Many UK businesses don’t have protected backups should a cyber attack occur

A recent survey has shown that many UK businesses are not protecting their backup systems that would be needed should they fall victim to a cyber attack.

This is according to findings from Osirium Technologies plc using research collected across 1,001 IT managers in the UK. The results show that just 58% of businesses only feel ‘somewhat prepared’ for a ransomware attack.

Eighty per cent of small businesses said they rely on backups as a plan of recovery should a cyber-attack occur, with 63% of these using online backups as a preventative measure in avoiding data loss.

Although 98% of respondents admitted they know backups are a target of ransomware attacks, 56% do not keep offline backups and only 35% take extra precautions to protect access to backups and backup management systems.

David Guyatt, CEO at Osirium, commented, “Online backups are at significant risk because, in the event of a ransomware attack, the backup system faithfully takes copies of the infected data and thus renders the backups useless.

“A multi-layered approach to managing these systems is needed. Keeping offline backups is key but protecting access to the backup management system and related backup files is critical to prevent infection. Nearly three quarters (73%) of respondents stated that backups are a key element to recovery, so more attention need to be paid to protecting them.”

To find out more about contracting please contact Jaime on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com.