“Back up” to move forward in 2023
While the start of a new year is a time of renewal, we mustn’t forget lessons learned in the past.
As 2022 closed out, I was struck by the extraordinary disaster that was the hacking of customer data held in trust by some of the nation’s biggest companies.
While I don’t have a silver-bullet solution to this type of large-scale cyber attack, it brought home to me just how much of our most precious information is stored in the digital space. It also demonstrated just how vulnerable that material is.
So, my message as we head into 2023 is to adopt digital redundancies to keep your info secure.
In other words,… back your stuff up!
The fragility of the digital dimension
The pace of digital communication and data storage advances over the past few years has been head-spinning.
But the vulnerability of digital has been demonstrated time and again. Who hasn’t experienced that gut-wrenching moment when it appeared all your data had been lost? More than one university student has screamed in despair because a stray keystroke saw hours of work disappear. Then there are those office freakouts because a proforma was accidentally wiped midway through an application process.
Even more dramatic events can strip you of your digital information too. A badly placed lightning strike can burn out a poorly protected system. And don’t forget disasters such as fire or flood that will physically render your drives and processors useless.
So, it’s crucial to take precautions with digital information, especially around our personal finances, important documents, and precious photos.
Fortunately, there are several ways to mitigate the chances of digital loss. In my own business, we’ve established redundancies that are applied across administration and management to make sure we stay safe. These moves can be utilised by anyone wanting to disaster-proof their digital existence.
Automatic backup
When working on a file, ensure the “automatic backup” option has been switched on. This will periodically save your file without any further action by you. It’s commonly used in Microsoft Office applications and ensures most of your work will be retrievable even if a sudden power outage or laptop shutdown occurs.
Back up every file to the cloud (Automatically).?There are many great secure services you can use and set up easily.?This will instantly (when set up) back up photos, documents, and important files. Many of these services also have “Versions”. Versions enable you to revert to an older copy of a file you may have accidentally saved over.?Some examples of inexpensive services that can work are;
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You can google and find extensive how-to and help videos on all the above on the internet.
External hard drives
External hard drives are more compact and affordable and have greater capacity than ever. You can purchase as many terabytes of storage space as needed for a few hundred dollars.?These can easily connect to your computer for a fast upload.?Also, when purchasing an external hard drive for backup, select an SSD (Solid State Drive). These do not have moving parts, have faster speed, and longer life. Most importantly –?less chance of failure.?A good example of an external drive is the Samsung T7 SSD.
My tip is to back up your information every six months or at least yearly (if you are doing instant automatic cloud backups). The process doesn’t take long and could make all the difference if an unfortunate event happens.
One other tip – keep your external backups off-site or in a fire safe, away from your main computer and storage system. This ensures that your physical file backups are well away from the affected premises if a catastrophic event such as a fire or theft occurs.
Cloud storage
Cloud computing has pretty much rendered onsite servers redundant nowadays. Cloud storage is an excellent option for both business and personal use.
You can automatically set to have files and precious memories like photos and videos backed up to cloud drives. Google, Dropbox, and One Drive are among the most popular but search the internet for other options. Please note that there’s often a small monthly fee for increasing your cloud storage space if needed, but it could be well worth the relatively minor cost.
Cloud computing and email syncing
You should ensure email synching between all your devices is established so important e-correspondence is easily retrieved. I’ve even seen people recover what they thought were lost important documents by accessing past emails that those documents were attached to.
Another safety move is to use cloud-based applications. For example, Google docs and sheets mean you can work on spreadsheets and word-processing files without running them on your laptop or PC’s hard drive. All the work is automatically done in the cloud, making it easy to share with other teams or family members. It also means that if your hardware crashes, the files are safe and remote, ready to be accessed and resynched to your system at a moment’s notice.
So, plan for the worst and hope for the best in 2023. The start of the year is the time to get your personal and professional admin in order. Back up your stuff so you can sleep a little sounder.
Invest the time to ensure your digital life is secure and protected.