World Backup Day 2025: In a Ransomware-Riddled World, Backups Are More Than a Button

Cybercrime is faster. Data is everywhere. Your backups? They better be smarter.

March 31st marks the 15th annual World Backup Day, a moment when IT teams, security leaders, and even home users are reminded of a simple but increasingly critical reality: data loss is inevitable, and backups are your last line of defense.

But in 2025, backup strategies can no longer be reactive or simplistic. Cybercriminals have leveled up. AI-powered malware, double-extortion ransomware, and attacks on mobile infrastructure are no longer rare—they're the norm.

“World Backup Day is a great opportunity to remind people of the importance of securing important organizational and personal data by creating and maintaining a strong backup strategy,” says Randolph Barr, CISO at Cequence. “Data leaks and breaches are becoming increasingly frequent due to a multitude of factors, including the higher skill level of attackers and the growing adoption of AI in cyber tactics and techniques.”

That growing threat surface is why security professionals are warning against treating backup like a compliance checkbox. It’s now a foundational part of cyber resilience—an operational pillar as vital as firewalls and endpoint detection.

“A strong cyber resilience strategy goes beyond backup and recovery—it involves data risk management, continuous testing, real-time threat detection, and the ability to find a clean point in recovery,” says Anneka Gupta, Rubrik's CPO. “The approach means more than just backing up data—it’s about assessing the integrity of backups and confidence that recovery won't lead to reinfection of systems in real-world cyberattack scenarios.”

Backups Are Breaking Bad

Modern ransomware doesn’t just encrypt production data—it seeks out and destroys backups. Ken Dunham, Director at the Qualys Threat Research Unit (TRU), highlights the new playbook: “Ransomware continues to rage, using tactics to discover and delete backups to force a payout.”

So what’s the solution? It starts with separation and immutability. “To defend against threats like ransomware, backups must be stored separately from primary systems—ideally in isolated or offline environments—and protected with encryption at rest,” says Emilio Sepulveda, Manager of Information Security at Deepwatch.

Still, physical separation and encryption are only the beginning. Organizations must test and validate their disaster recovery playbooks before they’re under fire. “Don’t just hope and rely upon your third-party cloud provider or tool to back things up,” Dunham warns. “Demonstrate and prove that it is backing up every month on every basis.”

Back It Up—But Back It Up Right

The classic 3-2-1 rule (three copies of your data, on two types of media, with one stored offsite) remains an industry baseline. But leaders like Heath Renfrow of Fenix24 argue it’s no longer enough. His firm now advocates for a more aggressive 5-4-3-2-1 methodology—one built for resilience, redundancy, and real-world adversarial scenarios.

“We’ve rebuilt hundreds of environments after ransomware attacks,” Renfrow explains. “The difference between recovery and ruin comes down to one thing: backup resilience… If threat actors can reach them, they will destroy them.”

Equally important is what you back up. “You back up the data you know about, but what about the data you don’t see?” asks Steve Petryschuk of Auvik. He points to "shadow IT"—unauthorized SaaS tools—as a blind spot for many organizations. And don’t forget mobile.

“As organizations and individuals recognize World Backup Day, it’s critical to acknowledge that traditional backup strategies alone are not enough,” warns Tim Roddy, VP at Zimperium. “Cybercriminals now take on a mobile-first attack strategy… To ensure data integrity, businesses must implement a proactive mobile security strategy that protects data at the source.”

A Cultural Shift, Not Just a Technical One

World Backup Day isn’t just for IT departments anymore—it’s a leadership issue. “Backups are more than a best practice—they are a business imperative,” says Renfrow. “If your backups aren’t resilient, your business isn’t either.”

It’s also a chance to talk strategy at the C-suite level. “As AI implementation across industries continues to grow, businesses are becoming increasingly reliant on data for AI-driven decision making,” says Greg Clark of OpenText Cybersecurity. “By identifying and eliminating unnecessary data and retiring outdated applications, businesses can significantly reduce their attack surface.”

That’s echoed by Dana Simberkoff of AvePoint, who emphasizes a broader governance strategy: “World Backup Day offers a critical reminder to all security professionals of just how important flexible and robust data governance and backup policies are in today’s cybersecurity landscape.”

Plan for the Worst, Recover Fast

Organizations that treat World Backup Day as a marketing gimmick are missing the point—and the opportunity. “Quality backup is the linchpin of business resilience,” says Sean Deuby of Semperis. “When ransomware gangs breach organizations, in 90 percent of attacks, the identity system, most often Active Directory, is compromised.”

He recommends dedicated AD-specific recovery processes to ensure continuity. “Without AD-specific cyberattack recovery technology and processes, your business is at risk,” he says.

For home users, the solution doesn’t have to be complicated. “It can be as simple as buying a USB-mounted drive, performing a backup of the operating system and files, and then disconnecting when done to achieve immutable backups at home,” says Dunham.

AI, Automation, and Always-On Resilience

With AI becoming both an attacker’s tool and a defender’s ally, automation is critical. “Data backups should be automated daily,” says Randolph Barr. “And backups should be tested regularly to ensure that data can be restored successfully, and any weaknesses can be addressed promptly.”

Mayuresh Dani from Qualys echoes this: “To add more security, these backups should also be automated and can be encrypted to provide data privacy.”

Even your most secure backup means little if it fails when needed. “A backup that fails to restore is no better than having no backup at all,” says a joint industry note. Regular testing of business continuity and disaster recovery plans ensures recovery actually works.

Plan A, B, and C

Ultimately, as Rick Vanover of Veeam puts it:

“Always have a plan A, plan B and a plan C. Whether it is a user deleting a file, or a ‘fire, flood and blood scenario,’ or more likely a cybersecurity incident—staying resilient is ALWAYS in style.”

This World Backup Day, make it more than a reminder. Make it the day you find out if your organization can survive its worst day—and recover the next.