Business Backups | Cloud Storage

Business Backups – Is it Time to Shift from Hard Drives to Cloud Backup

External hard drives, USB sticks, and even the occasional writable CD ROM are still being used in offices across the country – even as cloud storage becomes increasingly popular as a means to secure company data.

As a business owner, choosing between physical storage such as hard drives and secure cloud storage could have a big impact on your data security and potentially save you money in the long term.

Let’s take a look at physical storage and the cloud, compare their pros and cons, and help you decide which is best for your business.

Are hard drives still relevant?

From online streaming services taking the place of the movie theatre and CD shop to online shopping looking to replace malls – not to mention the ubiquitous Zoom call which changed our meeting cultures forever – it’s safe to say that the cloud is the future.

Despite these shifts, some businesses still choose physical backup hard drives over cloud-based storage, citing data breaches, hacking attempts and lost files. There is also often concern that their data is being stored in overseas locations.

Many businesses still see physical backups as the easiest, if somewhat least professional way of storing business data which can then be enabled to share to network drives on employee’s computers. The downside is that you have to pay for the hardware upfront and it’s not cheap.

Businesses like this will typically use external hard drives to back up their files – hopefully on a regular basis – in the hope that these devices will eventually contain a full set of data that can be used to restore files in the event of a hardware failure.

The perceived reliability of physical backup that comes with having an external hard drive on your desk or in the server room may be comforting to some, but these devices have one major flaw:

If the drive is stolen or malfunctions, the device itself can usually be replaced but the files can’t.

Cloud storage, with its decentralised and encrypted data protection technology, virtually illuminates this risk and gives individuals and business owners the peace of mind that comes with knowing that the data can be fully recovered in the event of a cyberattack.

Why cloud storage is a winner in 2023 and beyond

Secure cloud storage technology offers all the functionality of an external physical backup device, but with a level of encryption, security, and flexibility that these devices simply can’t offer.

Data kept safe in the cloud is encrypted so that it can’t simply be stolen and accessed by hackers and cybercriminals.
Cloud-based backup solutions offer multiple-factor authentication to verify the identity of users and prevent unauthorized access.
Unlike an external hard drive, the entire cloud can’t be stolen during a robbery,

As an added advantage, secure cloud storage can be scaled up or down depending on your data requirements.

A business that requires 1 GB of storage will pay a significantly lower monthly subscription, than one requiring one 1 TB of storage, helping business owners to reduce costs over the long term.

Experience the ease and security of secure cloud storage

Tired of forgetting to back up your data manually? Soteria’s range of encrypted cloud storage solutions for businesses and households alike offers the best security and flexibility at competitive rates to suit any budget.

To get started securing your data, browse our range of packages today and choose the backup option that best suits your needs.

Backup Awareness | Data Backup

Data Backup Awareness Month

June was backup awareness month, and the cybersecurity industry urged internet users around the world to heed its call for heightened vigilance. The warning comes at a time when ransomware and other online attacks continue to threaten privacy and data security.

What’s the true state of cybersecurity implementation at companies around the world – and are managers being proactive enough in protecting their data? Let’s take a look at the latest numbers to gain insight into the situation from a global perspective.

cyberthreats persist, but some managers are slow to act

The harsh reality of an online space that is becoming increasingly risky for businesses and individuals who value their sensitive information often makes headlines. Unfortunately, the magnitude of online data threats seems to contrast strongly with managers’ willingness to secure the very same data that’s under threat.

Arcserve, a prominent online security provider, carried out a comprehensive data loss survey recently across several countries. South Africa wasn’t part of the research as such, but many of the insights gained from over 1 200 IT professionals responsible for data security implementation may be applicable to the local market.

The survey’s biggest takeaway probably won’t surprise many cybersecurity professionals: most companies can and will be hit by some form of data loss eventually.

For business owners, this means making peace with the inevitability of a cybersecurity breach and shifting their focus to mitigation and recovery. This strategy is justified by some of the survey’s highlights:

76% of medium sized companies have experienced data loss in the period 2018-2023
45% of respondents said that their lost data was unrecoverable
Only 24% of respondents have a comprehensive cyberattack response plan in place
77% of medium size companies haven’t developed a data resilience plan

secure cloud storage puts the 1 into 3-2-1-1

Data security experts recommend implementing a 3-2-1-1 strategy to prevent irretrievable data loss:

Three copies of company data should exist,
Two of them should be on different physical media,
One should be off-site,
The final copy should be in the cloud in immutable storage so that it can’t be altered by hackers.

Since the final copy is the one that could restore your company’s data in the event of a major cyberattack, we’d like to help you store it securely in the cloud in case you need it.

Soteria Cloud offers secure backup and offsite data storage with the latest encryption technology, including immutable storage. To secure your data and gain an edge over 77% of businesses globally, browse our range of cloud storage packages today.

Data and Small Business | Surviving Load Shedding

How your business and its data can survive load shedding

Blackouts caused by the instability of the national power grid have been causing the business community headaches for over a decade, and when load shedding reaches level six, the risk of permanent data loss increases exponentially.

Afrihost server outage disrupts business for over a week

As parts of the country were plunged into darkness for up to 12 hours in a day last month, a major outage at Afrihost’s Melrose Arch server left businesses across the country without access to the internet, emails and other important business data for over a week.

The damage extended to banks and government departments which were unable to access critical information and carry out key activities.

This incident, which was caused by damage to the company’s hardware infrastructure following a prolonged power outage, is just one example of the huge damage that an unreliable national power supply can inflict on the private sector.

surviving load shedding as an SME owner in the time of extended blackouts

Whether you were directly affected by the Afrihost outage or are simply concerned about the safety of your company data during blackouts, here are some steps you can take to keep your valuable business data safe in the cloud and accessible from anywhere, anytime.

physical storage is no longer viable in the era of load shedding

The days when companies stored data in house have been numbered for quite some time, and load shedding has dealt the final blow to the office server.

Companies are increasingly shifting to cloud-based, on demand data storage and electronic business solutions.

Here are some of the functions that can be successfully outsourced to the cloud:

Data storage
Telecommunications – including virtual switchboard systems
Enterprise-wide productivity solutions that are accessible remotely
Information sharing within teams, between teams and with clients

cloud storage = load shedding-proof

One of the great things about cloud storage is that it allows all the main functions of business communication and information storage to be carried out. Even when load shedding reaches the extremes of level six and beyond.

Cloud-based data storage is decentralised, which means that team members in different parts of the country or around a given city can access data when their electricity supply is stable and track changes that have been made during the downtime caused by load shedding.
We recommend that in addition to having secure cloud storage, companies invest in generators, emergency power supplies, and mobile subscriptions from more than one provider since cell phone towers have been known to malfunction or go off-line during severe power cuts.

Soteria cloud offers a full range of secure cloud storage packages that are suitable for businesses of all sizes.

As you prepare your enterprise to deal with the realities of an unstable power supply, our services will help you ensure that your data is always safe, encrypted and readily available.

Data is your responsibility | data backup

Make data your responsibility 365 days a year

Today, productivity is taking place in the cloud more than ever before. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a time when we used to rely on physical storage like hard drives to keep our data safe. Switching to cloud-based apps and online backup for business and personal use comes with a raft of benefits, but it also means that every member of your organisation needs to understand that “data is your responsibility” for good cybersecurity.

Here are some ways you can encourage data responsibility in your business and keep your sensitive information safe in the cloud.

everyone is online nowadays, hackers included

The past two decades have seen a major shift towards cloud-based computing as Internet bandwidth has increased and more organisations switch to decentralized remote-based working.

In most industries, specialised software that used to come on CD, DVD or- if you’re old enough to remember these – floppy disks, is increasingly available for download on a subscription basis.
For users these innovations mean connecting to the Internet to access data from servers around the world every time a computer is used in the workplace.
Billions of people accessing information online every day means that the opportunity for cybercrime has skyrocketed in recent years.

To fully benefit from the convenience and productivity boosting features of cloud-based apps you need to ensure that every single user on your network takes responsibility for the safety of the data they use, twenty-four-seven and 365 days a year.

data security from the ground up

To keep your business information safe and prevent data leaks or hacking attempts, you’ll want to consider the following strategies:

Start with the basics. Up-to-date antivirus software, a strong firewall, secure passwords, zero trust, and a strict privacy policy form the bedrock of your cyber security approach
Train positive behaviours at work. It’s essential to instil a sense of responsibility in your team for all the data that they use on a regular basis and ensure that no sensitive information is shared with unauthorised users.
Keep your cloud cloud-based data safe with secure encryption. This type of data is difficult to decipher even if it’s leaked, making encryption your front line defence against unauthorised data access and hackers.

make data your responsibility and stay safe in the cloud with Soteria

As your company embraces cloud-based productivity, our range of secure cloud storage solutions will help keep your information out of the wrong hands. To learn more, contact the Soteria team today.

Nespresso Data leak | Cybercrime

It’s a Caffeine hit with Nespresso Data leak

Cybersecurity has been in the headlines a lot lately, with South African companies increasingly falling victim to hacking, malware, and data breaches.

Two of South Africa’s best loved brands, Absa and Nespresso, recently had their share of cybercrime trouble when the companies suffered large data breaches in which the personal information of their clients, suppliers, and distributors was at risk.

Here’s what you need to know about these major cybersecurity failures as we all do our best to stay safe online

Nespresso data breach: jitters caused by the latest major data leak to hit SA

Many of us like to start our day with a nice fresh cup of coffee, but for Nespresso distributor Top Coffee, the morning of March 8 began with something less appealing: a huge data leak.

The company, which is responsible for distributing the well-known Nespresso machine and the variety of coffee pods that go with it throughout South Africa, holds a significant amount of personal information relating to clients and coffee retailers in its database.

While Top Coffee was quick to point out that no sensitive financial information is likely to have been leaked, highly personal information like names and phone numbers may have been part of the data that was lost. The company has since fixed the error that lead to this incident and assured clients that their data has been protected.

Nespresso is just one of hundreds of South African companies that have fallen victim to cybercrime over the past few years, with the number of these incidents having increased since 2020.

Absa data leak update: 15 months later, worse than we thought?

Clients and suppliers were shocked in November 2020 when Absa announced that it had been the victim of a major data leak . The bank, which has almost R1.4 trillion in financial assets and 9.7 million customers throughout South Africa, was widely respected for its comprehensive digital security measures until the breach occurred.

According to Absa, the personal information of many clients may have been compromised in the leak. The bank is in the process of contacting clients who were directly affected on an individual basis.

This information was released by Absa following an extended investigation by the bank that lasted more than a year.

These two major data breaches highlight the importance of having comprehensive data backup and security in place no matter how large or small your organisation may be.

be proactive: protect your data with secure cloud storage

Cybersecurity measures like a strong firewall, updated antivirus software, and secure cloud storage are some of the ways you can protect your business against data-related crimes. Reduce the downtime and recovery of an unwanted data leak with encrypted and automated online backup.

To learn more about our range of cloud storage solutions, contact the Soteria team today.

Facebook Lost Control | Mobile Apps

Has Facebook lost control?

Social media is a huge part of our lives and for most of us, Facebook is the platform we go to for news, entertainment and to keep up with everyone we know. This wildly successful social media platform has grown exponentially over the years and is now used by 3 billion people worldwide, or almost half of the world’s population.

With so many people sharing information over the Internet, a number of serious privacy concerns and other issues related to Facebook have surfaced over the past few years. For some tech experts the real question is: should we be using Facebook and is the system out of control?

Facebook executives warned that the system is too big to manage

Recently the media reported that a group of advisers had warned the executives of Facebook that their iconic SM platform has grown to such a size and level of complexity that even the world’s best coders and IT experts are having trouble understanding and managing it.

While the company was quick to downplay these fears, a number of Facebook executives are said to have agreed with the experts’ assessment and are looking at ways to make the social sharing network more manageable.
These may include splitting the company up so that its sister brands Instagram and WhatsApp become independent entities once again.

is Facebook still a secure place to socialise?

In early October the world was shocked when Facebook and Facebook messenger went down for a full day, causing billions of people to lose touch with their personal and business contacts.

This may be a glitch in the system never to be repeated again, but it certainly exposes Facebook’s vulnerability to data security vulnerabilities and begs the question, is facebook out of control?

succeed where Facebook failed with online backup support

Even one of the world’s biggest companies can fall prey to data security failures, but you can avoid this outcome by focusing on your own company’s digital security.

As your business grows, you’ll almost certainly face the reality of having to implement an IT and data security policy for an organisation with increasing information needs. An online backup service such as Soteria cloud ensures that your data is never lost even if your information is destroyed by a virus, or your business is burnt down.

To learn how a cloud-based backup solution can support the growth of your business and secure your data, contact us today.

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!

Identifying and Detecting Fraud, Step by Step

It is an undeniable fact that when it comes to detecting, preventing and investigating fraud and other security incidents, data and evidence are vitally important if accuracy is to be ensured. Something that cannot be denied is that a thorough investigation is required when fraud is suspected.

This seems an obvious statement, doesn’t it? But when you consider just how little South African (and international) companies are doing to spruce up their security measures or put systems in place to prevent and reduce fraud, it would seem that they don’t appear to be considering these vitally important aspects.

identifying and detecting fraud every step of the way

By looking at how a user signs up for an account on an e-commerce site or with a bank, we can show how fraud can be identified and detected step by step by taking data and evidence into consideration.

step 1: the creation of an account

This is the first step that a user takes and sadly, it is often overlooked during fraud detection processes. It’s undeniably challenging for e-commerce businesses and financial services to immediately determine what a legitimate and fraudulent account creation looks like. By looking at the user data, behavioural data, and environmental data of a user across various online applications over time, fraud analysts can understand the intent of a new sign-up and potentially stop it in its tracks.

step 2: user logins

How a user logs in, what time of day they log in, how often they log in and what devices they use to log in can provide a lot of meta-data. By analysing these parameters, it is easier to tell if someone is a legitimate user or a fraudulent user. For instance, an account that has several “wrong password” attempted logins before eventually getting the correct one should raise a red flag.

step 3: how data is requested

When a user signs up for an account, their typical behaviour can be closely monitored. If it isn’t, fraud analysts could miss out on important detection opportunities. For instance, a user is likely to behave in a similar manner every time they use their account. If they start requesting data that they don’t usually, or a change in their account behaviour is noticed, it should be further investigated.

step 4: sudden addition of a new account

A big red flag is the addition of a new account for money transferals which should be investigated more closely. Fraudsters often add a new account to transfer funds out of the main account that they have hacked or hijacked. Watching for this is an important part of the step by step process to identifying and detecting fraud.

step 5: the environment used for logging on

The environment where a user accesses his or her account from is something that should be monitored. When it comes to fraud, if a user accesses his/her account from many different environments, it could be a sign of foul play. Also, if more than one user is accessing a certain service from the same environment, it could be a further sign that something isn’t quite right. Fraud analysts can gain a lot of insight by monitoring this.

be alert & aware of potential fraud this year

With 2021 already a couple of weeks old, and corruption and fraud top of mind, many companies are spending time improving on their security systems. If you are thinking about upgrading your data security, take some time to consider how you can identify, detect and thwart fraud before it happens, by taking a closer look at the above-mentioned parameters within your business environment.

A secure online backup service for offsite protection of your data is a good place to start!

Protecting Your Data – Cloud Backup, Cloud Storage, or Cloud Sync?

We all know that we need to protect our data from breaches and hacking attacks, but are we fully aware of the options and what do they even mean? There are so many ‘cloud’ buzzwords attached to data protection, from storage to sync to backup, that you’d be forgiven for not knowing the difference.

Types of Cloud Data Protection

You won’t know which route is right for you until you understand the differences between the various data protection cloud options, and understand what type of user experience you require.

While protection is the shared goal of all three, they can each be summarised by the following:

Cloud Backup – saves your data
Cloud Storage – creates a gateway to access information remotely
Cloud Sync – is for multiple users, anywhere and as the option implies, syncs any changes across all devices.

We take a look in more detail at the differences between the three main types below:

Cloud Backup

Saving your data to the cloud is known as cloud backup. For many business owners, personal computer and laptop users too, cloud backup is the ideal option as the software can be set up to run the backup automatically, at regular intervals. This means that you don’t have to do a thing once the software is installed and set up.

Cloud backup services that are legitimately reliable will offer data encryption as part of the service. This means that your data will be locked with a password which only you will be able to unlock. When you access your data in the cloud, it should show all versions of the data, including all edits and changes along the way.

If you ever lose your data or something goes wrong with your device, the service provider can give you access to all previous versions of your data. This type of service is typically subscription-based with a monthly or annual fee. This is one of the safest ways to protect your data.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage and cloud backup are two very different things. Cloud storage is the process of loading copies of files and images to a cloud-based folder/service. Unlike cloud backup, this service doesn’t do incremental updates. The copy that you save is the copy that you will receive if you ever need to retrieve your files from the cloud.

Simply put, cloud storage is much like using an external hard drive or a flash drive. Initially, cloud storage can be time-consuming as the uploads need to be done manually, but once you have the bulk of the files uploaded, it’s as simple as setting a reminder to upload your saved files regularly.

Cloud storage is ideally suited to users who require flexible storage capacity. Unlike an external drive, cloud storage capacity can be increased simply by increasing your subscription.

Cloud Sync

With the ever-increasing trend of remote working and flexible hours, cloud sync is a ‘lifesaver’ for small to medium-sized businesses and project teams. While it doesn’t offer vast amounts of storage space, it does allow users to upload files from anywhere and enables them to work on a variety of different devices.

Users can share information, update documents and information across all devices, and share data in an instant. As long as a user has internet access, the service can be accessed from anywhere. Cloud sync saves time and money, and space, but is not recommended for large volumes of data that need to be kept safe. This is not a data storage and protection service – it is more of a file sharing and collaboration service.

Last Word

One thing we all know is that data storage is essential for keeping data safe and secure. Both cloud storage and cloud backup are good options for protecting data, ensuring that there is a copy available, should the worst happen. Take the plunge today – make 2020 the year that your data security is taken care of first!

Make Data Backup a Habit rather than a Task

Does it make sense to have vehicle insurance for your car, household insurance for your home, medical insurance for you, life insurance for your family, and no insurance for your valuable data? Absolutely not!

Far too many people overlook the importance of having a reliable data backup plan that comes with encryption–until it’s too late, that is. While it wouldn’t hurt to have a hard drive available with all of your important information, it’s an even better idea to back up your data to the Cloud. Cloud-based data backups are 100% safe, hassle-free, and ready for access at any time.

Making data backups a habit is a great way to ensure that you never see it as a task again. The more it becomes a part of your routine, the less time it will require of you.

Data Backup Best Practices

Below, we have pieced together a range of data backup best practices for you to consider.

1. Store your data off-site

Data is at risk for several reasons: theft, fires/flooding, system crash, and hacking. This means that storing your data on a secondary device, on the same premises as the original copies, is not the best idea. As mentioned previously, it’s never a bad idea to have a backup on a hard drive, but storing your data remotely (in the Cloud) is the safest possible option. Backup best practice number 1 is definitely to transition to cloud backup.

2. Honour the power of encryption

If you are going to back anything up at all, make sure that it is encrypted. Encryption is essential as it means that opportunistic hackers won’t be able to make sense of your data, even if they tried to.

3. Schedule your backups

No need for you to remember to do the backup daily. When you partner with a reliable and advanced data backup company, you should be able to set the software to manage the backups for you. This takes a lot of the stress off of you.

4. Be stingy with your password and access limits

When you do data backups, you will undoubtedly need to access them at some point. If you need to allow others access to your data, take the time to have separate passwords approved for them, and set limitations, so that your data is a bit more safe from prying eyes. There’s no need to give your online backup password to a multitude of people – keep it to yourself.

Don’t Hesitate – Get Started with Secure, Encrypted Backup Today

By following the above tips, doing your data backup will eventually become a part of your daily schedule rather than a tiresome task. Soon you won’t even notice that backing up is a part of your life. What we do know is that secure, encrypted backups are essential, so don’t hesitate, sign up for the data encrypted backup service today.