3 reasons World Backup Day shouldn’t be ignored
Data is scary. There’s a lot of it floating about – it’s certainly impossible to manage it all to perfection! But regardless of whether you think of data on a personal or business level, it matters. Those family wedding photos, that video of your child learning to walk, your parents’ phone numbers, and yes, even those invoices and tax returns mean a lot to you. (Even if you don’t think they do right now!) Cybersecurity is on everyone’s minds. Individuals and businesses being targeted at an alarming rate.
We take this seriously at Carbon. While there are ways you could lose access to your data as a result of cybercrime (such as ransomware), World Backup Day seeks to raise awareness to the fact this isn’t always the case. You could lose your phone, you could spill coffee on your phone, your USB stick might just stop working… Or, possibly, your data might simply be stored on obsolete storage devices. Think of it, if you had to replay your old videos and cassettes, how easily could you?
Data is more than a friend
The digital age does mean that it is very easy for us to amass a huge mountain of data, but it’s only worth its weight in gold if we know how to manage it properly. It’s likely you don’t even know just how much data you even need to manage!
Just to give you some examples, here are examples of data you should be backing up because it could be lost:
- Pictures of your pets (high importance)
- Phone numbers of family and friends
- Invoices and bill
- Your two-factor-authentication codes
You see, data loss can impact everyone, from individuals, sole traders, to global enterprises. You might not lose everything in one go, but until you do you might not realise the consequences. As we live in a digital world, we are inextricably linked to our digital footprint. Data helps us live in the twenty-first century. You are your data, data is you.
Any backup is better than nothing
One key reason people don’t back up is because people struggle to manage. Backing up your data often means sorting through your data. This can take a lot of time. Just look at your mobile phone’s gallery right now. How long would you need to sort through all your photos?
That’s why we think anything is better than nothing, especially if you are busy! You could gain some peace of mind by having your phone synch automatically with the cloud for example. While you might still need to sort through one big file if you needed to find a specific image, it’s better than nothing. It means you still have it, and you can still find it. Small steps are better than none!
Being reactive is a bit too much of a headache…
The purpose of World Backup Day is to help save you time. We understand that it doesn’t always feel that easy. It’s an extra step to think about, and if we’re being honest, navigating emails, photos, and files isn’t easy! However, there are situations where you will really be thankful you backed up your data. Many websites now give you the options to enable two-factor-authentication. Depending on the app you use, the one time security codes will either be generated on your device or in the cloud. If the codes are generated only on your device and you lose it, you will definitely hope you have kept a copy of your backup codes! If not, you’ll unfortunately have a long wait before you can regain access to key accounts.
Discover more about World Backup Day on their website.
