Backups? I don’t need no stinking backups!

Now that I’ve got your attention, let’s talk about backups – effective backups. 

To most people, the title above sounds totally ridiculous.  Everyone knows you do need to back up your accounting data.  So many things can happen to your accounting data that may require a restoration of data from a recent backup – inadvertent deletion of data, interrupted posting processes that result in corrupted data, an ill-advised change in an accounting process or principle that is easier to “roll back” to an earlier state than to make correcting entries, or the dreaded virus or malware infection.

I’ve recently had several clients suffer from the CryptoLocker malware infection or a variation of it.  Someone in the office opens an email attachment that they shouldn’t, and before they know it, a malware program seeks out and encrypts database files on their network, rendering them totally useless.  The encryption is a strong encryption that is difficult for anyone to crack without a decryption key.  The extortionists that sent out the malware in the first place make a limited time offer to sell the decryption key, accepting bitcoin or some untraceable payment form for the ransom.

Paying the ransom is just wrong! It encourages other “evil-doers” and sets a bad example for your staff.  The correct solution to the problem is to clean the infected machines of the virus, and restore your data from backup data.  This is a moment of truth for your backup processes.  I have had at least two clients discover that there were no effective backups being done, even though they were told by their IT professionals that backups were being performed!  And several clients were down for more time than they should, waiting for their complicated backup restoration process to be performed.

Whether you get hit with the CryptoLocker malware infection or just need to restore from backup for some other less nefarious reason, don’t take the chance that your backup processes are faulty.  Insist that your IT professional demonstrate to you that backups are being performed consistently, completely and securely, and that the data can be restored from backup in a reasonable timeframe.  Make sure that the backups are insulated from your network so that a malware virus can’t infect the backup at the same time it’s infecting your live data.  Also, insist on a process to periodically copy off a permanent, archival copy of your data each month and keep then in safe storage for a year or more.

If you want further help with your backup processes, give us a call!