1. Almost Half of All Data Breaches Occur in Cloud-Based Systems

Even when sensitive information is kept off-site, malicious actors can access it. Last year, almost half of all data breaches occurred in cloud-based storage. Public clouds (those offered by third parties) were also prime targets. Data stored in both cloud-based and physical storage creates redundancies to support continued business operations, even if a breach occurs.

2. Only 5% of Business Downtime Is Caused by Natural Disasters Such as Floods, Fires, and Earthquakes

Despite their low occurrence, natural disasters are typically unpredictable and can be catastrophic. If an entire physical server is destroyed, vital data can be lost forever with no hope of recovery. Multiple resiliencies help organizations bounce back, as data will remain in another location if one center is lost.

3. The Global Average Cost of a Data Breach in 2023 Was $4.45 Million

Between the personnel needed to fix a breach, unplanned downtime, and impact on your customers, a data breach is costly. The global average of $4.45 million per data breach increased from prior years, highlighting its detrimental effects. Preventative measures are essential, such as implementing comprehensive cybersecurity measures, incident response planning, and regular employee training.

4. More Than Two-Thirds of All Outages Cost More Than $100,000 in 2022

An outage that costs $100,000 may seem small compared to the previous statistic, but the consequences are still far-reaching. For small businesses and critical infrastructure industries — like financial services, industrial, transportation, energy, or healthcare — a service outage can compound issues due to the impact on customers and supply chains. Thorough backup and recovery protocols and locations are critical to reducing the effects of such an event.

5. Nearly 35% of Companies Lose Data Permanently and Do Not Recover It

In 2022, 35% of companies that experienced a data disruption could not recover the data. The leading causes of permanent data loss are:

• Lack of data backups
• Corruption or encryption from malware
• Data loss between backups

Proactive steps against permanent data loss — such as backups, multiple resiliencies, and data monitoring — can help prevent this loss, which can cripple operations and revenue.

6. 37% of Servers Had at Least One Unexpected Outage in 2023

A bad actor doesn’t have to take down a platform or application directly, only disrupt access. About one-third of all servers had at least one unexpected outage last year. For the fourth year in a row, cyberattacks caused the most damage, but the top causes include:

• Infrastructure outages
• Storage hardware failures and application software issues
• Public cloud providers

These causes emphasize the need for a robust backup and recovery plan that touches all facets of company data usage, from storage to encryption and backups.

7. 74% of Data Breaches Were Caused by Human Error, Including Social Engineering, Error, or Misuse

A simple mistake is all it takes to leak sensitive information, so it’s no surprise that 74% of data breaches involve the human element. It’s mission-critical to ensure that employees have regular training on cybersecurity best practices and how to spot phishing and social engineering attempts, especially if they work from home.

Optimize Uptime and Resiliency With Data Backup and Recovery

It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” data breaches or unexpected downtime occur. A multifaceted data backup and recovery plan is critical so businesses can focus on getting back up and running in a worst-case scenario instead of scrambling when every minute counts.

TPx understands that your business can’t afford to be offline, and losing data permanently simply isn’t an option. With a Managed Backup hybrid solution, your data is backed up both on-site and in a secure cloud location, providing extra security, flexibility, and redundancy — and potentially saving you millions should an incident occur. Get in touch with us to get started.