In a digital age where data breaches and cyber-attacks increasingly pose a threat to both individuals and businesses, World Backup Day on March 31st serves as a vital touchpoint. The annual observance comes at a time where, according to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), data breaches increased by 19% in the second half of 2023.

Security and protection of data at a personal and enterprise level have become more crucial due to this significant rise in data losses, thefts, and breaches, which continue to expand in intricacy, scale, and impact. Keir Garrett, the Regional Vice President for Australia and New Zealand at Cloudera, a company specialising in hybrid data cloud, expresses the necessity of data protection and recovery in the current digital environment.

Garrett asserts, "In today’s ever-evolving landscape, data loss incidents can be more than just a minor inconvenience for individuals; for organisations, they can spell disaster." She reiterates the OAIC data highlighting a 19% increase in data breaches in the latter half of 2023. As these incidents of data breaches, losses, and thefts grow, Garrett underlines that World Backup Day serves as a "timely reminder of the critical importance of data protection at both personal and enterprise levels".

In the era of AI, many businesses utilise data-driven decision-making and technologies. Garrett emphasises the importance of highly available and easily accessible data in these contexts. She warns, "However, AI models are only as good as the data they are fed; therefore the key to trusting your AI is to first trust your data." To protect the integrity of the information source for AI models, Garrett insists on the need for enterprises to establish "robust data governance and recovery frameworks" guaranteeing trusted, accurate, consistent, and protected datasets.

However, safeguarding strategies go beyond standard data encryption and backup protocols. According to Garrett, an efficacious strategy needs a comprehensive policy and process to handle disaster recovery and enhance data resiliency. "[This] is especially relevant," says Garrett, "as customers routinely ask a straightforward question: what should I do if a catastrophe hits my business and threatens to take out my data? The simple answer: make disaster recovery easier."

Emphasising the importance of proactivity, Garrett advises enterprises to invest in data management platforms that offer a comprehensive view of their data across multi-cloud and on-premises environments in real-time. Such tools can enable businesses to actively watch for threats while promoting their AI and digital transformation initiatives by providing immediate access to high-quality data. Incorporating these multifaceted methods to ensure data security and recovery not only answers pertinent questions from customers but also adequately prepares enterprises for potential future disasters.