The 5 Most Common Causes of Data Loss

The majority of businesses that experience data loss will not recover. You may think that, if you are careful, then you will not need a backup solution, but statistics say otherwise. A 2009 study by Blackblaze.com revealed that 46% of users experience data loss every year! This figure makes sense when you consider the five most common factors of data loss.

Hard Drive Failure
Hard drives are not built to last forever. Eventually, they will fail; and when they do, they will take your data with them to their silicone grave. In a study by Google, it was found that hard drives have a 50% chance of failing within five years. This is why server manufacturers recommend that you cycle out your old server for a new one every three years.

Computer Theft
Even if you live in a nice neighborhood, that does not mean that your home is impenetrable to thieves, or that your home is not a target. According to the Bureau of Justice, 15% of homes will be burglarized each year. This is why you lock your doors, even if you leave your home to go down the street. Once inside a home, the thief will nab expensive items like computers.

Businesses tend to have better security than homes, but they still have to guard against employee theft. Employees are not just stealing pens and staplers; there is also the real threat of workers stealing sensitive company data. If an employee takes home a company laptop, then a thief is more likely to walk away with it than if it was locked up safe in your office.

Computer Viruses
Computer viruses can do more damage than just slowing down your computer or stealing credit card information. There are many nasty viruses that will infect your hard drive and wipe it clean. According to various Internet surveys, computer viruses account for 4-to-7% of all data loss.

Natural Disasters
There are only a few fortunate parts of the world that are not at risk from flooding, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, blizzards, or any other natural disasters that can cause data loss from either a power outage or structure destruction. No matter where your business is located, fire is always a risk that you have to consider. A Backup and Disaster Recovery solution will backup all of your company's data off-site, just in case something ever happens to your office.

Brain Farts
We've all experienced the agony of hitting the Delete button and erasing something we didn't mean to. Coming in right behind hardware failure, human failure is the second most common cause of data loss. Having your data properly backed up will alleviate that sunken feeling in your gut from when you accidentally delete a major project.

When all of these factors are considered, you may start to see a data loss risk around every corner. A data loss threat behind every corner may be a little over dramatic; it's more like a threat is behind 46% of corners. To help minimize the risks of data loss for your business, and to have us backup your data with a comprehensive Backup and Disaster Recovery to keep you safe from any threat, give Directive a call at 607.433.2200.