Most businesses think they have backups. Far fewer have recoverable backups.
This week’s Security Tip of the Week is simple and high impact: run a real backup restore test. Not “the backup job says it succeeded.” Not “the vendor told us it’s fine.” A real restore of real data to confirm you can recover quickly after a ransomware event, accidental deletion, or system failure.
If you rely on Microsoft 365, cloud apps, file shares, or on-prem servers, backups are your last line of defense. A backup that hasn’t been tested is not a backup. It’s a hope.
Why this matters now
Ransomware attacks keep evolving, but the business impact is consistent: downtime, lost revenue, customer disruption, and recovery costs. Many organizations only learn their backup gaps during an incident — when it’s too late to “tighten things up.”
A tested backup plan helps you:
- Recover without paying ransom
- Reduce downtime dramatically
- Protect data from deletion, corruption, or insider mistakes
- Support cyber insurance and compliance expectations
External resource (high quality):
The tip: Run a 15-minute backup restore test (today)
You don’t need a full disaster recovery exercise to get value. You just need to prove one critical thing: can we restore what matters?
Step 1: Choose one “business-critical” item to restore
Pick one that would hurt if it disappeared:
- A finance folder or accounting export
- A client proposal directory
- A shared project folder
- A single VM snapshot (if applicable)
- A mailbox, OneDrive file, or SharePoint library
Step 2: Restore it to a safe location
Do not restore over production data. Restore to:
- A test folder
- An alternate location
- A sandbox mailbox
- A recovery VM/network
The goal is verification, not disruption.
Step 3: Confirm the restore is usable
A restore is only successful if:
- The file opens
- Permissions make sense
- Data is complete
- The restored version is recent enough to matter
Step 4: Write down the recovery time
Track:
- How long it took to locate the backup
- How long restore took
- What broke or slowed things down
This becomes your baseline. You can improve it over time.
Step 5: Schedule the next test
Backups drift. People change. Systems change. A quarterly restore test is a realistic cadence for most SMBs.
External guidance:
The hidden backup gaps we see all the time
Here are common issues that show up during restore tests:
“We back up Microsoft 365… right?”
Many businesses assume Microsoft backs up everything indefinitely. In reality, retention policies, deletion, and account removal can create gaps. A dedicated Microsoft 365 backup protects:
- OneDrive
- SharePoint
Internal resource:
“Our backups are connected to the same network”
If ransomware hits, it looks for backups too. You want immutable storage, offline copies, and access controls.
“Nobody knows where the backups are”
If only one person understands backup recovery, you have a business continuity risk. Documentation matters.
“We’ve never restored a full server”
Restoring a file is great, but many incidents require restoring:
- A server
- A virtual machine
- A full system image
If you’ve never tested it, you don’t know your true recovery plan.
Bonus checklist: Make your backups harder to break
If you want to take this tip one step further, here’s a simple hardening list:
- Use a 3-2-1 backup strategy (3 copies, 2 media types, 1 offsite)
- Limit backup admin access (separate accounts, MFA)
- Enable immutable backups where supported
- Alert on backup failures (and actually review alerts)
- Confirm retention meets your business needs (30, 60, 90+ days)
- Test restores quarterly
External explanation:
How Coretech Now helps
At Coretech Now, we help businesses build backup and recovery systems that are designed to work under real pressure — including ransomware scenarios, accidental deletion, and system failure.
Our approach typically includes:
- Microsoft 365 backup (mail, OneDrive, SharePoint)
- Local + cloud backup options
- Virtual disaster recovery planning
- Restore testing and documentation
- Ongoing monitoring and alerting
If you want a proactive partner that can own this end-to-end:
