You stride into the office early one Monday morning. You grab a cup of coffee, flip on your computer and start checking e-mail… A note pops up that rivets your attention: “Your files have been encrypted. Send $5,000 within five days or they will all be destroyed.” You start sweating as your throat constricts and your chest tightens. Sure enough, every time you try to open a document, the same message appears. Your phone rings. It’s Bob in accounting, and he’s having the same problem. All files across your entire network have been encrypted. You contact the local police. They suggest you call the FBI. The FBI says they can’t help you. What do you do next?

  1. You pay the five grand, desperately hoping you’ll get your data back, or…
  2. You calmly call your IT service provider, who says, “No problem, your backups are all current. No files were lost. Everything will be restored by noon, if not sooner.” If your answer is “b,” you breathe a sigh of relief and get back to work as your backup plan kicks in…

Ransomware attacks are more common than ever, especially at smaller companies. That’s because small companies make easy marks for hackers. At iMedia we have seen many local companies taken advantage by schemes just like this. The average small business is much easier to hack than high-value, heavily fortified targets like banks and big corporations. According to Time magazine, cybersecurity experts estimate that several million I.T. attacks occur in the US alone every year. And that figure is climbing.

So how can you make sure you never have to sweat a ransomware attack or other data disaster? One sure solution is having a solid backup plan in place. When all your data and applications can be duplicated, you have plenty of options in the event of an attack. Here are seven ways to make sure you’re in good shape, no matter what happens to your current data:

Insist on regular, onsite and offsite backups. A good rule of thumb is to keep copies of your data stored in two off-site locations as well as on site. Be sure to backup at least daily and more frequently based on your recovery needs.

Back up the entire computer, not just the data files. New ransomware encrypts not only your files, it may also encrypt the operating system files. Without a full server backup, you’re looking at extensive recovery time and costs.

Check the backup status daily. Make sure the person responsible for your backup verifies the backup ran successfully every day. All backups fail unpredictably from software updates and changes to the system making daily monitoring vital.

Check backup software settings routinely. When new software or updates are put into service, a change in settings can cause backups to fail. Do the people who maintain your backups include this on their regular to-do list?

Perform regular test restores of your system and data. All too often the daily backups appear to run fine and when you need to restore you find you can’t. There was no sign of a backup failure, however a restore fails due to hardware or software incompatibility.  Test restores periodically; we do it daily.

Maintain an archive of backups. It’s not uncommon to restore files thinking you're all set, and then you find missing data. By keeping a backup archive of one year your most likely going to have what you might need. Determine your backup retention based on business and compliance needs.

Determine how much downtime you can tolerate. If you don’t factor into account how much downtime your business can financially tolerate, you might not have the right backup.

You cannot be expected to be an expert in all things. Yet data is the backbone of your business – its protection and recovery should not be left to chance. Leverage the knowledge, skill and experience of an expert who stays current with all the latest IT support issues.

Don’t let your company become yet another statistic. Just one ransomware attack can result in a serious financial blow if you’re not prepared.

Call 508-790-4171 or visit www.imediatech.com/free for a free IT consultation. Discover and safeguard against any gaps that could prove financially lethal to your business today.