Losing your data can be your worst ever tech nightmare!

It has been estimated that the cost of data loss for small companies is over $75 billion a year! (https://invenioit.com/continuity/cost-of-data-loss/)

Data loss can occur for all sorts of reasons including:

• Human error (biggest cause)
• Natural disaster (earthquakes, major flooding, lightening strikes etc) 
• Hardware failure
• Software issues (bugs, viruses etc)
• Cyberattacks (hackers, ransomware and malware etc)
• Physical damage (local fire, flood or accidental damage)

Backing up your data is vital!

Backing up data is the practice of creating a copy of your important information and storing it in a separate location, usually to protect it from data loss in case of a disaster, accident or malicious action. There are different ways to back up data, including manual backups on a Usb Stick or external hard drive, automated backups to network attached storage or cloud storage, and online backup services.

To start a backup on an Android phone, you can open the Google One app [1], tap "Storage", and then scroll to the "device backup" section. You can also manually back up data and settings on your phone by opening the Settings app, tapping on "Google", and then "Backup".

It's important to identify what data you need to back up [2], and keep your backup separate from your computer [2]. You can also consider using cloud storage for your backups. When selecting a backup method, it's important to consider security and to choose a method that suits your needs.

On an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can back up your information by connecting the device to a computer with iTunes, or by backing up the device using iCloud. To create a backup using a Windows computer, you can search for "backup" and then click "Backup and Restore". From there, you can set up a backup for your files.

Here are some helpful links:

1. Back up your device - Android - Google One Help

https://support.google.com/googleone/answer/9149304?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid

2. Step 1 - Backing up your data - NCSC.GOV.UK

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/small-business-guide/backing-your-data

For individuals, one sensible solution is to use a portable device such as USB stick or external Hard Drive. These days, external SSDs are becoming more affordable, reliable and are very fast at backing up your data. Let's look at these options.

1. USB stick - these are cheap, come in a variety of sizes. 16GB would be the minimum recommended size for backing up just important documents. You can get ones that store For larger files, such as priceless photos or video I would recommend a drive with at least 500GB of storage. An example can be found here: