In the modern digital age more and more personal information is being taken and stored by different organisations.  It is a legal requirement that businesses that hold personal information make sure it is protected under the Data Protection Act.  The Data Protection Act is there to ensure that documentation and personal information is protected from physical and digital threats such as flooding or malicious attacks from hackers.  This is just one of the reasons businesses should protect their information and data.

It is important for businesses to have a disaster recovery plan as a business is likely to come under threat from various sources.  If a businesses data centre is compromised or fails then a disaster recovery plan  will give details of what to do and how to prepare for this sort of problem.  This is in an effort to assure that a business can still operate after a disaster.

It is vital that a business using computers performs regular back ups to make sure all work is saved in one place.  A back up will ensure that any important information, data or work can be restored if the computer system becomes infected with a virus or crashes.  In order to prevent loss of data it is recommended that offsite back ups are kept in a secure location.  This is why a lot of businesses hire the services of an offsite media storage company.  These off site media storage services will aim to deliver back up tapes within 24 hours so you can rest assured that your business will be able to operate if disaster strikes.

When it comes to protecting physical paper documentation it is recommended that a business uses a secure document storage management company to ensure their safety.  They will provide offsite document storage and keep your documents in a safe protected environment.  Most of these companies also offer a 24 hour delivery service incase you need a docment right away.

If a business handles large amounts of personal data then they can apply for information security accreditation.  Your business can use information security consultants that will make sure any information assurance or identity assurance protection that is needed can be put in place.  This can involve changes to the data centre design and the migration of servers as well as tests of the physical security and digital security systems that are already in place.

All of these information security measurements should be carried out for a business and all businesses should have a suitable disaster recovery plan, to make sure the business can continue working after a major incident.  This is why businesses need to take disaster recovery seriously.