With cyber-attacks increasing in intensity and scope year after year, it’s becoming more important than ever that companies make sure that their data is well protected. One type of attack, [ransomware](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransomware), has been making headlines day after day, with WannaCry being one of the more recent outbreaks. If a company is unfortunate enough to be infected by ransomware, it’s possible that the encrypted data could be lost forever. That is, unless there’s a proper backup solution in place.

## The 3-2-1 Rule

To implement a solid backup solution, follow the 3-2-1 rule:

- Have at least 3 different copies of the data  
- Store the data in at least 2 different formats  
- Keep at least 1 copy of the data at an offsite location

An example of 3-2-1 rule would be:

- One copy stored locally on a server for everyday use  
- One copy stored locally on an external drive, such as a NAS  
- One copy stored offsite, using a cloud backup solution

As seen, there are 3 different copies of the data, in 2 different formats (onsite hard drives and a cloud backup), and 1 offsite cloud backup.

When choosing a backup solution, there are many different factors to consider. Here are a few simple questions you should be asking:

- How much data do I have to back up?  
- What data should I be backing up?  
- How often should be backing up? Once a day? Five times a day?  
- Is the backed-up data encrypted? What type of encryption?

Whether it’s ransomware, hardware failure, or an employee accidentally deleting a file, it’s important to always have a backup solution in place. If a company loses access to their information, they also lose valuable time during the recovery process and well as a loss in productivity. By having proper backups, a business can get back on its’ feet within a fraction of the time than if they had no backup.

Source:  
[https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/virtualization-and-cloud/best-practices-backing-up-data](https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/virtualization-and-cloud/best-practices-backing-up-data)