- For World Backup Day on 31.03.2019, the eco Association recommends companies and citizens develop a stronger awareness for backing up valuable data
- Around one in four Germans (26.8 percent) run high risks and only back up their data less than once a year
- An external hard drive is the most popular storage option
Whether it’s documents, family photos, or videos of special occasions: Backups rescue valuable data from hardware damage, cyber attacks, or when the mobile phone goes missing. Although the dangers are well known, around 26.8 percent of Germans either don’t back up their data at all, or do so less than once a year. “Too many people forget to do regular backups. As a result, they run a high risk of permanently losing valuable pictures or documents,” says Alexander Rabe, Managing Director of eco – Association of the Internet Industry. Together with the market research institute Civey, eco investigated the backup behavior of Germans in a representative survey.*  The results are alarming: 42 percent of respondents had already lost data because it was not secured through a backup. 11.3 percent of those surveyed had already experienced this on more than one occasion.
“Backups are not simply a nice-to-have, but a necessity in our digitalized private and professional lives,” says Markus Schaffrin, security expert and Head of Member Services in the eco Association. Whether the data loss is caused by damage to hardware or software, by hacker attacks, or by losing a device: Without a backup, there are many ways to lose that data for ever. “While large companies already use appropriate backup systems, small and medium-sized enterprises often lag behind, as do private individuals,” Schaffrin warns.
Hard drive is backup medium number 1
Today, cloud solutions and external storage devices make it easier than ever to store copies of all data in a second, secure location. Of those surveyed who had backed up their data, 55.9 percent use an external hard drive for this, 15.1 percent use a cloud service or online storage, and 12.4 percent use a USB stick. The formally widely-used backup media of CDs/DVDs and floppy disks have fallen in popularity, at only 3 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.
For Schaffrin, there are no longer any excuses for failing to back up your data. Free backup applications for computers, tablets, and smartphones make securing data possible for everyone and every company in a minimum of time – regardless of whether you use a cloud solution or an external storage device. “Backing up the data on your computer and your mobile devices should be an indispensable daily ritual, just like brushing your teeth, and not just for World Backup Day on 31 March,” Schaffrin recommends.
* The market research company Civey surveyed 5,000 people between 21 and 25 March 2019 on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry. The results are representative for the German population aged 18 years and above. The statistical margin of error of the total result is at 2.5 percent.
Further information on IT security can be found here.
