Data Backups and Recovery Can’t Wait

Imagine this scenario: It’s Monday morning, and with a fresh cup of coffee in hand, you start up your computer and log in, ready to get started on the day’s work. Except, something isn’t right. After attempting to access your files, you receive a ransomware message. Your data is now encrypted and won’t be available until a hefty monetary ransom is paid. 

What would you do? How would you get the files back?

For too many businesses, this situation isn’t fictional. In fact, it’s happened to INETCO clients who didn’t implement all our security and backup recommendations. 

“Cybercriminal activity is up, with annual ransomware-related costs projected to exceed $20 billion by the end of 2021. Plus, today’s hackers are getting more sophisticated, bold, and aggressive; now, hackers (also called threat actors) take their time, often searching through the data for weeks before encrypting anything,” said Donnie Evans, INETCO’s Chief Operating Officer. “They’re looking for the most incriminating information, important data, something of value they can use to motivate the company to pay a higher ransom.” 

Unfortunately, once files are encrypted, the only way to recover them is to pay the ransom OR restore the files from a backup copy. This is why it is critical to have a reliable, comprehensive backup solution that is tested regularly to ensure that the backups are being completed properly and able to be used to restore files. 

Of course, hacking and ransomware are not the only threats to an organization’s data. Businesses lose data in several ways: disk and tape drive failures, employee theft, employee negligence, software and database corruption, viruses, natural disasters, and acts of God. 

“Customers and clients sometimes don’t put a high importance on security until it is too late and an event has occurred,” said Evans. “Please listen to us. We have been there, done that, and seen the damage. A comprehensive security and backup data recovery solution are very important. When clients don’t protect their networks properly or selectively provide patchwork security solutions, situations occur, data loss occurs and ultimately, sometimes businesses fail.” 

This is why INETCO specializes in security solutions and data backup solutions that work for small and medium-sized businesses. We partner with leaders in the industry to provide comprehensive backup data recovery as well as proactive security plans and protections.

“One of the benefits we bring to clients is our strong relationships with other industry experts,” explained Evans. “We’re proud to be able to pass on their expertise to help our clients.” 

Some of the common recommendations we make for data security and backup data recovery include: 

• Industry compliant firewall 
• Limited access to corporate data 
• Multi-factor Authentication
• ProofPoint AntiSpam for email solutions 
• Backup and Disaster Recovery systems 
• Managed Endpoint Detection and Response 
• Security Awareness Training 

Going back to the earlier scenario, that particular client was hacked through a brute force password attempt (meaning the hacker had unlimited tries to figure out the password and ultimately succeeded). INETCO was able to use the offsite data backups to restore all company data on the servers, and then scan the network and remove remnants of the threat actors, and all in short order. 

“This was a successful restore for the client, but it was also highly preventable if the client had the right security protections in place,” said Evans. “Unfortunately, we cannot always recover lost data. Threat actors have even started looking at how to damage your backups too! That’s why it’s so important for businesses to get this right. Please reach out to INETCO and let us help you with data security and backup solutions.” 

Contact INETCO today: (615) 846-7777