Seventy-four percent of organizations experienced a data loss incident
at their workplace in the last two years. This is one of the key
findings of a new survey launched in North America today by Kroll
Ontrack, the leading provider of data recovery and legal technologies
products and services.
The problem of data loss – defined by the survey as unforeseen loss of
data or information due to viruses, natural disasters, accidental
deletion, system crashes, corruption or hardware failure – is one that
is not only experienced regularly, but often recovered from
inadequately. In fact, when asked about their organization’s ability to
respond to data loss, 41 percent claim response was “poor.” Furthermore,
32 percent of organizations take several days to recover from a data
loss and a further 16 percent never recovered.
“Time is of the essence when data loss occurs,” said Todd Johnson, vice
president of Ontrack® Data Recovery operations, Kroll Ontrack. “In
significant data loss cases, hours of downtown can cost an organization
millions of dollars. Consequently, a sound disaster recovery or business
continuity plan with specifics on how data will be restored needs to be
determined.”
To recover from data loss, 32 percent use data recovery software and 29
percent recreate lost data manually. Only 21 percent indicated using a
backup to restore lost data. This is surprising given that nearly half
(44 percent) of organizations back up organization data at least once a
day and a further 50 percent are testing those backups as often as once
a month.
“The way and time taken to recover from data loss not only affects
customer confidence, but can also result in high, unforeseen business
investments such as lost staff productivity, overtime, diverted
resources and delays in responding to other issues. Furthermore, data
loss may also affect a company’s ability to comply with regulatory
requirements regarding the security, retention and protection of
important information. Failure to meet these requirements can result in
heavy fines,” added Johnson.
The survey also revealed that company backup procedures are not keeping
pace with changes in IT management. Only 48 percent of companies
reviewed their disaster recovery and business continuity plans in the
last 12 months.
“New technologies, such as virtualization and cloud computing, have
changed the way data is recovered,” said Johnson. “If a company’s backup
system fails to address these changes, it may be more difficult and
expensive to recover when the inevitable occurs.”
In addition to system failure, data is at risk when end-of-lifecycle or
redistributed computer hardware is not completely and securely erased.
However, the survey found that a quarter of companies had no formal
policy for erasing sensitive data, which means the majority of
organizations are destroying their sensitive information systematically.
“When it comes to protecting sensitive electronic information, creating
a clear data disposal policy is equally important to having a solid
disaster recovery or business continuity plan. Using a proven data
erasure software product or hardware tool will go a long way in ensuring
critical information does not fall into the wrong hands,” concluded
Johnson.
This survey, conducted in October through December 2009, asked 839
respondents about their views and experiences related to data management.
For more information about Ontrack Data Recovery and other solutions,
visit www.ontrackdatarecovery.com.
Through its Ontrack Data Recovery products and services, Kroll Ontrack
is the largest, most experienced and technologically advanced provider
of data recovery products and services worldwide. Using hundreds of
proprietary tools and techniques, Ontrack Data Recovery solutions help
businesses and consumers recover lost or corrupted data from all types
of operating systems and media and storage devices through
do-it-yourself, remote and in-lab capabilities.
About Kroll Ontrack Inc.
Kroll Ontrack provides
technology-driven services and software to help legal, corporate and
government entities as well as consumers manage, recover, search,
analyze, produce and present data efficiently and cost-effectively. In
addition to its award-winning suite of software, Kroll Ontrack provides
data recovery, paper and electronic discovery, document review, computer
forensics, secure information services, ESI and jury consulting, and
trial presentation services. Kroll Ontrack is the technology services
division of Kroll Inc., the global risk consulting company. For more
information about Kroll Ontrack and its offerings please visit: www.krollontrack.com;
www.ontrackdatarecovery.com.
Kroll Ontrack Inc.
Kaitlin Shinkle, 952-516-3581
kshinkle@krollontrack.com
or
Andrea
Young, 952-358-5516
ayoung@krollontrack.com