Some Maltese businesses think themselves immune to security threats and disasters. Does this argument hold water?

Threats to a company’s critical business data present themselves in various forms, from data leaks, hardware and system failures, human error and viruses to burglary, power surges and blackouts. While you may believe you are not at risk of malicious targets of data leakage, there are other accidental or intentional ways that data may fall into the wrong hands, be misplaced or lost. All of these have consequences for any business.

Although thankfully Malta is not particularly affected by natural disasters, system failures could happen to any firm. International research shows that of the companies that lose their data in disasters such as these, 90 per cent are out of business within two years and nearly 50 per cent never reopen. If this alone does not sound any alarm bells, simply think of the time and money lost should you experience a massive system failure and lose all your business data.

How can a business achieve a high level of preparedness?

In a typical business continuity planning scenario, a disaster would be presented and company leadership would then be challenged with how to best return to business as usual in the aftermath of the event. In many cases, the emphasis is typically on the recovery of the systems and applications that enable the business to continue to operate. At its core, disaster recovery planning is an exercise which focuses on the data centre and information technology components of an organisation, two elements which are mission critical for many organisations’ survival.

Unprotected data is a real business risk because data is generally regarded as a company’s first or second most valuable asset, right on par with people. Equally important with backing up data is the ability to recover that same data in a timely manner to keep your business operating in the event of a disaster. Specific decisions regarding disaster recovery steps will largely depend on the type of business and its most immediate needs.

Are business continuity and disaster recovery solutions complex to deploy and how cost-effective are these solutions?

Business continuity and disaster recovery are a form of insurance to protect your IT assets when disaster strikes. Just like good insurance, the best business continuity and disaster recovery solutions should provide great protection, with minimum hassle, at a justified cost. Their cost is nothing compared to the peace of mind you get knowing that your critical business data is secure and that there is no risk of loss of productivity and revenue.

For a business, any downtime is translated into loss. What data recovery solutions do you offer?

At Kinetix, we have years of experience in the field and specialise in comprehensive and affordable disaster recovery solutions that offer superior protection of your critical business data and minimise the adverse effects of a major unplanned outage on your business. We are certified partners of Microsoft and have implemented the Microsoft Hyper-V virtualisation platform, a renowned disaster recovery solution, at some of Malta’s leading companies.

Data and network security are also essential. What data protection and security systems do you offer?

Data leak prevention and security solutions identify confidential data, tracks that data as it moves through and out of enterprise, and prevents unauthorised disclosure of data by creating and enforcing disclosure policies. Since confidential data can reside on a variety of computing devices and move through a variety of network access points, there are various solutions that can tackle data loss, data recovery and data leaks. We work with the client to design a solution to prevent information leaks in case of loss of device, network violations and virus threats, as well as brand defamation due to malicious, inappropriate or fraudulent network activity.

Kinetix have been behind some of the largest implementations of disaster recovery and data loss prevention solutions on the island. To what do you owe this success?

We are client oriented, have the right people with the right expertise, and only work with the best of breed products.

Information provided by Curt Gauci, director and co-founder of Kinetix IT Solutions, a local leading IT systems integrator. Kinetix are HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Kerio, Trend Micro and Symantec certified partners.