According to recent research, a vast majority (82%) of businesses have identified weak spots in their organisation’s cyber defences. This is expected to become a greater area of concern as malicious actors gain access to new ways to conduct attacks on small businesses.

In the last few years, cybercriminals have organised and built plug-and-play attacks, making targeting small businesses extremely easy and profitable. Ransomware attacks are among the most popular forms of attacks for this very reason. This method of attack allows malicious actors to encrypt key business data and force organisations to pay a ransom in exchange for decryption of the stolen data. Otherwise, businesses lose access to key information that could disrupt regular operations. The cost of cyber attacks go beyond that too. SMBs could have to pay in terms of reputation loss and monetary fines.

How businesses can protect themselves from modern ransomware attacks

A key strategy that SMBs employ to keep business critical information safe is the 3-2-1 backup strategy. It involves keeping business data in three separate locations in case a single data source is compromised or encrypted by ransomware attacks. These three locations are divided into two categories; onsite and offsite.

Once a piece of information is created on a laptop or device, it is replicated into a backup drive, often an external hard drive or onsite server. This backup is then supplemented by an offsite, usually cloud-based, backup of the same data.

The 3-2-1 strategy provides SMBs with a few distinct and important advantages. The benefit of having two copies of important data close to one another is that if a piece of data is compromised, businesses have another copy close by and ready to go. This means minimal disruption to regular business activity during emergency situations.

Onsite backup options are often cost-effective and easy for small businesses to implement. They can come in the form of hard drives, physical disks, tape drives, and more. This hardware is easy to come by and can be purchased from a variety of mass market sources. However, these backup solutions can become expensive over time if used in isolation, especially for businesses that generate a significant amount of data on a regular basis.

Having an offsite backup is critical to protect businesses from unexpected attacks. Floods, hardware failure, and coordinated attacks can cause businesses to lose access to onsite backup systems. Cloud-based backups, that are stored offsite, can be accessed, and restored through the internet.

Singtel’s cloud backup solutions allow SMBs to store large amounts of data spanning years of business operation in a cost-effective manner. Businesses can supplement existing backup solutions with a scalable and secure cloud-based recovery system.

Additionally, Singtel’s cloud backup solutions enable businesses to take a proactive approach to data security. Business owners can be alerted and informed of unusual file activity, and respond quickly to stop ongoing attacks in their tracks before they become too disruptive.