Taking into account the events of the last few months, it should be painfully apparent that digitization is no longer an option but a necessity for all businesses that could do so. However, despite the numerous advantages afforded by digital technology, it also has several glaring weaknesses.
One that should concern you the most is data loss. According to IBM, the average cost of a large-scale data breach is almost $4 million and lose an average of 25,000 records. Although commonly associated with some of the largest hacks and breaches, data loss can still be crippling to small and medium businesses. Deleting the wrong file could lead to losing important client information, forgetting to save a document can set back your employee’s productivity for hours.
Here are some of the most common causes of losing digital information.
1. Human Error
People make mistakes, and sometimes they make costly mistakes. Someone might forget to save an important document. Or they could accidentally delete an entire folder. Depending on the scope of their error, they can cost you a lot of money.
Although data recovery tools and software can help mitigate this type of data loss, you need to find other means of ensuring your information remains safe. For example, reliable cloud file sync services guarantee all your files are backed up as well as making it easier to share them.
2. Purposeful Attacks
The Internet is home to an unbelievable array of illegal activities, and the most prominent one concerning your business is hacking. Criminals can and will use digital technology to extort money and information from businesses. Some of their tactics can be as simple as attacking your servers through brute force. Or they could be as sophisticated as spear-phishing. This technique involves tempting employees to open links and emails containing viruses or malware. Through these harmful programs, they can extort money from you and threaten to expose sensitive information.
Educate your employees on the dangers of opening unverified emails and links. Aside from that, look into alternative cybersecurity options outside of regular firewalls. Newer methods of encrypting data and safeguarding information might be less susceptible to attacks.
3. Electrical Events
Because they run purely on electricity, your computers and other devices are always under threat from electrical mishaps. An overloaded socket, a storm that knocks out the power, and electrical surges can all wreak havoc on devices and destroy your stored data.
The best way to avoid the adverse effects of electrical events is to follow standard protocols for protecting against them. Backup generators, surge protectors, and a host of other devices can all mitigate the damage electrical events can cause.
4. Physical Damage
Finally, you have to contend with physical damage to your hard drives and computers. Liquid spillage is one of the most common causes of physical damage, but other events can do way more damage. Accidentally dropping a laptop, natural disasters, and fires could all do varying levels of harm to your data storage devices.
You can avoid losing information from such events by using cloud computing services to digitally safeguard your data as well as putting said data in off-site storage, such as servers.
Today, data is the lifeblood of a business. And like any precious resource, you must take every precaution to protect it from loss. Knowing what events can cause such damage is the first step to ensuring your crucial information remains safe.
