Theft!

Over the holiday weekend, during the wee hours of the morning, someone broke a back office window and snuck into our building at work. They stole some computers and other various pieces of computer equipment. After tallying what is missing, we consider ourselves lucky. It was clear the thieves were after stuff they could carry and easily sell rather than targeting our data and information.

Most people consider backups to be a pain in the neck, useful only for restoring a file accidentally deleted. Creating rotating backups that are stored offsite is more trouble than it’s worth to most users.

The fact is, physical security is just as much a threat as random file deletions or the more glamorous hack attack people read about. We not only suffered the physical loss of expensive equipment, we lost the expensive time spent to generate our work product as well as potentially damaging exposure of secure information (passwords, employee data, financial data, etc.)

The value of backing up your data is only part of the picture. Keeping it physically secure through site security is critical. Encrypting sensitive data is also very important. All three go hand in hand when it comes to covering your ass, so to speak.