Introduction

Data protection is no longer an afterthought but a daily priority for businesses. While Australia’s regulations like the Privacy Act and the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme are crucial, the average cost of a data breach globally is now $4.45 million. For Australian enterprises, the financial hit can be devastating, especially if production data is compromised due to a breach or internal error, leading to costly downtime. It’s estimated that downtime can cost businesses up to $5 million per hour in critical scenarios. 

Myth 1: Cloud Providers Automatically Back Up Your Data

Australian businesses have widely adopted cloud storage for their data and workloads. In fact, cloud security breaches now surpass those of on-premises servers. This doesn’t imply one is inherently safer than the other but highlights the shift in the digital landscape. 

Despite this shift, many businesses are still unclear on the shared responsibility model of the cloud. A 2023 study found that 43% of IT data managers incorrectly believe that cloud providers are responsible for backing up and recovering data. This isn’t true. Cloud providers focus on maintaining the infrastructure’s availability and integrity, while data protection and recovery remain the customer’s responsibility. 

The misconception often stems from thinking that once you migrate to the cloud, the service provider handles everything. It’s more like leasing a fully equipped kitchen: the appliances will work, but if you burn the food, it’s your problem to fix. For data backup and disaster recovery, businesses must actively configure and manage these processes. Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) options can alleviate this burden, but they are not included by default. 

Myth 2: Paying Ransoms Guarantees Data Recovery

Ransomware remains a significant threat to Australian businesses, causing data breaches and outages. According to the Veeam Data Protection Trends Report 2024, 75% of organisations faced at least one ransomware attack last year, and 25% were targeted more than four times. Despite the risks, many businesses still resort to paying ransoms. Yet, a disturbing truth persists, according to a ransomware victims survey, 81% of organisations paid the ransom but only 54% of those who paid were able to recover their data, and 27% were left with nothing. 

People outside the IT security space often doesn’t understand the nuances of ransomware recovery. After paying, there’s often a delay—if you even get the decryption keys at all. If the keys are provided, decrypting data is a painstaking process, unlocking only small parts at a time. In some cases, attackers charge extra for additional keys to speed things up, dragging recovery out for weeks. On average, businesses can take over three weeks to recover from ransomware incidents. 

Myth 3: Backup Alone is Enough After a Ransomware Attack

Backup is critical in recovering from ransomware, but it’s not foolproof. In fact, attackers target backups in three out of four ransomware incidents. To avoid this, businesses must adopt a layered strategy: multiple backups, immutable backups (those that can’t be changed), and offline backups. 

Another overlooked issue is the readiness of an environment to recover data. Sometimes, during an attack, your primary environment—whether it’s on-premises or in the cloud—becomes unavailable, either compromised or locked down for investigation. If your kitchen has burned down, you can’t just start cooking again—you need a safe and secure space to work. Similarly, businesses need a backup environment to restore data during a crisis. It’s essential to ensure your team is comfortable with the recovery process and cloud tools before an outage happens. 

Data protection and resilience are ongoing battles. With new threats emerging daily, Australian businesses must educate not only their IT departments but their leadership and compliance teams. Understanding the complexities of data protection ensures quicker, more effective responses and shields organisations from unnecessary risks.