Backup Strategy

A backup strategy defines how an organization protects data through regular copies, including what to back up, how often, where to store backups, and how to verify they can be restored.

A backup strategy ensures data can be recovered after loss, corruption, or disaster. It's a critical component of both business continuity and ransomware defense.

Key strategy elements: - What to Back Up: Critical data, configurations, entire systems - Frequency: How often (continuous, daily, weekly) - Retention: How long to keep backups (30 days, 1 year, 7 years) - Location: Where backups are stored (on-site, off-site, cloud) - Verification: How to confirm backups can be restored

The 3-2-1 Rule: - 3 copies of data - 2 different storage types - 1 copy off-site/cloud

Backup types: - Full: Complete copy of all data - Incremental: Only changes since last backup - Differential: Changes since last full backup - Snapshot: Point-in-time copy (fast, often used in cloud)

Testing is critical—backups are worthless if they can't be restored.

Why It Matters

Ransomware attacks now target backups specifically—if your backups are compromised, your entire organization is held hostage. A properly implemented backup strategy with immutable, offsite copies is the single most effective defense against ransomware. Compliance frameworks require not just that backups exist, but that they are tested regularly and can actually be restored within defined RTOs.

Key Points

Follow the 3-2-1 rule (3 copies, 2 media, 1 offsite)

Test restores regularly, not just backup completion

Retention periods depend on compliance requirements

Immutable backups protect against ransomware

Cloud-native backups simplify management

Applicable Compliance Frameworks

SOC 2 ISO 27001 HIPAA PCI DSS

Related Terms

Disaster Recovery

Disaster recovery (DR) is a set of policies, tools, and procedures designed to enable the recovery or continuation of IT infrastructure and systems following a disaster.