Data is the most important aspect of your computer. An operating system can be reinstalled and so can applications, but it may be difficult or impossible to recreate your original data.

It is essential that you always back up your important information and have a plan for recovering from a system failure. An attacker could crash a computer’s operating system or data may be corrupted or wiped out by a hardware problem. Computers can be lost, stolen, or destroyed in a fire or other catastrophe.

You should back up your personal or critical work data on a regular basis. This means copying your files over to a protected system that you can access when those files are needed.

• Encrypt backups that contain sensitive data.
• Keep extra backups off-site in a secure location (in case of property damage).
• Verify your backups to make sure files are retrievable.
• Sanitize or destroy your backups (e.g., tapes, CDs) before discarding them.