November 2025

Your Last Line of Defence: Why Regular Backups Are Essential for Resilience

This article is the eighth and final instalment in Matrium Technologies Essential Eight Blog Series, where we break down the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s (ACSC) eight key mitigation strategies.

In this concluding post, we explore Regular Backups - the control that determines whether your organisation can recover from a cyber incident quickly, affordably, and confidently.

What “Regular Backups” Really Means

Regular backups ensure that copies of critical data, systems, and configurations are stored safely and can be restored when needed - whether due to ransomware, accidental deletion, hardware failure, or a security breach.

It’s not just about having backup files. It’s about ensuring backups are:

• Up to date

• Offline or immutable

• Tested and restorable

Backups are your organisation’s safety net. When all else fails, backups protect business continuity.

Why It Matters for Your Business

• Ransomware targets backups first – Criminals know that if they destroy your backups, you’re more likely to pay.

• Downtime is expensive – A cyber incident without backups can halt operations for days or weeks.

• Data loss damages trust – Clients, regulators, and partners expect businesses to safeguard information.

• Essential for compliance – Backups underpin many cybersecurity and data protection obligations.

For executives, reliable backups are the difference between a recoverable incident and a catastrophic business failure.

Practical Steps to Implement

A resilient backup strategy doesn’t have to be complex. Focus on these fundamentals:

1. Follow the 3-2-1 rule
   Keep at least three copies of your data, stored on two different mediums, with one copy kept offline or offsite.

2. Use immutable or air-gapped backups
   These backups cannot be altered or encrypted by attackers - even with admin access.

3. Back up critical data and configurations
   Include servers, SaaS data, cloud workloads, endpoints, and system configurations (often forgotten but critical).

4. Automate backups where possible
   Consistency is key. Automation reduces the risk of human error.

5. Test your restores regularly
   A backup that hasn’t been tested is a backup you can’t rely on.

6. Document your recovery procedures
   When a crisis occurs, clear instructions prevent confusion and delays.

The Maturity Journey

The ACSC’s Essential Eight Maturity Model outlines a clear progression for building backup resilience:

• Maturity Level 1 (Basic Protection): Backups of key systems and data are performed regularly and stored offline. Restore procedures are periodically tested.

• Maturity Level 2 (Improved Protection): Backups are protected from unauthorised access, including by admin accounts. Backup integrity is verified, and recovery processes are tested more frequently.

• Maturity Level 3 (Strongest Protection): Backups are immutable or stored in systems that cannot be altered. Restoration is validated after every major change, and disaster recovery procedures are rehearsed to ensure rapid restoration in a real incident.

This journey moves organisations from simple data copies to a fully resilient, tamper-proof backup and recovery capability.

Final Word

Cyber incidents happen - but business failure doesn’t have to follow.

Regular, resilient, and tested backups are the ultimate safety mechanism. They ensure your organisation can recover quickly from ransomware, data corruption, insider threats, or operational failures without paying ransoms, risking compliance, or losing customer confidence.

This concludes Matrium Technologies’ Essential Eight Blog Series, designed to help executives and business leaders understand each control and take actionable steps toward stronger cyber resilience.

Matrium Technologies partners with organisations to implement Essential Eight controls, including robust backup and recovery strategies, ensuring operational continuity and long-term cybersecurity maturity.