Firms failing on data recovery, says Kroll Ontrack

Many companies are failing to provide for data recovery in their compliance policies, according to a global survey carried out by Kroll Ontrack, a provider of data recovery services.

Regulations governing data make it clear that companies have a responsibility to protect data and make significant attempts to retrieve data that has become compromised or lost. In an e-mail survey of 100 users, 78% of respondents stated that they believed data recovery to be the most important component of a compliance plan while only 50% said that it was part of company policy.

Worryingly, nearly half of respondents (43%) said they did not test their back-up systems to ensure data could be recovered in the event of a disaster.

"While data recovery is becoming increasingly synonymous with disaster recovery plans, this survey reveals that data recovery has not yet been deemed a critical component of all compliance policies," said Phil Bridge, managing director at Kroll Ontrack, UK.