World Backup Day 2025 - A good time for your backup?

On March 31, it's World Backup Day again.

This is an international day of action that has reminded us every year since 2011 how important it is to make regular backups. Reason enough to focus on the topic of data backup again in 2025 and highlight new developments since our last post. Because one thing is clear: without a reliable backup strategy, things can quickly become risky for you.

Why make backups at all?

Backups protect you from data loss. Be it due to technical defects, operating errors, cyberattacks or natural disasters. For companies, this means that without a functioning backup, an incident can quickly lead to production downtime, loss of reputation or even legal problems.
And yet, many people and companies still do not have a comprehensive backup strategy.

Current facts & figures

Some recent studies show how big the challenge still is:

• The Veeam Data Protection Trends Report 2024 reports that 60% of organizations have been exposed to a ransomware attack at least once in the last year.
• According to the Acronis Cyber Protection Report 2024, 1,048 ransomware cases were publicly reported in Q1 2024 alone. This corresponds to an increase of 23% compared to Q1 2023. The use of generative AI for data theft has increased. Number of unreported cases unknown.
• The number of ransomware attacks rose again in 2024 - and with it the need to think about offline backups and secure data storage.
  
  

Trends in data backup 2025

The requirements for backups have evolved in recent years. Today, it's no longer just about storing a copy of your data somewhere. It's about fast recoverability, security, automation and compliance.
Here are some important developments in recent years:

1. cloud-first, but not cloud-only
   Many companies rely on cloud backups. Nevertheless, hybrid models with local data backup often make sense for performance and security reasons. The safest way for you is a combination of cloud and local backups.

2. zero trust & immutable backups
   Immutable storage solutions, such as WORM (Write Once, Read Many) or so-called immutable storage, are becoming increasingly important. These are backup targets or databases that cannot be changed or deleted for a defined period of time or permanently once they have been saved. They offer a major advantage, particularly in the fight against ransomware, as the data remains untouched and secure even in the event of an attack.

3. automation & monitoring
   Automated backup processes with a clear reporting function help you to maintain an overview and minimize sources of error. You also maintain regular cycles and know what you can find where and when the information is from.
   
   

Systematic backups - not just on March 31

We have already reported on the 3-2-1 rule in an older article.
In the meantime, however, the recommendations have changed. The rule dates back to a time when tape drives were the preferred way to store data. Since the widespread introduction of cloud backups, this rule has therefore been extended to the 3-2-1-1-0 rule. We have broken down how this is composed for you:

3 - Three copies in total

Backup administrators should create a total of three copies of their data in addition to the original data. This applies in particular to companies, of course, but is also the safest way for private data.

2 - Two different media types

There are different variants for this, for example SSDs, cloud storage and hard disks.

1 - A copy outside the location of your original data

To protect yourself from the consequences of natural disasters, for example, it makes sense to store your data at different locations. Cloud data storage is very helpful here. Tip: Make sure that your backup data is stored with a different provider than your original data if it is also in a cloud.

1 - One copy offline

Ransomware attacks can infect and paralyze entire networks. It is therefore important to keep at least one copy of your data offline. Tip: Make sure you also update this data regularly.

0 - Zero errors

If you want to use your backups in an emergency, there is nothing worse than corrupted data. That's why it's important to regularly check whether your backups can be restored.

Conclusion: Better to back up beforehand than be stressed afterwards

A functioning backup is no longer a "nice to have", but an indispensable part of your IT security. World Backup Day reminds us how important it is not only to think about data, but also to protect it.


Would you like to find out more about how you can make your software future-proof?
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