Afi.ai: Your Trusted Partner in Cloud Data Protection

 

When assessing potential threats to business, data loss is one threat that cannot be ignored. Data loss is not only statistically common, but also surprisingly expensive.

According to IBM’s 2023 report:

• The average cost of a data breach for businesses with fewer than 500 employees was over 3 million USD.

• As many as 6% of data breaches were initiated by malicious employees.

• Identifying and containing a data breach took an average of 277 days.

While IBM’s findings focus on malicious data breaches, other risks exist:

• Accidental deletion by employees or trusted collaborators.

• Software failures, bugs, and glitches.

• Failures at the service provider level, e.g. Google or Microsoft facing a natural disaster.

Predictions suggest that by 2025, around 85% of organizations will embrace a cloud-first strategy. As businesses increasingly depend on platforms such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace for data storage, they need to confront the potential consequences of hacks, accidents, or unforeseen disasters. With the uptick in ransomware attacks, prioritizing data security has become crucial, as data loss could inflict significant harm on any business.

Almost All Companies Have Cloud Storage; Now, They Need Cloud-to-Cloud Backup

Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 leverage the power of cloud storage, enabling global collaboration and real-time productivity across diverse teams. Yet, with increased accessibility comes a host of security challenges—both internal and external.

Internally, human error poses a threat to data security. Accidental deletions by users, confusion, or malicious intent by those with editing privileges, and occasional IT department errors like deleting accounts without preserving crucial data can compromise sensitive information.

Externally, hacking and phishing attempts target employees, aiming to gain unauthorized access to a company's cloud storage. Even the cloud storage providers themselves are not immune, as viruses, negligence, or physical server damage can still jeopardize critical data.

Given these risks, businesses seeking to prevent the serious repercussions of data loss need to understand the crucial role of backups. This goes beyond safeguarding physical devices and includes securing cloud storage services. Despite the seemingly abstract concept of "cloud storage," the truth is that everyone's data resides on physical servers. Without robust backup copies, businesses open themselves up to the looming threat of data loss or cyberattacks.

Cloud-to-Cloud Services

A widely embraced solution for data loss is cloud-to-cloud (C2C) backup. This is designed to efficiently migrate data from an existing cloud, such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, to a private service provider. C2C providers offer proprietary backup software, enabling businesses to tailor their backup plans with ease.

Afi.ai is the Go-To Choice for Reliable Cloud-to-Cloud Services

Afi provides a reliable and scalable data protection service crafted to seamlessly support diverse cloud data sources. Whether it is a small business or a larger enterprise hiring new employees, ensuring comprehensive data backup requires no special steps. With Afi, there are no software installations; a simple setup allows automatic scaling to meet the specific requirements of the business. One can rest assure that Afi seamlessly integrates with various cloud products, including Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, eliminating concerns about compatibility with different data sources.

Enjoy Multiple Benefits by Choosing Afi for Cloud-Based Backup Services

Numerous companies are turning to cloud backup solutions to address data protection challenges. Why the shift? Solutions like Afi seamlessly integrate advanced backup techniques with secure cloud technologies, ensuring organizations enjoy prompt and dependable recovery of essential enterprise data. Explore these three compelling reasons to make the move to the cloud for efficient data backup and storage:

1. Ransomware Protection

Ransomware has the potential to infiltrate users' devices, encrypting stored information, including Google Drive and OneDrive files and other data within Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Afi incorporates an integrated ransomware protection engine designed to identify ransomware attacks, triggering proactive backup procedures before the ransomware can propagate throughout the infrastructure. The resulting recovery points from these backup processes are immutable, ensuring it cannot be encrypted or altered. This functionality enables the recovery of Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 data post-attack.

What Afi can accomplish:

• Detect ransomware and promptly alert your Google Workspace/Microsoft 365 administrator.

• Conduct preemptive backups of Google Workspace/Microsoft 365 before data is compromised.

• Apply labels to recovery points, indicating changes between versions and highlighting the last unaffected version of data before encryption.

• Restore data from the last or any previous recovery points preceding ransomware incidents.

2. Disaster Recovery

Disaster recovery refers to the set of strategies and processes a business adopts to resume its critical operations after a disruptive event, such as a natural disaster, cyberattack, equipment failure, or any unforeseen incident that severely impacts regular business functions. The goal is to restore data, applications, and systems swiftly, ensuring minimal downtime and preserving business continuity.

How Afi can help:

• Quick Data Recovery: Afi offers fast and efficient data recovery mechanisms. In the aftermath of a disaster, companies can swiftly retrieve their data from the cloud, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity.

• Instant Offline Data Export: Unlike some backup solutions that prioritize cost savings by storing data in locations with delayed accessibility, Afi takes a different approach. With Afi, one can access the data in an instant. Afi ensures that cost-effective storage does not compromise quick access. It is designed to provide immediate data retrieval, eliminating the delays associated with storing data offline or in resources that hinder swift accessibility.

• Off-Site Storage: Storing backups in the cloud provides geographical separation from the primary business location. Supported Afi regions include the USA, Canada, the EU, the United Kingdom, and Australia. This geographical diversity ensures that even if a local disaster impacts the company's physical infrastructure, the data stored in the cloud remains unaffected.

3. Data Retention

Data retention in the cloud is about keeping and organizing data and figuring out the rules for storing, managing, and eventually getting rid of it. It ensures that data is stored within the specific rules and needs of each cloud platform used by a company. This approach helps meet retention policies and comply with the requirements of various cloud environments, like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

Afi enables versioning for Google Docs and Microsoft files, allows the recovery of permanently deleted items, and provides unlimited data retention. Refer to the table below to understand the extensive capabilities of Afi in recovering and retaining lost data.

	Afi Backup and Recovery Services
Permanently deleted data	Afi offers a permanent solution, allowing users to customize how long they want to keep their data—whether it's for a few days, a year, or even multiple years. Thanks to Afi's configurable retention rules, achieving infinite data retention becomes effortless and tailored to individual preferences.
Deletion of user account	Data can be retained with Afi.
Folder structure	Afi preserves the folder structure, maintaining it exactly as it was.
Contacts	Afi excels in granular backup, offline export, and recovery for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 Contacts
Point-in-time recovery and Real-time data preview	Afi empowers users to revisit specific moments in time through snapshots. These snapshots provide a historical view of data, allowing for point-in-time recovery. With Afi's snapshots, users can simply say, "Show me the snapshot from yesterday at 3 pm" and Afi faithfully replicates the exact structure as it was at that moment. This feature enables seamless restoration of the entire structure to its original state.

Final Thoughts

As data concerns and the risk of losing it are on the rise, having a good cloud backup solution is crucial. Afi offers top-notch features like easy backup and recovery, ensuring one's data stays secure. For more information on how Afi can further enhance data protection journey, feel free to reach out to our team for a demo.