IT Wiser

In the world of modern business, the threat of data loss is something that affects us all. While most people tend not to spend every day considering the implications of a data breach, security flaws such as the recent OpenSSL Heartbleed vulnerability serve as timely reminders of how any of us can be under threat from cyber-attack at any time.

No Coming Back

A recent infographic published by The Guardian highlights just how catastrophic data loss can be if your business becomes a victim.  It estimates that 72 per cent of businesses that suffer major data loss shut down within 24 months. For businesses suffering from data loss for a period greater than 10 days the effects are even more dramatic: 93 per cent file for bankruptcy within a year and 50 per cent do so immediately. Frightening figures, made more so by the fact that 78 per cent of organisations have experienced at least one data breach in the past two years.

A loss of data, particularly for small business, can simply be too much to deal with. Not only are there compensation costs to customers, clients, and employees to worry about, there is the impact of lost trust and damaged reputation.

The Cause

According to the infographic, 36 per cent of the data lost by businesses is customer and financial data, with 31 per cent employee information. But how is it lost?

Well, the biggest culprit is, of course, malware – responsible for 35 per cent of all externally lost data. Email attacks and phishing scams are also significant, proving a factor in 21 per cent and 17 per cent of all attacks respectively.

Safeguarding Your Future

Britain ranks fifth in the world for data loss, making up 5.6% of all attacks. With such a high risk percentage, it is essential that measures be in place to prevent data loss from happening.

Educating employees about data breaches, regularly changing passwords and installing Cloud Web Security are excellent ways to minimise the threat of cyber-attack.

On top of these measures, it is critical that Cloud Online Backup is used to backup data to secure cloud data centres. With statistics showing just how much of an impact data loss has on the future of a business, backing up your files can be the difference between success and almost certain failure.

Your data is the lifeblood of your business; do not put your future at risk. Contact ITWiser today to find out how Cloud Online Backup and Cloud Web Security can help you.