Data loss is a common fear amongst individuals and companies. According to Boston Computing, 6% of all computers will sustain some form of data loss every year. Most of these computers weren’t secured and placed themselves in a weakened position, however.

By regularly updating your computer and investing in data backups, you can make sure your data is safe.

We go into why it’s important to update your computer and backup your data on a regular basis.

What Do Security Updates Do?

A security update is the most common type of update. Whenever your software asks you to confirm the update, this is to make sure you agree with the update. For the sake of your security, you always need to have the latest version of whatever program or operating system you happen to be using.

The security update ensures you’re protected against the latest online threats. Hackers and attackers change their approaches all the time. You have to keep up with them or they will find vulnerabilities in your system.

This applies even if you haven’t done anything yourself. Perfectly responsible users can lose data simply through the passage of time.

Backing Up Your Data

All data should be backed up. There’s no such thing as a 100% secure computer. It doesn’t exist. There’s always the risk of something getting through and blowing your entire system. A backup ensures you don’t lose anything.

In the event something goes terribly wrong and everything disappears, you can act by accessing your data backup to minimise the damage.

Where Should You Backup Your Data?

First, everything you backup should be encrypted. You don’t want your backup to have any vulnerabilities. Where you backup your data depends on you as a person.

Some people decide it’s best for them to use an external hard-drive or memory stick. This is an intelligent decision because it isn’t connected to the Internet and hackers can’t gain access to it.

It’s also possible to use the cloud or a separate server. This is better for larger companies where storing everything on external devices would be impractical. It’s also a good idea because it makes your data as accessible as humanly possible. This enables a quick turnaround should you become the victim of an attack.

You should also have multiple backup options at your disposal. In the unlikely event your backup becomes affected, all is not lost. The key to security is being able to prepare for the worst case scenario where everything goes wrong.