Data Backups

(OBJ 3.4)

"Never put all of our eggs in one basket" = Never keep all the data on a single device or server.
A Data Backup is the process of creating duplicate copies of digital information to protect against data loss, corruption, or unavailability
Safeguards data from accidental deletion or system failures

Where the backups of the data are physically being stored

Onsite Backup
- Storing data copies in the same location as the original data
- Same data center or office environment as the original data location
- Example:
  - Conducting a full backup of your laptop to an external hard drive, and then place that external hard drive in the drawer of your desk in your office.
- While having an onsite backup can be really convenient and it works well if you need to quickly restore some of those files that were accidentally deleted from your system
- It is important to remember that the backed up data might be vulnerable to destruction in the case of a disaster
Offsite Backup
- Storing data copies in a geographically separate location from the primary data source
- Provides protection against physical disasters and ensures data continuity
- Often created using cloud-based servers, so the data is simply backed up to the remote server over the internet.
- Or you can create a physical backup of the data using backup tapes or external hard drives, and then move those things physically by shipping them to a remote facility for storage.
Importance
- Onsite backups are convenient but vulnerable to disasters
- Offsite backups protect against physical disasters

Determining factor of backup frequency is the organization’s RPO
- Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
- How much data am I willing to lose?
- Ensures that the backup plan will maintain the amount of data required to keep any data loss under the organization’s RPO threshold
Considerations
- RPO
- Data change rate
  - How frequently the data will be changed inside of the business
- Resource allocation
- Organizational needs

Fundamental safeguard that protects the backup data from unauthorized access and potential breaches
By encrypting your backup files, you can ensure that even if your backup media or file do fall into the wrong hands, the data on them will remain unintelligible without the proper decryption key.
- Data-at-rest Encryption
  - Encrypting data as it is written to storage
- Data-in-transit Encryption
  - Protecting data during transmission to or from the backup destination
  - Maintains Integrity and Confidentiality while you are moving the data across your network or across your system's internal data bus.
- Importance
  - Safeguarding backup data from unauthorized access and breaches

Point-in-time copies capturing a consistent state
- A frozen in time copy of the data
Records only changes since the previous snapshot, reducing storage requirements
- Snapshots are efficient, allows for a quicker backup process and more frequent capture of any data changes.
Use cases
- Valuable for systems where data consistency is critical, like databases and file servers
- Will enable you to restore your data to a specific point in time to effectively roll back to a known good state, in case of any kind of data corruption, deletions, or other issues.

Ultimate goal of any backup strategy
Used to regain access to the data in the event of a data loss or a system failure
Several key steps in the data recovery process
- Selection of the right backup
- Initiating the recovery process
- Data validation
  - Ensure integrity of data
- Testing and validation
  - Testing the entire recovery process and procedures
  - Identify any issues or bottlenecks
- Documentation and reporting
  - Keep detail records of the recovery process
- Notification
  - Notify relevant stakeholders
  - Data loss, recovery efforts, etc.
Importance
- Regaining access to data in case of loss or system failure; a well-defined and tested recovery plan is essential
- Practicing your data recovery at least once per month is considered to be a best practice in the world of cybersecurity and information technology.

Real-time or near-real-time data copying to maintain data continuity
Keeps your data stored in two places simultaneously
- If one server crashes, the other will be able to continue without interruption.
Benefits
- Ensures seamless data continuity
- Suitable for high-availability environments

Also known as "change tracking" or "logging"
Maintaining a detailed record of data changes over time
- A historical account of the data modifications
Benefits
- Enables granular data recovery
- Maintains an audit trail
- Ensures data integrity and compliance
Considerations
- Data tracking granularity, size, retention policies, and security
Effectively implementation of journaling:
- Selecting the appropriate data tracking granularity
- Managing the journal's size and retention policies
- Ensuring its security to prevent any kind of tampering
Reinforces accountability and transparency