Ahead of World Backup Day, Kaspersky research has revealed the most popular ways to store important data – 87% of South Africans prefer digital – and offers some tips on how to keep it safe.
Global research shows that zoomers and millennials keep nearly everything electronically, while almost one‑in‑three respondents over 55-years-old still prefer good old‑fashioned paper.
Research conducted by Kaspersky’s Market Research centre shows that most people prefer to keep important info stored digitally.The majority of respondents from South Africa (87%) claim they store sensitive personal data like ID, financial details, healthcare related info, or photo archives in electronic format.
When it comes to digital data storage, more than half of respondents from South Africa (60%) say they keep their important records on a computer or a hard drive; 58% use cloud solutions; and 10% entrust their data to government digital services.
Each storage method has its own advantages and limitations.
Physical media can be lost or suffer damage, external hard drives are not always convenient to use on the go, and cloud services – while being accessible – are vulnerable to unauthorised access. To maximise digital data security, Kaspersky experts advise adhering to the following best‑practice recommendations:
Develop a backup strategy
There is no universal approach to data storage, nor is it necessary to back up every single file. Nonetheless, cultivating a regular backup routine is strongly recommended, particularly for sensitive data or files that cannot be regenerated or recovered through other means. According to the popular 3-2-1 backup strategy you should have at least three copies of important data, store it on two different storage types, and make at least one copy off-site (cloud or external physical location).
The most sensitive data like passwords, ID or financial details requires special attention. Use a dedicated security solution like Kaspersky password manager which, apart from securely keeping users’ credentials and bank cards, has a special secret vault functionality aimed at storing important documents – for example, scanned Passports/IDs and PDF files, addresses, and notes.
Protect your vaults
According to Kaspersky’s data, 99% of respondents from South Africa take at least some measures to protect their personal data storages, which is a good sign. However, 30% of local respondents use quick-to-remember passwords to safeguard their personal data. Relying solely on simple passwords leaves your digital vaults vulnerable to brute‑force attacks. That’s why experts recommend enabling two‑factor authentication (2FA) wherever it is available or adopting passkey technology. Passkeys can be stored securely in a password manager and accessed seamlessly from any authorised device.
Set up automatic backups where possible
Continuously remembering to perform backups can be cumbersome. To streamline the process, enable the built‑in backup service on every device you use (eg. iCloud for iPhone/iPad/Mac, Google Drive/OneDrive for Android/Windows). Test it once a month or two by restoring a single file, just to be sure the backup works. Kaspersky Premium allows users to make regular backups and restore information on Windows devices. Backup copies of data can be easily saved on removable drives or in cloud storage in an encrypted format.
“We all know backups are important, but most of us never do them because we try to back up everything at once and it gets overwhelming,” says Marina Titova, vice-president for Consumer Business at Kaspersky. “The smarter approach? Treat backup like any other workflow. Tag your files – critical, important, low‑priority. Automate realtime backups for the critical stuff, schedule weekly or monthly backups for the rest. And for sensitive data like passwords and IDs, use our dedicated solution with a secret vault to keep it secure. When you automate and prioritise, you protect what really matters without getting overloaded.”