Doing your Backups | Online Backup

How Often Do you Back Up Your Data Online?

How often does your company back up essential business data? It turns out that the answer depends on which part of the world you live in.

A recent survey conducted by MyExpressVPN reveals that companies in North America, Europe, and the UK prioritise backup frequency differently. Let’s examine the data in detail and see how your business compares.

France leads the charge in data backup frequency

When managers and IT specialists from four major countries were surveyed about their data backup habits, the French emerged as the most diligent savers.

Twenty-two percent of respondents from France stated that they back up their data daily, while 42% reported conducting weekly backups—the gold standard for cybersecurity efficiency.
This places the European nation ahead of Germany, the UK, and the US, all economies typically considered highly efficient.

Despite their reputation for prioritising leisure, the French have recognised the importance of regular backups in securing vital company data. But what prevents businesses in other countries from following their lead?

Factors that make clients reluctant to back up their data

After identifying the country most committed to performing backups, the survey explored the reasons why other managers back up their data less frequently.

9% of respondents cited a lack of knowledge, while 6% attributed it to poor backup habits. Meanwhile, 5% found backup packages too complex to use easily.

To explore these concerns more deeply, the survey asked participants what improvements would encourage them to use their existing backup services more often:

Forty-one percent requested larger backup capacities at affordable prices, 36% called for simpler backup methods, 35% highlighted the need for enhanced privacy protection, and 34% desired faster backup services.

Given these insights, the responsibility for regular backups doesn’t rest solely on clients. This should act as a wake-up call for service providers to improve their solutions.

That’s exactly what we at Soteria have done with our new flagship product, Total Data Protection.

The solution: Total Data Protection

This new approach to cybersecurity product meets the exact needs of today’s business cloud storage user, offering unlimited backups at a single monthly price.

Customers can secure their data for up to five years, with instant access to all versions of their files in the cloud, ensuring ease of collaboration and sharing for teams.

The package also includes highly customisable options, enabling backups for selected applications and allowing IT managers to cater to complex networks, including remote systems.

Here’s how Total Data Protection can help:

Prevent data loss: Ensure your business is prepared for any eventuality, with files accessible anytime, anywhere.
Mitigate cyber threats: Keep a working version of all files in case your system’s version becomes compromised.
Protect against natural disasters: Safeguard your files from damage caused by floods, fires, or system failures.
Ensure regulatory compliance: Meet the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) by securing client data effectively.

Find out how Total Data Protection can support your business. Contact us today!

Learn more about TDP

Smarter Cybercriminals – Better Backup

The Ransomware Wave Intensifies as Cybercriminals Get Smarter

Ransomware is one of the most pressing online threats facing businesses today, and the not-so-good news is that it’s becoming more sophisticated.

Cybercriminals are discovering new ways to use AI to perpetrate online attacks, with several prominent businesses—including Starbucks—recently falling victim. To make matters worse, hackers are recruiting software developers on the dark web to raise the sophistication of their attacks to a level where many cybersecurity systems may be unable to stop them.

As the threat landscape becomes more advanced, business owners must take steps to protect their valuable data. Let’s look at the evolving threats and see what you can do to safeguard your company’s information.

Businesses of all sizes fall prey to ransoware attacks

The days when only large corporations were targeted by cybercriminals using ransomware are truly over.

Despite ongoing attacks against providers like Blue Yonder—which recently forced Starbucks shops across America to switch to a manual entry system to pay their baristas—cybercriminals are increasingly setting their sights on small and medium-sized businesses. These businesses have the funds to pay significant ransoms but often don’t have cutting-edge cybersecurity systems in place.

A striking example of such an attack is the recent ransomware disaster experienced by British logistics company Knights.

Russian hackers demanded millions of pounds to release encrypted files, including the company’s financial records.
Ultimately, rather than pay the ransom, the company’s management was forced to borrow large sums of money and eventually, to seek a buyer for the business as operations came to a complete halt.

The ease with which cyberattacks of this kind are being carried out raises the question: how sophisticated have hackers become that they’re able to bypass industry-standard cybersecurity systems?

Worryingly, the answer is very sophisticated indeed.

Cybercriminals harness AI and software professionals to carry out attacks

Artificial intelligence is revolutionising the way many industries do business, and unfortunately, cybercriminals are all too aware of its potential to assist in carrying out ransomware attacks.

Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, can be used to clean up phishing emails and make them sound entirely legitimate.
Cybercriminals even programme AI applications to imitate the tone used by companies in their PR materials, making impersonation scams more believable.

While some cybercriminals are turning to AI, a worrying trend on the dark web has emerged, where Russian hackers have started recruiting software developers to find security loopholes in their own ransomware and other harmful apps.

This helps them evade detection and mitigation efforts by cybersecurity experts.

These incidents show that cybercriminals are not only extremely serious about continuing their attacks but are also targeting smaller and less well-known businesses with sophisticated ransomware that may be difficult to evade.

This makes it absolutely imperative for companies to invest in secure cloud storage so that a working version of critical company data is always available in the cloud.

Secure your business with total data protection

Total Data Protection is the only real assurance businesses have when it comes to safeguarding their valuable information.

With comprehensive secure cloud storage, featuring immutable storage, regular automated backups, and access to the past five years’ worth of saved data, our flagship package is a powerful, turnkey solution ideal for any business.

To find out how this solution could benefit your company, click the button below.

Get TDP today

Load shedding Backup for Backup | Cloud Backup

Do I need load shedding backup for my cloud backup?

Every South African knows just how inconvenient load shedding can be, but when power cuts cause your cloud storage provider to go down it can mean serious data losses.

That’s something that no business can afford at a time when electricity supply issues are causing major economic headaches in the first place and so many people now work from home or in a hybrid work environment.

Ensuring that you have a power backup plan is essential for uninterrupted connectivity and to keep computers running, but it’s also critical to consider your data.

At Soteria, we believe in being ahead of the curve with backup for our backup. With load shedding continuing (and Eskom saying that it may not end for at least two years) we’ve taken proactive steps to ensure that our service stays online and that your data is safe, encrypted, and always accessible with us.

how load shedding can cause data loss

Secure cloud storage providers pride themselves on the reliability of their services. Unfortunately, with load shedding a daily occurrence, and here to stay, backup centres are finding it difficult to manage their servers and networks,

Data back-up providers with servers located throughout the country have found that load shedding in one province can cause data loss in another. For cloud-based backups stored in remote locations across the country this can be particularly problematic.

That’s because a server located in the Free State may be responsible for storing data for a client in Durban. Managing and tracking the huge amount of data across the country with rolling blackouts is not an easy task -but someone’s got to do it, and that someone is us.

how we keep your data safe when the lights go out

The Soteria server setup is something we’re proud of, and as load shedding becomes more frequent we’ve created a system to keep your data safe at all times.

Our servers have two power feeds and generators at the ready to ensure constant backup during blackouts so that your business and its data can survive load shedding.
The two main Soteria data centres in Cape Town and Johannesburg work in sync, backing up each other’s data continuously. This powerful cloud storage tag team works around the clock to secure every bit of data that we back up.

no power doesn’t have to mean no data

Aside from having a good UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply unit) and backup batteries which can provide temporary backup power during an outage, you also need to have a sound, secure cloud storage provider.

No matter how much load shedding Eskom throws at us, we’re ready. To keep your data safe no matter what happens, browse our range of secure cloud storage packages today.

Cloud Storage – Store, Sync & Share Backup

Store, Sync and Share Backup Safely with Cloud Storage

Running a modern business means having access to your important company data where and when you need it while still keeping it safe from cybercrime. The headache of relying on physical storage like hard drives and flash drives is over, and cloud storage has become the gold standard for companies that are serious about data security.

Instead of stressing about lost files, either due to physical problems with your hard drive or a data breach, wouldn’t you prefer to rest easy knowing that your files are safely locked away in the cloud?

If you’re new to cloud storage you probably have questions about this technology and how it keeps your data safe. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of storing your data in the cloud and how you can set your business up with an easy-to-use storage solution.

the benefits of cloud storage

You can share, manage, store, sync and collaborate content with your partners and staff quickly and easily when you choose to backup your data in the cloud, and just as importantly, you can access the data from anywhere.

Share data instantly. You can collaborate with your team and give everyone access to the files they need with zero delays.
Store business-related content securely. By separating your business and personal files you can only organise your workflow but also keep your private data safe.
Sync with all your devices at once. Whether you’re using your iPhone, laptop, tablet or office PC you’ll have access to the same files with secure encryption to keep them out of the wrong hands.
Access your data from anywhere. The age of remote working means that you may need to access your files from home, a café, a client’s premises, or even from your hotel room on holiday. All of this is easy with secure cloud storage.
Set automated backups. With automated backups happening daily, even if the worst happens you know that your most recent data is all sitting in the cloud. With cloud storage no criminal can hold you to ransom.

access your data safely with cloud storage

A great way to protect yourself from ransomware and malware attacks is to make sure that your data is safe and encrypted at all times.

Our range of secure cloud storage packages allow you to schedule automatic backups and create multiple copies of your files for extra security.

If you have more questions about cloud storage, contact us today and we’ll help you to get started.

Data Backup Failure | Cloud Backup

How to Mitigate the Risk of Data Backup Failure with Cloud Backup

Data – Backup Failure. These three words strung together could mean the difference between a short-term shutdown or permanent closure for many businesses. To ensure that their data management plans are effective, business owners need to get to grips with how and why backups go wrong. They should also have confidence in their disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) strategies.

what is “backup failure”?

In simple terms, data backups are a form of insurance. They ensure that a business has access to the most recent version of its data in the event it is hacked, stolen, lost, or deleted.

Having a recent backup prevents lost revenue and minimises disruption. However, when a data backup fails, the most recent data copy is unavailable, putting the business at risk of not having the necessary data available in an emergency for hours or even days.

Backups are only successful when both the production and backup environments are operational. In some instances, this can be more difficult to accomplish than it would appear. For instance, if a business continues to use only tape as a backup medium but has a distributed workforce; who changes the tape, how do users recover the data in the event of an incident? This risk has increased with the current pandemic, which has seen much of the world’s workforce working from home.

Obviously, not all backup failures are the result of an incident. Some common reasons for backup failures are down to everyday issues faced in the workplace.

common causes of data backup failure

Load shedding – A lack of electricity at either the production site or backup site
Storage – The disk or tape storage may be faulty or even corrupted
Environment – Overheating in the data centre
Human error – Non-automated tasks increase the risk of human error
Damage – Water or fire damage to computers
Malware attacks – Can cause backups to run incorrectly

All this room for error means businesses are moving towards using automated cloud backup as an additional backup or as an alternative to offsite data backup environments. Put simply, an automated cloud backup environment is much safer and a more guaranteed form of ‘insurance’ when it comes to the secure storage of data.

evolving to cloud backup

Business owners need to adapt their strategy as as their business evolves in a post-pandemic, digitally driven world!

Cloud backup, also known as remote or online backup, stores a virtual copy of a database in an offsite location. This protects the data in the unfortunate event of equipment failure, fire, flood, or other catastrophe. This backup method is much more secure than relying on dodgy electricity supplies, faulty storage systems, and human error, or even a lockdown when employees don’t have access to the backup environment.

With online cloud backup, in the event of an unforeseen catastrophe, a business could be up and running on line even before the physical site is fully functioning.

final thoughts on mitigating the risk of backup failure

Cloud backup and basic data management principles can strengthen a company’s data protection strategy. It’s also the virtual answer to avoidable compliance breaches, something businesses want to avoid with the Protection of Personal Information Act in effect. If you haven’t thought about implementing strategies to help avoid data backup failure, now is the time to start working on that!