Latest news with #dataBackup
Entrepreneur
01-07-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
5 Data Backup Mistakes that Could Bankrupt Your Startup
From treating cloud storage as backup to neglecting encryption, these common blunders have shut down 51% of businesses within two years after data loss. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. In the current information age, data disasters have become the biggest threat to businesses. Based on a 2024 data loss statistics report, 51% of businesses that suffer data loss shut down within two years, and 43% never reopen their doors. Although most startups take the precaution of backing up their data, many of them do not do that properly. In this article, I will list five of the most common data backup mistakes that could derail your startup and how to fix them fast. Mistake 1: Taking cloud storage as backup One of the biggest misconceptions is taking data sync on cloud storage as an auto backup mechanism. Actually, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox are storage solutions, not backup solutions. Data sync helps when your local device is damaged or lost. But if you delete an important file on the local device by mistake, or your file is encrypted by ransomware, the copy on the cloud drive will also be deleted or encrypted. I've encountered many such cases. For example, a design company enables sync between the local drive and Google Drive. One day, the hacker attacks their local systems and encrypts all the drawing files. When they detect the attack, they resort to Google Drive, but only find that all the copies on the cloud are also encrypted! Solution: Find or implement a true backup solution that will create a separate and isolated copy of your data. The solution can be based on cloud storage. However, recent trends show ransomware will not only attack the original data, but also infect the backups. Therefore, to protect your backups from ransomware, it is better to make a backup that is completely physically isolated from your device and the internet. Related: 5 Reasons to Make Regular Data Backups a Part of Your Business Plan Mistake 2: Backup via copy Startups normally ask their employees to back up via copying files to an external hard drive, to save the cost of purchasing a professional backup solution. But this method has the following disadvantages: Over time, it will become more and more complex to manage multiple backup versions. Backing up duplicates files and data repeatedly in different backup versions, wasting a lot of time and unnecessary disk space. Solution: It is more cost-effective to choose a professional backup solution because it can: Manage the backup versions on different time points easily. Most of the solutions support incremental or differential backups, which will only back up the difference since the last backup or last full backup, saving a lot of disk space and time. Mistake 3: Manual backup Similar to mistake two, startups normally choose to backup manually instead of automating the process. But there are many problems with this method: Employees may forget to back up even if there is a regular backup policy. Due to human inertia, employees who initially follow the backup rules may gradually begin to slack off. The backup process will consume a lot of time and system resources, affecting the normal workflow of the employees. Solution: It is always recommended to automate the backup process, because: Data will always be backed up on the scheduled time, not affected by human factors. By scheduling backup time on off-business or off-peak hours, the backup process will not affect the normal workflow or the computer performance greatly. Even if you cannot automate the backup process completely, you should choose a solution that allows you to perform the backup via one-click or one-press instead of a lot of operations, which will make employees more willing to perform the backup regularly. Related: Why Every Small Business Needs a Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan Mistake 4: Backup without encryption Many startups will use various mechanisms to protect their sensitive data, such as privileged access management, multifactor authentication, etc., but neglect the protection of their backup data. Whenever the backup devices are lost, stolen, or the cloud data center for the backup is invaded by hackers, a data breach occurs. IBM report shows that the global average cost of a data breach in 2024 is 4.9 million USD. Other than financial losses, data breaches can also lead to compliance issues and may even result in business closure. Solution: Find a backup solution with encryption support. Make sure you: Use high-strength encryption algorithms. It is recommended to use AES-256 to encrypt and decrypt the backup data since it is fast and secure. Do NOT use obsoleted or insecure algorithms, such as DES and 3DES. Mistake 5: Backup without validation Completing a backup is not the end of your data protection journey — it's just the beginning. The next step is to validate the integrity of the backup data to make sure it can be restored successfully when needed. Validation is very important because: Backup is time-consuming and typically involves a huge volume of data, so any error in the process can corrupt the entire backup. With the elapse of time, the physical devices storing the backup data will deteriorate, causing data corruption. Solution: Find a backup solution that supports validation. And make sure you: Validate the backup immediately after a backup process completes. Validate the old backups regularly. If possible, automate the validation periodically. The startups that last longer are those taking data backup as the core part of their businesses instead of an afterthought. By checking and preventing the five mistakes in this article, you are planning for the worst and turning data vulnerability into resilience. Related: Create a Back-Up Plan for Your Data
CNET
01-06-2025
- General
- CNET
Selling or Replacing Your Old iPhone? Make Sure to Factory Reset It First
If you're buying the new iPhone 16E to replace your old iPhone, don't just transfer data and sell your old device -- you need to clear out all the personal data first. It's important to know how to reset your Apple phone, whether you're selling your old device or making it a hand-me-down for a relative, you need to make sure it's wiped clean before you hand it off to a new owner. Here's how to factory reset your iPhone. No matter the reason you want to wipe your iPhone clean, it all boils down to making sure that all your personal data is gone. This can be sensitive and personal information, like family photos you definitely don't want to hand off to a stranger. It also includes the litany of private details that your iPhone stores, from credit card information to contacts to everything in your apps. Thankfully, it's easy to factory reset your iPhone, although you'll be asked several times to make sure you're ready to clear it completely. You'll also want to prepare before wiping your phone. Here's how to do it. Read more: Unresponsive iPhone? Here's How to Force Restart Your Apple Device David Lumb/CNET Don't go further without backing up your iPhone The first step is to make sure all the data you want to keep is safely backed up. This can easily be done over iCloud, although you can also make a manual backup. The same way you'd want to back up your iPhone before updating to iOS 18, head to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup and tap Back Up Now. This should take a little while, but you'll be able to restore from this online backup if you need to. You can also manually create a backup by connecting your iPhone to your computer, although the process differs between PC and Mac. You can still download iTunes to your Windows PC, through which you'll sync your iPhone and create a backup through that software. With the end of iTunes on Mac in 2019, you'll have to go through Finder to manage your iPhone, but otherwise, the process of backing up is relatively straightforward. Note that iPhones are good at moving data wirelessly from one device to another in close proximity, making it easy to seamlessly transfer from your old device to a new one. After waking up your new iPhone, follow the on-screen instructions on your new iPhone to use its camera to scan your old device and let the process continue. It's still smart to save a backup when you're getting rid of your old iPhone. Digitally sign out of every account you can This is the most tedious step but a necessary part of the process, but it's important to sign out of apps and services you've logged into. You should prioritize apps with more sensitive data, but it's a good idea to ensure you're fully logged out of anything with personally identifiable information. You won't want someone popping into email, contacts and calendar accounts, so head to Settings > Apps > Mail/Contacts/Calendar > Accounts to manually unlink those. Bank and payment apps, external email and messaging apps, workplace software like Slack or authentication apps and even digital community apps like Discord are good to log out of. Lastly, if you're selling your iPhone or giving it to someone else, make sure to disable Find My before erasing your phone. Go to Settings > [your name] > Find My. If you're moving to a new iPhone, transfer your cell service If you're about to reset an older iPhone that used to be your daily driver linked to your carrier account, you'll want to transfer service to your new iPhone before factory wiping your device. Why? Because you'll probably use your older iPhone to call your carrier to switch that service over. Don't get stuck without a phone like I did. You used to be able to yank your SIM card out of your old phone and stick it in the new one to carry service over. Not so much these days, as the iPhone 14 and later models sold in the US don't come with a physical SIM card -- it's eSIM all the way. You'll need to call your carrier to transfer your data plan over to your new iPhone, but it's a pretty effortless process. If worse comes to worst (like if you've already wiped your old iPhone), you can bring your new iPhone into any of your carrier's retail stores and they can digitally transfer service over to it. If you're just clearing out an old iPhone or will still use this one after resetting it, proceed to the next step. Finally, here's how to factory reset your iPhone If you've done the above and are ready to reset your iPhone, open up the Settings app. Then tap General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings and confirm. You'll be asked to enter your iPhone's PIN code, then enter your Apple ID password (to unlink the device from your account and turn off Find My capability if you haven't already). Once you've done that, the screen will turn black and you'll get a black progress bar at the bottom (similar to if you were updating to a new version of iOS). In a few minutes, the word "Hello" will appear on the screen in different languages, just like it did the first time you activated your iPhone. Congratulations, it's been successfully reset. That done, you're now free to hand it off or send it on its way to a new owner.
