It’s a no-brainer to keep our most precious valuables locked away out of sight at home but many do not apply the same treatment within a business capacity. Every single workplace in the South West – whether it’s a farm, salon, charitable organisation, restaurant or retail outlet – has sensitive data, which if it falls into the wrong hands, ie. that of cyber criminals, can have devastating consequences.

Protecting your data is crucial and we advise on a regular basis to backup anything that would be irreplaceable if it were lost, damaged or stolen. This might be things like your financial records, emails, contacts, documents, and key contracts. You may also have things like images and videos which you’ve used in promotional material and which you don’t want to lose. For larger businesses, the backup process might be more technical, and include a copy of things like your databases, file registry and even operating systems.

Businesses of every size, from Bath to Exmoor, Truro to Weston-super-Mare and all throughout the region, heavily rely on significant amounts of data on a constant basis to keep things running smoothly.

Statistics shared by World Backup Day state that 30% of people have never backed up their data. If you identify with this, it’s worth noting that online intruders are looking for the smallest of opportunities to exploit a vulnerability and complacency when it comes to the basics, such as keeping business-critical files away from prying eyes, helps attackers achieve their goals.

How long would you be able to operate for should all your colleagues find themselves locked out of their email accounts or your customer database, booking system or financial details were swiped? Could your business survive if it had to shell out the average £8,500 worth of damage a cyber breach costs a regular business like yours?

Throw into the mix that 1 in 10 computers are infected with viruses each month and 113 phones are lost or stolen every minute, and suddenly actioning a system backup becomes a high-priority, quick-win for business security.

If you’ve got to this point and you still feel like it’s sounding like too much hard work to spend a few moments per week, or daily ideally, to save your business’ sensitive information either to a cloud-based system or a separate external hard drive, the NCSC has outlined five steps related to SME system backups, which will help you put together simple and effective measures to increase business resilience.

For more specific advice about cyber good practice, we can put you in touch with our Trusted Partners which are local, reputable firms with an interest in helping small businesses. We’re a police-led, not-for-profit organisation here at the Cyber Resilience Centre for the South West and our sole aim is to help businesses in the region become safer online. For us it’s about adding value, not costs so we offer free core membership which gives you access to a wealth of resource, cyber updates and guidance. Be part of the community.