The 3-2-1 principle
3 copies
Your working data and at least two backups.
2 different media
For example an external drive and online storage, so you do not depend on a single technology.
1 off-site copy
A copy away from your premises, safe from theft, fire and flood.
A strengthened variant, 3-2-1-1-0, adds 1 offline or immutable copy (impossible to modify or erase) and 0 errors after restore verification.
Why ransomware also targets your backups
Attackers know backup is your lifeline: they try to encrypt or delete copies reachable from the network. A backup always plugged into the compromised computer is therefore a target. Hence the importance of a disconnected or immutable copy out of the attack's reach.
The five most common mistakes
- Never testing restoration: a backup that does not restore is worthless.
- Leaving the backup drive permanently connected.
- Backing up only one machine and forgetting the server, phone, mailbox.
- Not encrypting backups, which become a leak if stolen.
- Not defining how much data you can afford to lose (and therefore frequency).
A simple routine for a small business
- Automatic daily backup to encrypted storage.
- A regular offline copy (weekly or monthly) on a drive disconnected afterwards.
- Restore test at least twice a year, first on a file then on an entire machine.
- Documentation: who backs up what, where and how to restore.
We set up and verify these backups as part of our data protection service and integrate them into your IT estate management.
