Every small business needs a backup plan
Sooner or later, at least one of your business computers is going to fail. Whether it is from ransomware or lost/stolen laptops, not having access to your precious data is a frightening thought. Here are some easy tips to prevent a crisis.
Keep critical files in the cloud for almost real-time offsite backup. Some cloud based storage services like DropBox allows encrypted files. Have a local backup on an external drive. For Macs, you can use the built in Time machine and for Windows 10, you can use Windows Backup and restore, these are basic but work very well. Have a cloud based backup just in case there is a disaster at your business and your backups are damaged. For security, make sure you have a modern router and your router firmware is up to date. In some cases, the firmware update will include security features and only takes a few minutes to complete. Also make sure that your workstations all have virus protection. It will alert you against some suspicious activity. Check for critical updates on Windows machines and keep those up to date.
Make sure that all the steps are active for each computer in your business. If you have several computers, you may want to think about NAS storage for your local backups since you may have to manage several drives. Check every one in a while to make sure everything up to date including the virus definitions, local and remote backups, OS security updates. The key is preventing data loss is to keep it simple by focusing on redundant data and keeping your software up to date.