Backups, Breaches, and Bad Decisions

Let Me Paint You a Picture

It’s 3:12 a.m.

I’m in pajama pants, staring at a black screen with those two horrifying words:

“Drive corrupted.”

There’s a cold cup of coffee in my hand, and a colder feeling in my gut.

My brain:

“It’s fine. You backed everything up.”

My heart:

“Did you, though? Did you really?”

Spoiler alert: I didn’t.

Hi. I’m Jamie. I work in IT, I’m obsessed with tacos, and I’ve lost more data than I care to admit.

But hey—pain makes a great teacher.

So today, I’m sharing what I wish I knew before learning about data encryption and backups the hard way.

Why You (Yes, You) Need to Care About This

Think your data isn’t important?

Whether you’re:

• A startup founder with dreams bigger than your cloud bill
• A sysadmin with more servers than sleep
• A data analyst juggling sensitive models or datasets

Lose it, and it’s game over.

For instance, at Growell, which provides advanced data science and analytics solutions to clients, encryption and reliable backup strategies are essential not only for protecting proprietary models but also for maintaining trust.

And if it falls into the wrong hands?

Buckle up for lawsuits, angry clients, and a permanent coffee twitch.

Step One: Encrypt Like Your Ex Knows Your Passwords

Encryption isn’t optional.

It’s survival.

Imagine locking your house but leaving your journal on the front porch.

That’s what storing data without encryption is like.

You're just hoping no one reads your deepest secrets (or your AWS credentials).

My Golden Encryption Rules:

• Encrypt at rest

  • Files on servers, databases, or cloud storage
  • Use tools like: BitLocker, LUKS, or EBS encryption in AWS

• Encrypt in transit

  • Moving data isn’t safe by default
  • Use HTTPS, TLS, and VPNs

• Use strong keys & rotate them

  • Not "1234", please
  • Store keys securely in HSMs or services like AWS KMS

Fun fact:

I once worked with a developer who stored the encryption key inside the encrypted file.

We don’t talk anymore.

Step Two: Backups Aren’t Just for Boomers

“Do you have a backup?”

I've asked that question hundreds of times.

You’d be shocked how often the answer is:

“Well... it’s in the cloud?”

Friend.

The cloud is just someone else’s computer.

And even they mess up.

My Battle-Tested Backup Advice:

1. I once restored a database and found it contained nothing but ASCII art and broken dreams.
2. Use tools like:
   • Veeam
   • Bacula
   • AWS Backup
   • Or even rsync + cron
3. Use versioning
   • Ever had a coworker delete an entire folder and overwrite the backup with nothing?
   • I have. It was a Tuesday. I still wake up screaming.

The Cloud Is Your Friend… But Not Your Lifeboat

Yes, cloud providers like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud offer great tools.

But you have to use them correctly.

You can’t just turn on S3 and pray.

Use These Wisely:

• S3 versioning & lifecycle rules
• Server-side encryption (SSE-S3, SSE-KMS)
• Snapshot scheduling for EC2, RDS, EBS
• IAM roles & permissions (So Dave in accounting doesn’t accidentally wipe prod)

Remember:

The cloud doesn’t care about your feelings.

Just your billable hours.

A Cautionary Tale (Because Why Not?)

Years ago, I was freelancing for a client who thought backups were “too expensive.”

We begged. We pleaded. We showed graphs.

They said: “We’ll be fine.”

They got hit by ransomware.

$50,000 worth of encrypted gibberish.

Guess what?

No backups. Not one.

Their entire business—gone.

Moral of the story?

Backups are cheap. Regret is not.

Closing Thoughts: Future You Deserves Better

Data disasters happen:

• Drives fail
• People click weird links
• A rogue intern might try to “optimize” your backup scripts

But if you encrypt your data, store it safely, and make backups a regular habit, you’ll sleep easier.

You’ll avoid panic-laced nights fueled by Red Bull and existential dread.

And most importantly—you won’t be that person who says:

“I thought Google Docs just saved everything automatically?”

Do It Now, Thank Yourself Later

Take 20 minutes:

• Set up encryption
• Automate your backups
• Test your restore process

Future You—calm, collected, sipping a latte while everyone else panics—will thank you.

Oh, and buy an external drive.

You know. For old time’s sake.

If you're still learning the ropes of protecting data and building secure systems, consider a real-world experience through platforms like InternBoot.