Electronic vs. Paper copies

Should you keep both electronic and paper records of some important data?

In light of the ever increasing number of cyber attacks on the education sector, and the advice given by the NCSC,

we at DPO For Education continue to advise our clients to keep both electronic and paper records of some important data.

There is an argument that people will use saying that cloud based storage saves room and minimises the amount of copies that are required. These are valid to a point and if technology is used correctly by all staff and adequate systems are in place to protect it. Evidence is growing that this is not the case in most schools.

It is worth remembering that “the loss of availability of personal data” constitutes a data breach. If a cyber-attack stops access to personal data, then a hard copy back up can help the situation.

Before the use of computers, if someone wanted to steal your data they would have to physically break into your premises and your filing cabinets, now sophisticated cyber-crime techniques mean that not only is it easier to breach your storage, but the volume of data available to a thief is significantly larger.

Where someone may have stolen a single folder in the past, cyber attackers in the current day could steal the equivalent of a lorry-load of data in mere seconds – possibly without you even noticing. Hardcopy backups of your important data can be the difference between business as usual and falling foul of a ransomware attack.

As with most things there will be arguments both ways, but particularly this Easter, we suggest you don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

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Electronic vs. Paper copies