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How to prevent data loss: 4 strategies for better data protection
Reliable, redundant and tested backups are critical to preventing data loss. Implement these four best practices to better protect your data and ensure backups are secure.
Data loss can be devastating for a business. Fortunately, it is preventable with the right planning.
There are numerous reasons why data loss can severely harm a business. There are the legal consequences to consider: Regulations such as HIPAA, PCI DSS and GDPR include data retention requirements. Losing data that an organization is legally required to keep can expose the organization to massive regulatory fines.
Depending on the type of data that is lost, it might directly harm the organization's revenue stream. This is especially true if the loss affects a customer database containing unfulfilled orders. The costs associated with recovering lost data can also adversely affect an organization, and a data loss event could damage an organization's reputation, particularly if sensitive data is exposed.
Data backup administrators wondering how to prevent data loss have several opportunities available to them. Four key best practices to prevent data loss include conducting frequent backups, using reliable hardware, practicing least privilege access and providing adequate training.
With this tip, find out how data loss can occur and learn more about the four key ways to prevent it. It will also go over data loss prevention (DLP) software and if it can help.
Common causes of data loss
Data loss can occur because of several different factors. Data can be lost due to simple human error in which an employee accidentally deletes or overwrites an organization's data. Hardware failure is another common cause of data loss. Hard disks and storage arrays can fail without warning, leading to data loss in the absence of a backup. Even if a disk or an array does not completely fail, a failing storage controller can cause good data to be overwritten with data that is corrupt.
Cyberattacks are a well-known and rising cause of data loss. Ransomware can encrypt an organization's data, and decryption might not always be possible, even if the ransom is paid. Similarly, cybercriminals have been known to lock, steal, overwrite or delete an organization's data.
Finally, natural disasters can lead to data loss. Just imagine what would happen to an organization's data if the data center were flooded during a hurricane or if the data center suffered fire damage. As the frequency of natural disasters increases due to climate change, organizations must be mindful not only of where they are keeping data, but where they are storing backup copies of that data.
How to prevent data loss
While there are many ways to lose data, there are also ways an organization can minimize the chances of data loss. Organizations that employ these practices in their data protection strategy can securely safeguard critical files from potential threats.
1. Back up data frequently
The first and most important of these best practices is to create frequent backups. Backups are the best option for getting data back following a data loss event, and regularly testing those backups is just as important as creating them. Backup testing can help determine whether the business can use that backup to successfully recover data or if there is a gap in the protection strategy admins must address.
Backup administrators should also create periodic air-gapped backups in addition to normal backups. An air-gapped backup is a backup that is written to removable media and then ejected. Ransomware cannot attack a backup that is not physically connected to the network. If a ransomware infection were to destroy an organization's normal backups, the air-gapped backups would still be available and secure.
2. Use reliable hardware
One of the most frequently overlooked best practices for avoiding data loss is to use good quality hardware. While it might be tempting to use budget-friendly hardware rather than a more premium option, low-budget hardware might not undergo the same quality control as higher-end hardware. That could ultimately lead to premature hardware failure, potentially resulting in data loss. Similarly, good quality data center hardware often contains redundant components that are designed to prevent catastrophic failure.
3. Practice least privilege access
Another best practice for avoiding data loss is to practice the principle of least privilege. Least privilege access is all about making sure users in an organization have exactly the permissions that they need to do their jobs -- no more, no less.
The reason why this is so important is that if a user accidentally triggers a ransomware infection, the ransomware inherits the permissions of the user who triggered it. In other words, the ransomware cannot access and encrypt anything that the user does not have access to. Limiting the user's permissions can minimize the damage that could potentially be inflicted by ransomware.
4. Conduct proper training
Many data loss events are caused by human error. For example, an end user might click on something that they shouldn't and unleash a ransomware infection. Similarly, an IT professional might make a configuration error that causes a volume's contents to be deleted.
There's no way to eliminate the possibility of human error, but organizations can reduce the chances that a simple mistake will have catastrophic results. The key is to provide the proper training. Employees must be trained by the organization in data security measures, backup scheduling and testing, and recovery operations to better handle critical data.
What about data loss prevention software?
Contrary to its name, data loss prevention software does little to guard against a data loss event. DLP software is designed to guard against data leakage. For example, an organization might use DLP software to make sure employees aren't using email to exfiltrate the organization's sensitive data.
Although DLP software is not designed to prevent a data loss event from happening, it might be able to help prevent data loss in a roundabout way. Some DLP software can detect abnormalities in the way that data is accessed or handled. If the software detects that a user is accessing files that they would not typically be using, it might be a sign that the user's account has been compromised or that a ransomware attack is in progress. The organization might be able to limit the damage by taking immediate action to shut down access if it is found to be malicious.
Brien Posey is a 22-time Microsoft MVP and a commercial astronaut candidate. In his more than 30 years in IT, he has served as a lead network engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense and a network administrator for some of the largest insurance companies in America.
