Data security, due to federal liability laws, is serious business.
You are liable to protect your clients' data information from unauthorized access and usage.
However, many companies have even a far worse problem no set procedure for data storage, backup, recovery and recovery testing.
Many small companies from the small home based business to ones with 50 plus systems either overlook the potential of computer data loss or just ignore it.
When was the last time you tested your backup recovery procedures? Do you even have a back up procedure.
Where do you keep your backup copies? What happens if your building suffers damage and you need to start up at a temporary location with all new equipment? First, let's define data protection in relation to back-ups.
Backing up does not mean using software to make another copy on the same hard drive or a mirror drive or another computer on the same network.
True backup means data archival on an external storage media (tape, DVD, external device that is removed from the network) for future retrieval and business continuance.
Here are the top 10 steps all companies, no matter what size, should review, update and implement:

• Identify all business critical data and systems within the company.
  
• Perform a business disaster impact review to determine revenue and costs associated with the lost of data.
  
• Determine how long data and records need to be retained with easy access.
  
• Establish a data recovery procedure in case of system failure.
  
• Train your staff on data recovery.
  
• Test the recovery of data process.
  Do a full recovery of all data from the backup tape, DVD or other external storage media.
  
• Automate your computer backup system.
  
• Rotate the backup data media so you have at least 2 months of data backup in at least 1 week intervals or shorter depending upon your company size.
  
• Store the computer data in a secure off site location.
  
• Review and update your plan semi-annually

The preparation of the procedure requires looking at all aspects of your business.
Many smaller companies fall into the trap of I do not have the time or It will not happen to me.
However, it happens all the time to companies every day and it costs them several hundreds of dollars to complete business closures.
Just ask yourself a few questions: What would happen if you lost all your account receivable documents? What about your need to maintain client renewals, billing, previous work or contracts? What is it worth? How much would it cost you in income if you can not retrieve the information? $1000, $5000 or $50,000?