22 Jan 2018

4 Data Backup Statistics Every Small Business Owner Should Know for 2018

When observing tech trends, it is clear that data is rapidly becoming the new oil and often the most valuable asset of a company. It is also widely reported that the volume of ransomware attacks is expecting to rise this year following the 11.5 percent rise last year. Once again, this highlights why it is essential to perform a regular backup and protect data from being infected, encrypted or deleted.

Despite the risks and increasing awareness, 60% of small businesses still fail to protect their data on a daily basis. Here at Macrium, we strongly recommend “implementing a data backup software” as the top resolution for 2018 and adopting a proactive, rather than reactive approach to securing your company data.

1. Ransomware attacks will increase.

In 2017, ransomware was responsible for severe attacks all over the world and had a significant impact on the NHS and its patients here in the UK. But this was only the beginning. We can expect more attacks with increasing sophistication in 2018 and challenging times ahead for vendors to prevent malware and protect its customers.

According to Dynamic Business Technologies 90% of IT, service providers have reported recent ransomware attacks on small businesses. Furthermore, 97% of IT service providers predict that attacks on companies will increase significantly in the next two years.

MIG, a new feature in Macrium Reflect 7.1, is designed to protect Macrium Software Users against ransomware by preventing unauthorized modifying or deletion of Macrium backup files on local and USB volumes. With ransomware attacks expected to increase further this year, the best protection is to back up all of your information and prepare for the inevitable. Ensuring you have the adequate prevention and ransomware detection tools in place will stop your business from being another victim.

2. More sophisticated ransomware attacks and ways of prevention will appear.

This year we will see new and much more sophisticated ransomware practices, which will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to carry out attacks. However, this will also be the software that will be able to protect our data and detect any suspicious activity by monitoring human behaviour.

AI recognizes patterns and anomalies when identifying threats. ML complements this technology by learning human inputs and results of action taken to predict outcomes based on past events. You can learn more in this CSO article.

3. We will see a higher investment in training and skills

Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has reported that it is expecting an increase in demand for IT security professionals next year to create a more secure business environment.

At the same time, businesses will need to improve the skills and educate their workers to ensure they have better security practices and procedures in place. It’s also crucial that staff know what to look out for or recognise and prevent the new cyber threats.

According to DB Technologies, “48% of IT providers blame phishing emails for ransomware attacks, while 36% blame the lack of employee cybersecurity training within small businesses”.

You can read more about best practices to be protected against ransomware here.

4. Hardware failure will still be a top cause of data loss and downtime

Hardware failures can leave a company without any IT services for days or even weeks if there is no proper backup solution in place, which can be devastated for a business. A recent Resilience Today article stated that in 2016 loss of productivity due to IT issues costs the UK up to £62.4bn annually.

Dynamic Business Technologies states that hardware failures cause around 45 percent of total unplanned downtime. These failures are closely followed by loss of power, software failure, data corruption, external security breaches, and accidental user error.

Stephen Macpherson, Sales Director at Macrium says: “Data is growing at an extremely fast pace, which is bringing explosive changes in the backup market: The demand for effective and efficient data protection is going to be stronger than ever in 2018 and we cannot solve our data protection problems with the same old systems. This new year will definitely bring more innovative and revolutionary solutions.

The number of new vendors have increased but sadly not the quality of some of the solutions, neither has it increased the number of IT professionals that look after data within companies. Macrium Reflect is focused on providing a solution that offers speed, simplicity, and reliability and we give our partners a personalised support to ensure all their data is recoverable”.

About Macrium Software

Macrium Software provides comprehensive backup and DR solutions for home or businesses which are used worldwide to protect valuable data and operating systems. Using advanced disk imaging technology Macrium solutions provide fast reliable and easily recoverable images. With many millions of users worldwide, Macrium is a trusted and reliable solution for all data protection needs.

You can download a 30-day Trial of Macrium Reflect for Home or Business use. Technical support for Trial users evaluating our software is available via email.