer look at why offering a backup service is a great idea.

Reason 1: SaaS data loss happens

The numbers don’t lie: according to Security Magazine, 80% of companies have experienced a cloud data breach. All it takes is a click on a phishing email or someone deleting the wrong files to become a part of that statistic, and while in-app recovery of deleted data is often possible, it can take weeks or even months to retrieve. In short, if there’s sensitive data, it’s necessary to back it up.

Reason 2: Compliance laws require it

Regulatory laws like GDPR, HIPAA, FINRA, CCPA, and Sox all state that data protection is a “shared responsibility”. This means that cloud service customers are expected to restore their own personal data in the event of a security breach.

If your customers fail to back up their data, they’ll face fines, not to mention a hit to their reputation. What’s more, native options like Recycle Bin, Trash, Litigation Hold, and Vault are archival and e-discovery tools only that do not automate backup or easy data recovery.

This is why Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce all advise their customers to use a third-party backup solution (read the fine print, it’s in there).

Reason 3: Backups minimize the impact and cost of data breaches

Recovery point objective (RPO, or the maximum amount of data you can tolerate losing in a disaster) and recovery time objective (RTO, or the amount of time it would take to get back to regular operations after a data loss) are the two benchmarks of disaster recovery every cloud user should be aware of. Improving your customers’ ability to recover data also improves their ability to bounce back from disaster.

Secure backup and point-in-time recovery minimize your customer’s RPO and RTO, ensuring faster disaster recovery. Having the right backups in place can also greatly reduce the cost of downtime and avoid disruption by ensuring a shorter path to business continuity in the event of a breach.

Reason 4: You’ll have a competitive edge

As an MSP provider, your job is to protect your customers’ data. Even so, you’d be surprised by the number of MSPs that don’t yet offer backup services.

Services like disaster recovery, data backup and restore, and business continuity, allow you to fulfill your promise of data security while setting yourself apart as an industry leader.

Reason 5: You’ll increase your MRR

Finally, adding SaaS backup to your portfolio of MSP services will make you more profitable. Opting in to cloud backup has become a top business priority for your customers. As industry analyst Forrester puts it, “Back up SaaS data or risk losing customers, partners, and employees.” In other words, your customers are ready for the service, and you’d be missing out on revenue if you weren’t the one offering it.

How to choose a cloud backup partner

Now that you know why you should be offering backup services to your customers, let’s talk about what’s important when it comes to choosing a vendor. There are 10 factors you’ll want to pay attention to in your quest for the right partner.

Factor #1: ROI

Of course, the first thing you’ll want to know when seeking out a vendor is whether it will be worth it financially. When considering the return on investment (ROI), you should look at two aspects:

ROI from reduced RPO and RTO

RPO is the maximum amount of time that can elapse between two data backups. You should ask about how often backups occur, if you can customize it, and if you can backup on-demand. Ask about backup data storage limits and data retention as well, to make sure you can recover data from any point in time.

RTO, on the other hand, is the amount of time it takes to restore regular operations after data loss. You should ask about recovery time and recovery flexibility.

ROI based on feature requirements

Based on who your clients are and which industries they’re operating in, you’ll have your own set of features that you want to fulfill. List out your specific requirements and make sure they’ll be met by your cloud backup vendor to get the most out of your investment.

Factor #2: Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)

As an MSP provider, you already know that to maximize MRR, it makes sense to sell ongoing services as opposed to one-off products. Your backup partner should offer SaaS backup and recovery with both monthly and annual plans, and those plans should be flexible and scalable to accommodate any changing customer needs. Overall, your vendor should be as committed to you achieving your MRR goals as you are.

Factor #3: Ease of use

The ideal backup and recovery solution will let you hit the ground running and be relatively easy to maintain. It should be possible to choose a solution that requires zero installation and minimal support. Getting an in-depth demo and trial of the solution can help you confirm that it’s intuitive to use, and that it restores data as promised.

Factor #4: Flexibility

Most MSPs support a wide range of customers in a number of industry types, so you’ll want to make sure that your cloud backup vendor doesn’t limit you in terms of customer size, backup storage limits, software requirements, backup storage locations, and/or backup storage types.

Explore the range of backup and recovery options available to you. For example, can you backup to your own storage when required and/or export backups to a storage type of your choice? And will your customers be able to recover their data easily at any level, from any point in time?

Factor #5: Multi-platform support

Most workplaces host a number of SaaS platforms. For example, your clients might use Microsoft 365 for Exchange, SharePoint, and Teams, but Dropbox for cloud storage. Multi-platform support for all major SaaS platforms is a must for any MSP with a large portfolio of clients. You’ll also want to examine that essential applications of the SaaS platform are backed up too (for example, Microsoft 365 backup should include Mail, Calendar, Contacts and Tasks, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint).

Factor #6: Security and compliance

Your data is only as safe as the backup you’re using. You should thoroughly screen your backup vendor’s security credentials. Are they GDPR compliant? Can they provide a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) to be HIPAA compliant? Is their data encrypted both at-rest and in-transit? Are the backups hosted with a reliable vendor? Do they support OAuth, Okta, MFA/2FA? Is there a choice of local data centers? Do they adhere to no data retention after deletion and privacy by design? These are all important questions, and you shouldn’t be afraid to ask them.

Factor #7: Partner-friendly

Ask each cloud backup vendor about the partner-friendly features and tools it offers. Does the vendor offer a centralized web-based backup management console? Is there a unified place to monitor and manage all your accounts and customer backups? How about a central billing console? These factors make a real difference.

Factor #8: Support

Experiencing data loss is an extremely stressful event for any company. This situation is made all the more stressful when one or more parties is unreachable. Your cloud backup partner should offer support that’s multi-channel, responsive, and available any time.

Factor #9: Reputation

Your customers want an MSP that’s reputable, with a proven track record. The same should be true of the backup partner you choose on their behalf. Look for a proven and tested partner with a great SLA and a top-rated suite of services.

Factor #10: Pricing

Pricing is important—not only the dollar value, but the fine print behind it. You’ll want to look at things like whether storage is included, whether you have to make a commitment based on number of users, and whether your vendor offers monthly and annual pricing.

You may also want to ask about things like high-volume enterprise pricing, goodwill discounts, or deferral of transition costs. Finally, you’ll want to confirm that you don’t have to pay for any upgrade, additional software licenses, plugins, training, or support.

If you’re considering adding a cloud-to-cloud backup solution to your portfolio, visit here to learn more about how ��Ƶɫ can help.

The Future of MSP

Should you backup your cloud communications and apps? The answer is yes, and here’s why.

admin — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 19:51:02 +0000

Should you backup your cloud communications and apps? The answer is yes, and here’s why. admin Tue, 10/12/2021 - 14:51 Backup Todd Gifford

Why do I need to back up the cloud?

Let’s rewind for a moment, to address a question you may be asking: “wait, what do you mean ‘back up THE CLOUD’”?

We are talking about any existing cloud service you’re using today, whether that’s Microsoft 365, Dropbox, Google, Salesforce or other SaaS-based services that house your business data.

Okay, now back to the question: do you really need to backup 'the cloud'? Yep, you really do. As great as it would be to leave it at that and have everyone reading this run-out and purchase SaaS (aka cloud-to-cloud backup) immediately – let's explore why it is necessary to do that.

Cloud is secure and resilient, right?

Well, yes. BUT (and it is a massive but) it is possible for a cloud service provider to lose the data your business has stored in their cloud servers. It has happened before, which means it’s likely to happen again. It’s often a simple shrug when it happens to someone else's data, but what if happens to yours?

Reasons why cloud storage isn't 100% reliable

Let's check out three of the most common reasons why the cloud can fail, and you can lose your data.

Reason #1: Ransomware

Yes, ransomware can encrypt files in cloud storage systems and defeat any fail-safe capabilities in your chosen cloud provider. Ouch.

Reason #2: Physical failure

From lightning strikes to fires – physical failures in someone else’s cloud can and does have the capability to permanently delete data.

Reason #3: User error

And the third critical reason – users. Last week, we were working with a new client who got in touch because one of their users had accidentally deleted 70,000 files from a SharePoint site. No problem -let's take a look in the recycle bin. Ah – over 100,000 files in here. The challenge came as the client didn't want all of the files back, just those that were accidentally deleted. To identify them to restore would mean multiple PowerShell scripts or manually selecting the correct files - no small task and likely to miss at least some of the critical files. Did I mention this type of data recovery process is hugely time-consuming? Luckily, the customer noticed in time, and the files were available to recover, but there is limited time to do that. What would have happened if the client didn't notice for a few months? Likely the data would be gone and irrecoverable.

How does cloud-to-cloud backup help?

In the case of ransomware, physical damage and accidental deletion – nothing beats having an offline copy. By offline, I mean a copy that is stored in another platform, with physical and logical separation beyond the reach of a logged-in user, malicious software running on an endpoint somewhere or indeed a fire that destroys a data center. It will also save vast amounts of time trying to recover data with tools that were just not designed for data recovery as part of business-as-usual. Those 70,000 Sharepoint files? Restored in a few clicks with the right backup platform.

Encrypted files with no roll-back option? No problem - head to the last known good backup date in your cloud backup solution and hit the restore button. With unlimited data retention and restore capability for the price of a coffee and a pastry – it's a small price to pay by comparison to the value of your data and potentially your business.

To explore more on this topic, download our ebook “7 Reasons Every Business Needs SaaS Backup”.

Todd Gifford, BEng, CISSP has 22 years of cybersecurity experience and is the CTO of Optimising IT, a UK-based Managed Service Provider whose goal is to help you manage risk in a pragmatic way. Connect with Todd on LinkedIn or visit Optimising IT to learn more about how they can help you choose and implement the best cloud-to-cloud backup solution for your business.

Secure Modern Workplace

What a Robust Data Backup Strategy Looks Like in Practice

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 19:06:50 +0000

What a Robust Data Backup Strategy Looks Like in Practice admin Wed, 08/25/2021 - 14:06 Backup David Bisson

Data backups are one of the top security measures that organizations need to recover from a ransomware attack. Nearly a quarter (24%) of respondents in a 2021 survey cited backups of critical data as a “must-have” ransomware defense. This was followed by user awareness training and endpoint/device protection, wrote Threatpost. In another 2021 report covered by Cloudwards, 57% of organizations struck by ransomware revealed that they had recovered their affected information using a backup.

The Essential Elements of a Robust Data Backup Strategy

For this recovery method to work, organizations need to be strategic about how they maintain their data backups. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) noted that organizations can start by following the 3-2-1 rule when it comes to backing up their data. The rule states the following:

Keep three copies of any file – Organizations can count their primary data as one copy. But it’s important that they don’t put all their faith in just one backup. They need to have a second backup in case the other copy fails. It’s important to note here as well that you can’t rely on SaaS vendors like Microsoft or Google to automatically back up the data you store with them. In fact, Microsoft SLA’s (Section 6b) specifically recommends 3rd party backups, “We recommend that you regularly backup your content and data that you store on the services or store using third-party apps and services.”
Keep those files on two media types – Different hazards require different types of backups. For instance, they can use an external hard drive to restore their desktops if they need to replace a computer that’s lost or destroyed. Ransomware doesn’t always necessitate this approach; organizations can use the Volume Shadow Copy Service to restore their files after removing the malware from their infected machines.
Store one copy offsite – Data backups don’t just help organizations in the event of a ransomware attack. They also help in other instances of data destruction such as when there’s a fire or other natural disaster. Acknowledging those possibilities, organizations can’t keep their backups in the same place without risking the loss of their data copies. That’s why they might consider backing up their data in the cloud. This will allow them to take daily snapshots of their information and choose a point in time for retrieving the exact data that they want.

Once they have those measures in place, organizations need to follow the advice of Computer Weekly and test the viability of their backups. They can do so by creating backup policies that fit within their wider business continuity and disaster recovery plans as well as their data protection strategy. As part of those policies, organizations need to specify a recovery point objective (RPO) for designating how old the most recent backup can be and a recovery time objective (RTO) for specifying how quickly teams must be able to recover their systems.

Some Important Data Backup Considerations to Keep in Mind

While backups can help them to recover their data, organizations need to keep some considerations in mind. The first is the fact that some ransomware actors changed their tactics to render a victim’s backups unusable. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) explained what it’s been seeing back in 2020:

We've seen a number of ransomware incidents lately where the victims had backed up their essential data (which is great), but all the backups were online at the time of the incident (not so great). It meant the backups were also encrypted and ransomed together with the rest of the victim's data.

Second, ransomware attackers are using double extortion to steal a victim’s data before launching their payload’s encryption routine. This use of double extortion doesn’t prevent victims from using their backups to recover their encrypted data. But because they don’t do anything to remediate instances of data theft, it means organizations can’t recover completely from a modern ransomware attack using a backup.

These concerns highlight the need for organizations to defend themselves against ransomware in the first place. They can do this by using a security solution to protect themselves against email-based attacks, one of the most common delivery vectors for ransomware. Specifically, they should invest in a solution that’s capable of analyzing incoming messages for threat indicators while allowing legitimate correspondence to reach their intended destination.

Learn how the email threat protection tools of ��Ƶɫ | AppRiver can guard your organization against a ransomware attack.

Secure Modern Workplace

With CloudAlly, ��Ƶɫ Brings Cloud Backup and Recovery into the Fold

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 00:58:17 +0000

With CloudAlly, ��Ƶɫ Brings Cloud Backup and Recovery into the Fold admin Mon, 11/09/2020 - 18:58 Backup ��Ƶɫ

��Ƶɫ + CloudAlly

Today’s modern workplaces depend on cloud-based applications to operate their day-to-day. The scalability, accessibility and collaborative nature of these apps make them essential tools – particularly now as the pandemic has thrust businesses across industries into remote work settings.

But data loss in the cloud is prevalent, with one in three organizations having experienced SaaS data loss, whether due to accidental or malicious deletion, corruption or sync errors, app outages, or cybercriminal activity, including malware, phishing and ransomware. The subsequent effects of data loss on businesses can be devastating – not only does it disrupt productivity and suck precious time and resources to recover files, but it can also break the hard-earned trust and respect of customers.

Today’s SaaS applications are incredibly powerful when it comes to boosting collaboration and productivity, but they fall short when it comes to the data retention, backup and restore features needed to recover data at any point in time. Apps like G-Suite and Box, for instance, offer a limited grace period for restoring messages and files, after which point, data is gone forever. Other SaaS providers, including Microsoft, directly recommend using third-party backup services.

There is no doubting the importance of having a secure and comprehensive backup and recovery solution, and a recent survey of our MSP partner base echoes this. We found that at least 45 percent of them would purchase a backup solution from ��Ƶɫ if it became available.

And now it is. Today, we announced that ��Ƶɫ has acquired CloudAlly, an industry leader in cloud-based data backup for business. It comprehensively protects Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), Salesforce, Dropbox, and Box SaaS data with secure automated cloud-to-cloud backup and easy recovery from any point-in-time with unlimited data retention. Cloud Ally’s ISO 27001 certified and GDPR/HIPAA compliant solutions, backed by dedicated 24/7 support teams, have been trusted by thousands of customers since 2011.

With CloudAlly, ��Ƶɫ can now enter the cloud backup and recovery market, which is estimated to be worth $4.13 billion by 2022. In doing so, we are directly addressing the growing demand we’re seeing from partners, customers, and prospects alike, for an enterprise-grade cloud backup offering – and particularly for Microsoft Office 365. Alongside our best-in-class encryption, archiving, secure file sharing and threat mitigation tools, CloudAlly’s complementary solutions will enable us to continue strengthening the ��Ƶɫ Secure Cloud platform and empowering our customers and partners to establish a Secure Modern Workplace.

In addition to sharing similar end markets and a relentless commitment to providing excellent service and support, the acquisition also combines synergistic go-to-market models that will broaden our reach to new customers. CloudAlly is a channel-first provider, serving more than 5,000 customers and 250,000 users through 600 MSP partners. And with no overlap between each company’s MSP partner bases, together, we’ll support a greater number of businesses than we could have on our own.

We couldn’t be more thrilled about the way that ��Ƶɫ is continuing to evolve. With CloudAlly’s strong, born-in-the-cloud business now a part of our product suite, we’ll continue our commitment to lift partners and customers to new heights, driving greater productivity, security and compliance.

Read the press release.

Backup

Data Resilience 101

What is data resilience?

Why do you need data resilience?

How to make data resilient

Summary – data resilience

A rundown of backup recovery and data loss

What Is Data Backup and Recovery?

Difference Between Backup and Recovery

Types of Backups

Full Backups

Incremental Backups

Differential Backups

Types of Recovery

Importance of Backup and Recovery

Your Data Is Essential to the Operations of Your Business

No Business Is Immune to Data Loss

Ramifications of Not Backing Up Your Data

What is Cloud Backup And How Does It Work?

What Is Cloud-to-Cloud Backup?

How Does Cloud-to-Cloud Backup Work?

Cloud-to-Cloud Backup

Advantages of Cloud Backup

Better Data Protection

Automatic Data Backup Services

Ransomware Protection

Choose �����Ƶɫ | AppRiver for All Your Cloud Backup Needs

Why (and how) you should test your backup and recovery plan

Why backup and restore efforts fail

Ready to test? Here’s what to keep in mind

Why Your MSP Needs to Add a Backup Service (and How to Choose a Vendor)

Reason 1: SaaS data loss happens

Reason 2: Compliance laws require it

Reason 3: Backups minimize the impact and cost of data breaches

Reason 4: You’ll have a competitive edge

Reason 5: You’ll increase your MRR

How to choose a cloud backup partner

Factor #1: ROI

ROI from reduced RPO and RTO

ROI based on feature requirements

Factor #2: Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)

Factor #3: Ease of use

Factor #4: Flexibility

Factor #5: Multi-platform support

Factor #6: Security and compliance

Factor #7: Partner-friendly

Factor #8: Support

Factor #9: Reputation

Factor #10: Pricing

Should you backup your cloud communications and apps? The answer is yes, and here’s why.

Why do I need to back up the cloud?

Cloud is secure and resilient, right?

Reasons why cloud storage isn't 100% reliable

How does cloud-to-cloud backup help?

What a Robust Data Backup Strategy Looks Like in Practice

The Essential Elements of a Robust Data Backup Strategy

Some Important Data Backup Considerations to Keep in Mind

With CloudAlly, �����Ƶɫ Brings Cloud Backup and Recovery into the Fold

�����Ƶɫ + CloudAlly

Choose ��Ƶɫ | AppRiver for All Your Cloud Backup Needs

With CloudAlly, ��Ƶɫ Brings Cloud Backup and Recovery into the Fold

��Ƶɫ + CloudAlly