Factors Behind Data Backup Avoidance: Exploration

In this day and age, where people capture every moment with their smartphones, data backup and security become crucial factors. While it’s safe to assume that most tech-savvy individuals regularly back up their data, the reality is vastly different for others. Let’s delve deeper and see what could be the reasons.

Importance of data backup

Before we get ahead, it is perhaps important to understand the benefits of data backup. Firstly, since our phones travel with us, there’s a high chance of accidental damage or theft. In such cases, a data backup could be a lifeline, ensuring you don’t lose access to your important files and photos. Moreover, with threat actors increasing their efforts to gain access to people’s devices, it’s generally a safe practice to keep a backup of your data in case of an unlikely scenario.

To study the patterns, ExpressVPN’s survey on people’s backup habits, with over 4,000 participants from countries including the USA, the UK, France, and Germany, explored how often they backed up their data. While it’s reassuring that over 40% of the respondents back up their data every two weeks, it’s equally concerning that over half of them still aren’t regularly backing up their data, with 22% having never attempted it.

In terms of specific countries, France performed the best, with only 14% of the respondents never backing up their data, followed by Germany at 17%, the USA at 27%, and the UK at 29%.

Why aren’t people backing up their data?

According to the study referenced above, the most common reason people were not backing up their data was simply that they weren’t aware of how to do it. This not only puts the data of these individuals at risk but also raises questions about companies like Google and Microsoft, which have failed to educate the population.

Moving forward, while another 6% of the respondents stated that they hadn’t yet developed the habit of regularly backing up data, 5% said that they found the process too cumbersome. Interestingly, 3% of them claimed that the cost of cloud storage solutions was also a significant deterrent factor.

However, data protection is another factor behind people not backing up their data. Since most users utilize cloud data storage solutions, they need assurance that their data will stay safe and secure. Unfortunately, with news of threat actors targeting new companies every day, over 75% of the survey respondents stated that they had concerns about the protection of their data.

The Solution

Perhaps the most effective solution to this problem is raising awareness. Companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple need to educate their users about the importance of data backup and simplify the process. Additionally, companies should either consider reducing the price of their subscription plans or increasing the storage capacity of existing ones to attract more users.

Moreover, while we cannot entirely prevent hackers from gaining unauthorized access, there are precautions every user should take to mitigate this risk. These precautions include encrypting data before uploading it to a cloud storage provider, enabling multi-factor authentication, and using reputable backup services.

Furthermore, we highly recommend avoiding backing up data using public Wi-Fi networks, as they often lack sufficient security measures, making them prime targets for hackers. However, it is also preferable to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to encrypt your internet connection, making it challenging for hackers to access private information.