Whether you're dealing with your business or personal files, the loss of data can be tragic. Businesses that loose significant amounts of data are much more likely to fail within a short period of time, and losing personal data can mean that projects, plans, or possibly even family photos or other irreplaceable memorabilia are gone for good. Obviously no one wants to lose data from their computer or network, but what happens if the worst case scenario comes to pass and that data does get lost? This is where developing a strong data protection strategy comes into play. Instead of going about business as usual and hoping for the best, it's absolutely necessary to plan ahead for the possibility of losing important data. Below are suggestions on how you can go about protecting your data as well as ways that you can become proactive in preventing data loss in the first place.

Scheduling Backups
The core of a successful data protection strategy lies in making regular backups of your work and archiving them so that you can recover from any unexpected loss of data or a system crash. By backing up your files on a regular basis, you will have recent copies of everything that you need in the event of data corruption, virus infestation, hacker attacks, or anything else that might cause you to lose important data that you otherwise might not be able to replace. Make backing up important data a part of your regular routine; you might back up your system monthly, weekly, or even daily. The more frequently you make these backups, the more likely you're going to be to have recent copies of vital files in the event of data loss. Periodically test your backups as well, making sure that they aren't corrupted or otherwise damaged.

Virus and Malware Protection
One major cause of data loss is malicious software such as viruses and other forms of malware. Even the most careful computer user can get some of these nasty programs on their system on accident, so it's important that your system is set up to scan itself daily for viruses, adware, and other forms of harmful programs. Make sure that your virus definitions are updated as often as your antivirus and antimalware software permits; most software of this type can be set up to automatically download updates daily.

Preventing Intrusion and Theft
Just as having a good antivirus can prevent a nasty virus from getting onto your system, having a good firewall can prevent hackers from gaining access to your computer or network. Software firewalls can be very effective at hiding your system from prying eyes, and you can also purchase routers with firewalls installed or a dedicated hardware firewall to help protect your entire network. Make sure that user accounts and any sensitive folders or files are password protected; choose passwords that contain both letters and numbers in combinations that wouldn't be easy for someone to guess. Don't keep a copy of your password written down near your computer, or else it may be found by someone who has no business gaining access to your user account.

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