Why World Backup Day Is Not Just Another Gimmicky ‘Holiday’

“Cold Cuts Day,” “National Anthem Day,” “What if Cats and Dogs had Opposable Thumbs Day”…

If you’ve never heard of World Backup Day, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s another of the gimmicky “holidays” that seem to be snatching up more and more space on the calendar. (Did you know that single quirky duo Ruth and Tom Roy are responsible for copyrighting more than 80 of these holidays, including Bathtub Party Day, held annually on Dec. 5?)

This isn’t the case for World Backup Day. While, according to WorldBackUpDay.com, it was founded by a few “concerned users” on the social media site reddit, the day’s dedication is a decidedly serious one. March 31 was established as “a day for people to learn about the increasing role of data in our lives and the importance of regular backups.”

Each April Fool’s Eve, the site invites humans all over the planet to not be fools and to back up their data. In celebration of World Backup Day, we sat down with Webroot Product Marketing Director George Anderson to see how users can ensure they stay cyber resilient by adhering to good data backup practices.

For World Backup Day, what’s the one piece of advice you’d give to a small or midsize business? Or to an everyday computer user, like a parent?

Anderson: Losing data used to be something that happened because a hard disk failed, a device was lost or stolen, or some other unforeseen accident made a device unusable. These remain risks. But these days, it’s just as likely your data is being held for a ransom or some nasty infection has destroyed it for good.

Up-to-date backups are essential. Remember: It’s not if something will happen to your data, but when. So, prepare for the unexpected. Easily restored data backups let you be more resilient against cyber attacks and better able to recover customer data, financial information, business-critical files and precious memories. Anything irreplaceable should be regularly backed up without a second thought or, worse, a passive “it won’t happen to me.”

Thankfully, many of today’s backup solutions are easy to use and affordable. My advice is to not become the next data loss or ransomware victim. Simply invest a little into backup software and rest easy knowing you’re covered.

Why is it important that World Backup Day be celebrated year-round? How can we keep the spotlight on backup and cyber resilience?

Anderson: For those with backup technology in place, World Backup Day should be a reminder of the importance digital information plays in our daily lives, and to check up on existing backups to make sure they are being properly made and that they can be easily restored.

Unfortunately, “set-and-forget” technologies like automated backup and recovery solutions are rarely