WOOF! Newsletter

March 10, 2022

The Backup Test – A 5-Minute Test of Your Company's Backup Integrity

Would your backups save you in an emergency? Let's test that. With this 5-minute checklist you can assess your backups' ability to protect your data, and restore your systems, if a worst-case scenario ever happens.

TIME TO READ: 6 MINUTES


Why Take a Backup Test Now?

As too many U.S. businesses experienced, a wave of cyberattacks accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we're looking at a new wave of cyberattacks in the wake of the war in Ukraine. 

The plain truth is, without secured backups you keep outside your company network, your company's a sitting duck!

With that in mind, how would you 'rate' your current backups?  Do your backup systems follow the best safety practices available?  Will they stand up to a cyberattack?  

Let's do a quick test to find out. It takes just 5 minutes.

 

The Backup Test – 5 Minutes, Business-Saving Value

For each question, select the answer that best fits your company's backup routine (to the best of your knowledge). You can tally up the points earned at the end, and assess how reliable your backups would be in an emergency.

 

THE BACKUP TEST

 

PART 1: BACKUPS FOR ON-PREMISE SERVERS & WORKSTATIONS

What type of backups does your company use for onsite servers & workstations?

Cloud backups of all critical servers and workstations15 points
Local system backups – Windows Backup, Veeam, other whole-disk contents3 points
Device backups – Services like iCloud, Time Machine, Windows 10 File History1 point
USB drives1 point
None / I don't know0 points
YOUR TOTAL POINTS 

 

PART 2: YOUR CLOUD BACKUP FEATURES

If you have a cloud backup solution, does it do any of the following?

Offer two sets of cloud backups in geographically separate datacenters2 points
Include encryption, versioning, and 30+ days of backup history2 points
Provide health check/verification that the backups are viable1 point
Include a test restore function2 points
Check for corrupted data and/or malware2 points
Include a technician-performed monthly file test restore2 points
Provide an annual full backup restore test5 points
YOUR TOTAL POINTS 

 

PART 3: BACKUPS FOR CLOUD SERVERS & APPLICATIONS

Do your backups include files within these cloud services?

Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace (third-party required)3 points
AWS / Microsoft Azure / other hosted services3 points
Cloud-based applications (Box, Confluence, Bitbucket, BambooHR, etc.)3 points
Extra credit: If your fileshare backups include the “Shared Files” folder1 point
No backups0 points
YOUR TOTAL POINTS 

 

PART 4: NETWORK HARDWARE BACKUPS

Do you maintain backups of your network hardware configurations?

Backup of firewall configurations2 points
Backup of switch network configurations3 points
No backups of network configurations0 points
YOUR TOTAL POINTS 

 

Add up the points from your responses.

25+: Excellent backup integrity. Awesome! Your backups are solid, stable, and secure. You're prepared for just about any emergency the world can throw at your company.

15-25: Passing backup integrity. You're in a good place as far as backups go. If you're a small company, your data should be OK if an emergency hits.

Less than 15: Uh oh! Your company has low/no backup integrity. Please contact your IT Department or consultants to improve backups.

 

Plan for safe, secure IT in 2022. Take the steps you need to protect your network. Contact us at for backup testing or setup.