It was getting dark on the evening of August 20 in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. 62 year old Miyuki Harwood had left her hiking group to go back to camp alone because she was getting low on water. On her way back to the campsite, Harwood fell off a cliff. She landed on her legs and broke her left leg, right ankle and injured her back. Harwood quickly realized she could not stand on either leg. She was alone. No one in her group knew where she was. Harwood had no food, little water, and not much in the way of supplies. Even in August, the temperatures in the mountains could get very cold at night.
After 2 days, Harwood realized she wasn’t going to be found right away. She crawled 150 yards to a ravine to find water and purified the water with her water bottle’s filter. Harwood had no pain relief or food to eat. Luckily, the one thing Harwood did have with her was her emergency whistle. “I kept blowing my whistle and answered their calls,” she said. Unfortunately, rescue crews could not hear her at first due to a nearby wildfire making searching difficult. Rescue crews eventually found Harwood after 9 days.
Harwood’s story is certainly one of strength and bravery. But training and preparation also allowed Harwood to survive. It’s very likely that Harwood survived because she was able to use her whistle to call for help. Harwood also knew how to use her water filter to stay hydrated. While most of us aren’t likely to find ourselves in such a dire situation, being prepared for disasters and emergencies is something we can all benefit from.
The holiday season is upon us. You may be wondering what the best gift is for your fellow coworkers and teammates. How about a gift that will keep on giving long after the holiday season is over – data security and disaster preparedness?
Why We Need to Disaster-Proof Our Businesses and Data
When we think of “disasters,” events such as floods, fires or hurricanes typically come to mind. It’s easy to think that these types of events won’t happen to our own businesses. But, every week, over 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States (Mozy Online Backup). That’s a lot of hard drives, and a lot of data, potentially lost forever. And 31% of PC users have lost all of their files due to events beyond their control. With our businesses, disasters often take the form of malware or ransomware attacks. Even something as simple as a faulty software update can ruin data files permanently.
And when businesses suffer data loss and downtime, statistics show that the odds of recovery are not in our favor. 40% of business go out of business immediately after a disaster strikes. 90% go out of business within 2 years (Boston Computing Network, 2014)! But the good news is that you too can have a rescue whistle. By working with a MSP, you can set up a BDR (Backup Disaster Recovery) system that’s available 24x7x365.
Here are some of the main threats that a BDR plan can save you from.
Types of Incidents and Disasters BDR Protects Against
- User ErrorWe all make mistakes, like accidentally clicking a malicious link. Sometimes we drop our computers, misplace a mobile device or deleting something we intended to save. User error was cited as the leading cause of data loss in a 2015 Databarracks survey. Backup plays an important role in ensuring these mistakes don’t turn into serious problems.
- Hardware FailureAll devices and components have varying life expectancies and refresh cycles. Hardware often fails. Whether it’s due to normal wear and tear, defects, or the unexplainable, businesses need to be prepared. BDR can help ensure that entire data sets are replicated and accessible should something suddenly stop working.
- File Corruption & Software FailureSoftware will also occasionally fail. Files and data can become corrupted or be deleted without warning. In addition to providing complete restores for entire machines, BDR allows for data recovery.
- Natural Disasters and Extreme WeatherSmall businesses lose an average of $3,000 per day after closing due to a major storm, according to Climate Change Preparedness and the Small Business Sector. With the regularity of these events and the resulting power outages and other less severe issues creating costly downtime, BDR is a no-brainer.
- Insider ThreatsA disgruntled employee may intentionally encrypt, delete, steal or corrupt sensitive information. Having that data backed up ensures that it can be recovered and restored. This isn’t to say that BDR can necessarily prevent such behavior, but it helps to mitigate damage.
- CybercrimeViruses, malware and cybercrime – especially ransomware – are an increasingly dangerous threat today. Businesses saw an average of 160 successful cyber-attacks per week (Ponemon Institute’s 2015 Cost of Cyber Crime Report). BDR can help you save money when attacked.
Will You Have Your Safety Whistle Ready?
A downtime or data loss event should not be the first time you think about a BDR solution. The only way to protect your business from the risks associated with data disaster is to implement a BDR solution today. It gives you a reliable safety net to fall back on. Not only will quick and frequent backups limit data loss, but having a proper recovery process in place can help mitigate other damages in the long run. Even in the face of unpredictable events, you can rest assured that you’ll have a reliable solution in place whenever you need it.
Will you have your safety whistle ready to blow when disaster strikes? And who will answer the call to get you back up and running?
You’ve spent a lifetime working hard to get where you are. You earned every penny and every client. Why risk losing it all? Get the facts and be certain your business, your reputation and your data are protected. Call us at 512-900-9478 or you can e-mail support@higher-state.com.
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