Backing up your NAS appliance is a non-negotiable requirement for enterprise organizations. While NAS systems offer scalable storage and accessibility, they are still vulnerable to critical risks such as hardware failures, cyberattacks, and data corruption. Without a comprehensive backup strategy, a NAS failure could result in substantial downtime, lost revenue, and non-compliance with regulatory requirements. This blog outlines the key reasons why protecting your NAS with regular backups is essential for business continuity and data integrity.
Ransomware and Cyberattacks Targeting NAS Devices
NAS appliances, while designed for centralized data access and management, can also become entry points for cybercriminals. Ransomware groups specifically target networked devices like NAS due to their role in storing critical business data. Attackers typically gain access by exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities, default credentials, or misconfigured network settings. Once inside, they encrypt the data and demand a ransom to decrypt it. Given that NAS devices often hold vast amounts of sensitive and operational data, the impact of such an attack can be devastating—leading to data inaccessibility, operational downtime, and even long-term business disruption.
The scale of NAS-targeted ransomware attacks has escalated in recent years. Attackers are becoming more sophisticated, deploying advanced encryption methods that make it nearly impossible to retrieve data without a decryption key. Some NAS vendors have even issued public advisories after major cyberattacks, warning customers to immediately patch systems and secure their devices from external access.
The Importance of Offsite and Air-Gapped Backups
Relying solely on built-in NAS redundancy, such as RAID configurations, is not enough to protect against ransomware and other cyber threats. RAID helps prevent data loss from hardware failures, but it cannot defend against file encryption or deletion caused by malware or unauthorized access. That’s why enterprises must implement offsite or air-gapped backups to safeguard their NAS-stored data.
An offsite backup involves maintaining a copy of data at a remote location, physically separated from the primary NAS device. This ensures that, even if the NAS is compromised, a clean copy of data exists elsewhere. Air-gapped backups take security a step further by isolating the backup environment entirely from network connections. These backups are immune to ransomware attacks because they are disconnected from both the NAS and the network, making it impossible for malware to reach them.
The key benefit of these backup strategies is business continuity. In the event of a ransomware attack or other cybersecurity incidents, the offsite or air-gapped backup can be swiftly restored, minimizing operational downtime and avoiding the financial and legal risks associated with data loss or ransom payments.
Ransomware Impact on NAS Systems: Case Studies and Statistics
In recent years, ransomware has repeatedly targeted NAS systems across various industries. For example, in 2021, the Qlocker ransomware campaign specifically targeted QNAP NAS devices by exploiting a vulnerability in the QNAP HBS 3 Hybrid Backup Sync app. Thousands of businesses had their data encrypted, with attackers demanding Bitcoin payments to decrypt files. The attack had a global impact, with organizations reporting both operational and financial setbacks.
Another example is the SynoLocker ransomware, which targeted Synology NAS devices, exploiting vulnerabilities in older versions of the DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system. Attackers encrypted data on affected NAS units and demanded payment in exchange for unlocking files. Synology had to issue security updates and mitigation steps, but many organizations without proper backups faced prolonged downtime or were forced to pay ransoms.
According to cybersecurity firm Sophos, ransomware attacks increased by 57% between 2021 and 2022, with NAS devices becoming a preferred target due to their centralized storage roles in many organizations. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) also reported over $49 million in ransomware losses in 2021 alone, with networked storage systems frequently at the center of these incidents.
The Potential for Hardware Failure in NAS Appliances
NAS appliances rely on multiple hardware components to function effectively, including hard drives, power supplies, and network interfaces. Despite advances in hardware reliability, failures are inevitable. Hard drives, which are the primary storage medium in most NAS devices, have a finite lifespan and are prone to mechanical failure. Over time, factors such as continuous read/write operations, high temperatures, or power surges can lead to drive failures, which can cause significant data loss. In an enterprise setting, where NAS appliances may run 24/7, these risks are even more pronounced.
Additionally, NAS systems are not isolated from broader infrastructure risks. A power surge or electrical failure can damage multiple components simultaneously, corrupting stored data or making the entire system inaccessible. Even with redundancy measures in place, the hardware failure of a key component can render critical data temporarily or permanently unavailable.
RAID Configurations Can Still Fail
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is often used in NAS appliances to provide redundancy and protect against single drive failures. While RAID configurations can prevent data loss from a single disk failure, they are not fool proof. RAID arrays, especially more complex ones like RAID 5 or RAID 6, are still vulnerable to certain risks, such as simultaneous multiple disk failures, RAID controller failures, or logical corruption.
A common failure scenario is the “RAID rebuild” process, where a NAS attempts to restore redundancy after a failed drive is replaced. During this process, the remaining drives are placed under heavy load, increasing the likelihood of additional drive failures. If a second drive fails during the rebuild, the entire RAID array can collapse, leading to complete data loss. Additionally, RAID controllers themselves can malfunction, corrupting data across the array and leaving businesses with inaccessible or damaged files.
Data Recovery Complications Without Backups
When a NAS device suffers a hardware failure without a proper backup, the process of data recovery becomes costly, complex, and uncertain. Enterprises may need to engage specialized data recovery services, which often involve physically removing and attempting to recover data from damaged drives in a cleanroom environment. This process can take days or even weeks, causing prolonged business disruption.
In many cases, data recovery from failed NAS devices is not guaranteed, especially if the failure involved multiple drives or the RAID configuration was corrupted. Even successful recovery efforts may result in partial data loss or corrupt files, leaving critical information inaccessible. Without a reliable backup solution, enterprises risk losing valuable operational, financial, and customer data, which can have severe consequences, including regulatory violations, reputational damage, and loss of revenue.
NAS storage backup regularly ensures that, in the event of hardware failure, recovery is quick, simple, and minimizes downtime. Instead of relying on costly and unreliable recovery processes, businesses can restore their data from a secure backup and continue operations without major disruptions.
Beyond Cyberattacks: The Importance of NAS Storage Backup in Mitigating Human Error
The Human Factor: Common Mistakes Leading to Data Loss
Human error remains one of the leading causes of data loss in enterprise environments. Users frequently delete or overwrite files unintentionally, especially when managing large datasets on a NAS appliance. For example, a user may accidentally remove critical data while cleaning up storage, or an administrator could mistakenly overwrite key configurations during system updates.
Other common mistakes include moving files to incorrect directories, granting unauthorized access, or misconfiguring permissions, which can lead to data corruption or unauthorized deletions. Even simple errors in renaming files or folders can disrupt workflows and affect business operations.
How Regular Backups Mitigate Risks from Unintentional Data Loss
Regular backups are essential to counter the risks posed by human error. When an accidental deletion or data mismanagement occurs, a recent backup allows the organization to quickly restore lost or corrupted data, minimizing disruption. Instead of scrambling to recover the deleted files manually, IT teams can revert to the latest backup version and resume operations without significant downtime. Regular backups create a safety net that mitigates the consequences of mistakes, ensuring that even critical files are recoverable.
Without consistent backups, organizations face prolonged recovery times and potential permanent data loss, which can impact everything from day-to-day operations to compliance with regulatory standards.
Importance of Automated Backup Processes
Automating the backup process is critical for minimizing human error in data protection. Manual backups are prone to missed schedules, incomplete file copies, or inconsistencies, especially in large-scale environments where IT staff are managing multiple systems. Automated backups ensure that data is captured at regular intervals without requiring direct human oversight, reducing the risk of backup failures or missed data.
Automation also enables versioning and incremental backups, capturing changes in data without overwriting previous versions. This means that even if a file is accidentally altered or deleted, the automated backup system preserves earlier versions that can be restored easily. Additionally, automation includes built-in verification to ensure backups are complete and error-free, providing an extra layer of confidence in the data recovery process.
Natural Disasters and NAS: The Importance of Backing Up NAS Storage
NAS appliances, like any on-premises IT infrastructure, are susceptible to physical risks, including natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, and other environmental threats. In the event of a disaster, an organization’s NAS hardware could suffer irreversible damage, leading to catastrophic data loss. Even more common incidents, like accidental water exposure, electrical surges, or building fires, can result in the physical destruction of both the hardware and the data stored on it. Unlike hardware failures, which may affect only specific components, natural disasters can render entire systems inoperable, making local recovery nearly impossible.
For enterprises relying solely on local NAS storage, these physical risks can disrupt operations for extended periods, leading to significant downtime, financial losses, and potentially the loss of irreplaceable data. Without a recovery plan that accounts for physical threats, businesses face severe consequences in the aftermath of such events.
The Importance of Offsite and Cloud-Based Backup Strategies
To protect against the risk of natural disasters and physical damage, enterprises must implement a robust offsite or cloud-based backup strategy. Offsite backups involve storing data in a physically separate location, away from the primary NAS appliance, ensuring that if the main system is compromised or destroyed, a secure copy of the data remains available. This geographically diverse approach mitigates the risk of losing both primary and backup data in a single event.
Cloud-based backups offer another layer of resilience. By replicating NAS data to a secure cloud environment, businesses can ensure rapid recovery in the event of a disaster. Cloud providers typically offer geographically distributed data centers with built-in redundancies, providing additional protection against localized physical damage.
In disaster recovery scenarios, having offsite or cloud backups enables quick data restoration and ensures that operations can resume without significant delays. These strategies also eliminate the need for manual intervention in a crisis, allowing for automated failover or remote access to data from unaffected locations. In short, cloud-based or offsite backups are essential for maintaining business continuity, safeguarding critical data, and mitigating the impact of physical risks on NAS appliances.
Legal and Industry-Specific Data Retention and NAS Backup Requirements
Enterprises operating in regulated industries, such as healthcare, finance, and legal services, are subject to strict data retention and protection requirements. Regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, and FINRA mandate that organizations retain specific types of data for extended periods, ensure its integrity, and make it accessible when needed. These compliance requirements also demand that data be protected from unauthorized access, alteration, or loss, placing a heavy burden on organizations to implement stringent data management and security protocols.
NAS appliances often serve as centralized repositories for sensitive and regulated data. However, simply storing data on a NAS does not meet most regulatory standards unless there are measures in place to ensure its long-term integrity and recoverability. Without proper backups, businesses risk non-compliance with these data retention laws, which can lead to severe consequences.
Risks of Fines or Penalties from Data Loss
Losing critical data stored on NAS appliances, especially data subject to legal retention requirements, can result in hefty fines, legal penalties, and reputational damage. Regulators and industry bodies require businesses to produce records, documents, or logs upon request, often within a specified time frame. If data is lost due to hardware failure, ransomware attacks, or accidental deletion, organizations may find themselves unable to comply with these requests.
Failing to meet compliance obligations can result in significant financial penalties, as well as audits or legal action. For example, under GDPR, businesses can face fines up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover for non-compliance, including failure to safeguard or retain critical data. NAS appliances, while secure, need comprehensive backup systems to ensure compliance.
The Role of NAS Storage Backups in Meeting Compliance Standards
Regular backups play a critical role in helping enterprises meet compliance standards for long-term data storage and retention. A well-executed backup strategy ensures that regulated data is not only securely stored but also retrievable in case of audits, legal discovery, or disaster recovery. By maintaining multiple copies of data, including offsite and air-gapped backups, organizations can guarantee the availability and integrity of required information even if the primary NAS device fails.
Backup systems also facilitate data retention policies by automating the archival of older data that must be kept for years or even decades. This enables organizations to offload seldom-used data from active NAS systems while still complying with legal retention rules. In industries where data retention is tied to stringent audit trails, comprehensive backups also provide an unalterable record of data storage, ensuring that businesses can demonstrate compliance in the event of an inspection or regulatory review.
How to Back Up Your NAS Effectively (NAS Storage Backup Best Practices)
To ensure maximum protection for your enterprise’s critical data, the NAS storage backup strategy must be robust, secure, and resilient. Below are the best practices and methods that system administrators can implement to achieve a comprehensive NAS storage backup solution:
1. Air-Gapped and Immutable Backups
Air-gapped and immutable backups are the most effective defense against ransomware attacks and other malicious threats. In an air-gapped setup, backups are physically or logically isolated from the network, meaning they cannot be accessed remotely or compromised during an attack. Immutable backups ensure that data cannot be altered or deleted once it has been created, providing an extra layer of protection against tampering.
How to Implement:
- Air-gapping: Air-gapping can be implemented in various ways, with most backup vendors recommending the manual approach of storing backups on external drives or tape, then disconnecting them from the network. StoneFly sets itself apart as the only vendor offering automated, policy-driven air-gapping solutions. These include the Air-Gapped Vault®, Air-Gapped Cloud™, and Always On-Air® Gapped Backups, which provide both physical and logical air-gapping, ensuring advanced data protection without the need for manual intervention.
- Immutable backups: Use backup software with immutability features, such as WORM (Write Once, Read Many) storage, which prevents data from being altered or deleted before its retention period expires.
By combining air-gapped and immutable backups, your NAS storage backup remains protected from compromise and available for recovery even in the event of a system-wide attack.
2. Cloud Backups for Offsite Redundancy
NAS storage with cloud backup provides a flexible, scalable, and secure offsite solution. By replicating NAS data to the cloud, enterprises ensure that a copy of their data is stored in a geographically separate location, safeguarding against local disasters like fires, floods, or hardware failure.
How to Implement:
- Choose a reputable cloud provider like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or StoneFly air-gapped and immutable cloud which offers high durability and multi-zone redundancy.
- Use encrypted transfer methods (SFTP or secure APIs) to protect data in transit from your NAS to the cloud.
- Configure automated cloud backup jobs to regularly sync changes from your NAS, ensuring that you meet retention policies and have the latest data backed up.
Implementing NAS storage with cloud backup enhances disaster recovery (DR) capabilities and ensures offsite redundancy, giving businesses a fast, scalable way to recover data in critical situations.
3. Local and Remote Disaster Recovery (DR) Plans
A well-defined DR plan is vital to ensuring business continuity. Backing up NAS storage both locally and remotely provides a strong recovery framework in the event of hardware failure, natural disaster, or cyberattacks.
How to Implement:
- Local backups: Store data on a separate NAS appliance or dedicated backup server. Local backups allow for quick recovery from minor disruptions like hardware failure or human error.
- Remote backups: Maintain remote copies of backups in a secondary office or cloud environment. This is crucial for recovering from site-wide disasters like fires or floods.
- Use DR software such as Veeam or Acronis to automate backups and ensure easy one-click recovery.
A comprehensive DR strategy that includes NAS backup solutions for both local and remote recovery minimizes downtime and ensures fast, reliable recovery.
4. Incremental and Differential Backups
Full backups are resource-intensive. To optimize storage and reduce strain on your NAS, incorporate incremental and differential backups into your NAS storage backup solution.
How to Implement:
- Incremental backups: Back up only data that has changed since the last backup, reducing time and storage needs.
- Differential backups: Back up all changes since the last full backup, offering a more complete option with less time investment than full backups.
By scheduling incremental or differential backups alongside full backups, you can maximize your NAS storage backup efficiency while ensuring quick data restoration.
5. Automation and Monitoring
Automating your NAS storage backup solution ensures consistency, while monitoring helps prevent data loss by tracking backup success and failure.
How to Implement:
- Set automated backup schedules based on data usage and business needs.
- Use monitoring tools to alert system administrators to failed or incomplete backups, ensuring timely corrections.
- Regularly test backup recoverability to ensure the integrity of your NAS storage backup.
Automation reduces the risk of human error and ensures backups occur regularly, while monitoring provides essential insights into the health of your NAS backup solutions.
Conclusion
Backing up your NAS appliance is essential for safeguarding your enterprise’s critical data against hardware failure, cybersecurity threats, human error, natural disasters, and compliance risks. A comprehensive NAS storage backup strategy ensures that data is always recoverable, minimizing downtime and maintaining business continuity. Whether through offsite, cloud, or automated backups, implementing a reliable NAS storage backup solution protects your organization from costly data loss and operational disruptions, ensuring that even in the worst-case scenarios, your data remains secure and accessible.