Data is the bedrock of modern enterprises. In 2025, an estimated 181 zettabytes of data will be created worldwide, marking a 23% increase from the previous year, and by 2028, global data creation is expected to exceed 394 zettabytes, more than doubling from 2024.
No matter what industry an organisation operates in, the data held within the business is essentially its beating heart. This explosion in data is driven by digital transformation, connected devices, and increasing reliance on analytics. From data flows the ability to enact critical functions, generate revenue, and, most importantly, provide essential services to customers.
However, data is equally valuable to threat actors. Ransomware is one of the most popular forms of cyber-attack; it is incredibly disruptive, and it is increasing in frequency and sophistication. Businesses are under more pressure than ever to ensure they can withstand a ransomware incident, otherwise they could suffer significant reputational issues and operational downtime, leading to a loss of revenue and trust. Being able to recover quickly is vital to being cyber-resilient, and strong disaster recovery and backup solutions are the best tools to achieve this.
Restoring Beyond Backups
When we talk about backups, many organisations feel that having copies of all their data stored somewhere is enough to protect them from a ransomware threat. However, this is far from the case. To use an everyday example, take your mobile phone. Many people have their photos backed up in the cloud, which allows them to download their whole gallery if their phone is lost or broken. This is like having copies of the organisation’s data saved somewhere offsite. If all that is needed is to re-download the data, then isn’t that good enough? No, in my experience, this is rarely the case.
A full disaster recovery and backup solution is like having a copy of your entire phone saved, right down to the operating system. To be fully resilient to attack, businesses need to have the equivalent of a copy of their ‘phone’ on standby, ready to be delivered. Just having copies of your data is not enough, as restoring from this can be very time consuming and lead to long periods of downtime in the wake of an incident. If an organisation cannot restore its critical systems in a timely manner, it risks suffering loss of revenue and damage to the goodwill of its customers.
Another reason restoration capabilities are essential over a simple backup is that threat actors are aware of how to target backups. Cybercriminals typically attempt to access a system and remain within it for as long as possible, to ensure they extract all the most crucial data, thereby making their ransom demand as powerful as possible. Threat actors will focus on backups to gain control of the only copy of essential data, compelling organisations to seriously consider paying the ransom.
Fully Restoring Data is the Key to Cyber Resilience
This is where working with a managed service provider (MSP) can be a sure route to protecting your business. Firstly, the MSP will be able to evaluate what data has been stolen, and how systems have been affected. The MSP will be able to provide expertise to recover the data quickly and, more importantly, in a clean state. It is vital that the data recovered is not still infected with ransomware, otherwise the business will be at immediate risk of attack once the systems come back online.
It is also important to bring the data back on to a platform that is secure and compliant. As the business was breached initially, patching the security vulnerability that allowed this to happen in the first place is a top priority. Additionally, if the breached company operates in a highly regulated industry such as finance or healthcare, the restored data must be stored in a way that meets the standards of relevant cybersecurity regulations.
Partnering to Fill the Skills Gap
One of the main barriers for businesses implementing a backup and recovery solution is their lack of expertise. Most organisations, especially small and medium sized enterprises, do not have the resources to maintain an inhouse team of recovery experts. On top of this, the skill set required is very niche, and there are not many people who have the specialist expertise. It is a highly complex task and usually a mammoth undertaking. Backing up an entire organisation’s worth of data can seem so daunting that decision makers over-invest in preventative cybersecurity measures, where a more balanced approach would suffice.
This is why partnering with an MSP can allow organisations to reach the level of cyber resilience needed in the age of ransomware. As cyber threats intensify and digital transformation accelerates, organisations must invest in resilient, scalable, and secure data protection solutions. By embedding cloud backup and disaster recovery into their core IT strategy, enterprises can not only survive disruptions but thrive in an uncertain world, turning resilience into a competitive advantage.
