Top five Disaster Recovery Mistakes

1. Too few copies of your data

At times of data loss disaster, you will need to have more than one copy of your info and following the 3–2–1 backup strategy. So if you experience data loss or network failure, you’ll be able to restore lost data from another storage location.

Following the 3–2–1 rule means you will have at least three copies of your data. It is advised to have the original copy, and at least two backups in different storage formats, and keep at least one copy of your data offsite, to adequately protect your data.

2. Forgetting that people are part of the equation

The most common cause of data loss is human error. Things like accidental (or negligent) data deletion or modification, or over-writing files; Improper installation or removal of files; Improper drive formatting or partitioning.

However, other common reasons for data loss are:

• Location-related — a theft, fire, flood, earthquake in the place you store your data.
• File corruption — Your data suffers a virus or ransomware infection, or software error.
• Hardware failure — The storage devices that you are using can develop faults. They can overheat. They can be exposed to magnetic fields. They can suffer power outages or surges.

3. Not backing-up the right data

Some home users are not really prepared for a disaster; even if they make backups occasionally. However even IT Managers, who are supposed to know better, also often forget to fully backup their data frequently enough. People just forget to backup or procrastinate, often they think it is an annoying chore do make a backup. With tools such as Macrium Reflect you can schedule your backups, so it should be easier to plan it.

You have to ask yourself — is the data being backed up the right data? Sometimes people have no idea of the value of their data until they lose it, or which data is crucial for their business, until the moment that is too late.

4. Deficient Recovery Capabilities

The majority of people do not test their backups. This is something that we hear frequently, so when they attempt to restore from a backup after a data disaster, they discover that their backup schedule was too infrequent or missed out important files, or it was not stored in a secure location.

One of the reasons why we always recommend keeping more than one format of backup is that some formats can quickly become obsolete, like CD ROM or DVD. The alternative locations can be on a network server, a locally attached drive, or even a cloud “archive”.

5. Poor Reporting Practices

When data-disaster occurs, people are often nervous about recording it, so it is hard to learn any lessons from it. If a ransomware attack happens it might go unreported by staff, out of fear they will be blamed.

If you have been a victim of ransomware, you should report it. Every report you make helps investigators build a clearer picture of the threat. If you are a company and you do not talk about a cyber attack that may cause adverse effects on your business regarding profit and customer trust.

Malware or ransomware can be mitigated only by regularly updating your software and backing up your information. Software updates close the digital holes that allow ransomware in and backups enable you to recover your data without being extorted.

In your disaster recovery plan, you should evaluate all the different ways in which the backup processes of the organisation could be broken and affect the continuity of your company. It’s about thinking about the worst that could happen and having a plan to avoid surprises.

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