How to make a good backup

There are several situations where you need a backup. For example, when a hard drive crashes. Or in the event of a fire or burglary. You may be a victim of cybercrime, or an employee may accidentally delete important files. Government research in 2020 shows that 9 out of 10 entrepreneurs only back up their business files occasionally. There is room for improvement. But how do you make a good backup?

 

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1. Backup regularly

How often do you back up? Every week or every month? Rajko Smaak, relationship manager at the Digital Trust Center (in Dutch), is very clear about this: “Make a daily backup. Every time you work, you update your files. Then if something goes wrong, you want to get back the most recent version of your files, right?” Think about which data is important to copy and how long you want to keep it. Make clear agreements about this with your IT service provider. What if you do not have an IT service provider? “Then schedule an automatic backup every day. Or put a reminder for a manual backup in your agenda so that it becomes part of your daily routine,” advises Smaak.

2. Keep physical backups as well

With a digital copy, you can quickly find your data and programs after a computer crash. And there is another advantage, says Mark Kolk, director of Quality ICT B.V: “With online backup software, you can easily and automatically make a copy of the entire server and data. This is often sufficient for a smaller company.

But in case of cyber incidents, it is also good to keep a physical backup too. Keep this outside your business premises, so that you have an extra copy in case of fire or burglary. In addition, restoring a large system from a physical copy is faster than from an online version. “With a large amount of data, restoring it takes longer via an internet connection,” explains Kolk.

3. Test your backup regularly

Kolk advises that you not only make a spare copy but also test it. “You have to periodically test if the backup is easy to read. In practice, entrepreneurs only find this out when something needs to be repaired. You can measure the health of the backup system with a daily automatic test (in Dutch).

Limit access

Not all your employees may have access to all data in your network. You do not want every employee to be able to access your complete backup. Kolk advises: “Make a few employees or a department responsible for the backup process. The copy usually contains all company data. This is more than a standard employee is allowed to see. So also encrypt your external storage.

Backups for home workers

Since the corona pandemic, many employees work from home with their private or work laptops. How do you ensure digitally secure working and structured backups? “Today we see that companies usually store data centrally on a server or in the cloud and that as little data as possible is managed locally,” says Kolk. “With this system, you can always access your files from home, the office or on the road, without saving locally. Especially now that many employees are working from home, it is convenient and safe to store digital information centrally. Modern software can often simultaneously store an extra copy in the cloud.

Do you want more information and tips? The Digital Trust Center provides backup advice (in Dutch). 

How often do you back up your business? And how do you store it? We would like to hear from you. Share your experience via kvk.cyber@kvk.nl.