Four Types of Disasters to Prepare For

Companies of all industries and sizes need to account for various disasters that could sink operations and lead to significant costs associated with downtime. It is your responsibility as a business owner to identify what these disasters are and take steps toward addressing them, preferably before they become major issues that cost your business time and money.

Disasters can usually be defined as any situation where your business suffers from an event that disrupts operations in an impactful way. Some of the following examples of disasters might not be the first ones you think of, but they are important to prepare for all the same.

Natural Disasters

Nobody likes to think about a flood or a hurricane wiping out your business’ infrastructure, but depending on your location, it is a possibility that must be seriously considered. No matter where you are in the world, chances are that you are susceptible to at least some type of natural disaster, be it a fire, electrical storm, or snowstorm. Make sure you do your research and plan for the worst.

Hardware Failures

Technology does not last forever and you cannot expect it to. Depending on the age of your hardware and the amount of maintenance you administer to it, you might find yourself more susceptible to hardware failure than you might think. Fortunately, hardware failure can be predicted somewhat thanks to remote monitoring and maintenance tools, but it is still something that must be considered for any disaster planning scenario.

User Error

People make mistakes, and the simple fact of the matter is that these mistakes can often have disastrous consequences. Imagine someone deleting Windows registry files or other imperative operating system files, or accidentally leaking credentials to hackers due to a phishing attack. These things happen, so be prepared to train your employees on how to adequately respond to such issues. The critical thing is that they don’t sweep these issues under the rug; make it clear that you expect them to own up to mistakes, and instead of punishing them for being human, respond by helping them become better as a result of it.

Hacking Attacks

You see the headlines every day: “New Ransomware Strikes So-and-So,” or “Millions of Records Leaked in Massive Cyberattack.” These things happen, even to small businesses like yours. The best thing you can do is be prepared for them with proper network security solutions. In the case of ransomware in particular you want to have a contingency plan in place, as these threats lock down files and essentially shut down operations until the ransom is paid. Sometimes threats can just straight-up destroy or corrupt data, too, meaning that you are really stuck if you don’t have a plan in place.

Get Started with Data Backup and Disaster Recovery

One thing you might notice about all of the above is that they can generally be prepared for with enough proactive thought. If you find your business is underprepared for any of the above, a great way to cover all of your bases is to implement a data backup and disaster recovery solution from Macro Systems. Our solution, called a backup and disaster recovery tool, or BDR, is designed to minimize downtime and expedite the recovery process in the event of any disaster, natural or otherwise. To learn more, give us a call at 703-359-9211.