Cybersecurity Education for K-12 Students

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3 Things You Can Do Today To Start Backing Up Your Important Files

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Security Challenge

Losing important files due to a failed hard drive, broken phone or stolen tablet can happen at any time. It’s important to prepare for the worst so that these events don’t cause you to lose something more valuable than the device itself.

Recommendation

Keeping your critical files backed up does not have to be hard or expensive. It can be as simple as figuring out which files are important to you, determining where you want to back them up and executing your backup plan regularly.

ASK: What files should you back up?

Ask yourself the following questions to help determine what needs to be backed up:
  1. Is it an essential file that is needed for future record (e.g., health, financial) - BACK UP
  2. Would I be sad if I lost these files? - BACK UP
  3. Could I recover them from another reliable source? - DON’T BACK UP

DOWNLOAD: Where do you want to back up your files?

Ask yourself the following questions to help determine where to back your files up:
  1. Do I need access to these files from over the internet? - Back up to a cloud service
  2. Do the files need to be stored locally due to their sensitive nature? - Back up to an external hard drive or USB storage device.

SCHEDULE: Execute your backup plan regularly

Ask yourself the following question to help determine how often you should backup your files:
  • How impactful would it be if I lost a day, week, or month of this critical data?
Based on how you responded to the questions above, you should be able to easily determine the best approach for you.

Closing Thoughts

Backing up your critical data is not hard and can easily be accomplished by asking yourself a few questions. The following recommended solutions are two basic plans that should cover the average person's needs. Once you decide whether you use cloud or local, you just need to make sure that you run the backups as frequently as needed. Also, it’s a good idea to do a test periodically to make sure your backups are working and in good shape.

Recommended Backup Solution

Cloud Backup

If you need to access your files over the internet, then I recommend a service like dropbox.com. It's simple to set up, secure, and the free plan gives you 2GB of data.


Alternatives:
  • Google Drive - Good if you already have a Gmail account (15GB free)
  • OneDrive - Good if you already have a Microsoft live account (5GB free)
  • Amazon Drive - Good if you have an Amazon account (5GB free)
  • Icloud - Good for Mac users (5GB free)

Local backup

If the files are too sensitive to be trusted on cloud service you can purchase an external hard drive or USB storage drive and copy your files over.


Backup Drives:

Alternatives:
  • Backup and Restore in Windows - Good for windows users
  • Time Machine - Good for Mac users