Data security refers to the protective measures employed to secure data against unapproved access and to preserve confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
For the majority of our customers, axis diplomat lies at the heart of their business and any “down-time” during working hours or loss of data is a business critical issue.
This document discusses mitigations against data loss or downtime from causes outside of the control of axis first.
The causes for these incidents include
The Data Protection facilities within axis diplomat (also referred to as “checkpointing”) should be your first line of defence in data protection. Using the standard facilities for multiple and automatic checkpoints, data loss in a disaster recovery situation can be minimised to a few minutes.
axis diplomat automatically attempts to take a checkpoint whenever data has been entered. In the event of a system failure a checkpoint represents a “clean” point to which the system can be recovered. Where the system is not at a clean point (for example because another operator is in the middle of filing a batch of data), and a checkpoint cannot be taken, the system simply continues. The next time an operator completes an update, the system will try again, and so on. Manual checkpoints can also be taken by a user to mark a known point to which the user may wish to recover.
axis diplomat holds many checkpoints (typically hundreds), allowing the user to select the point to which to recover (usually, but not necessarily, the most recent).
axis diplomat has built-in backup facilities which offer the following features:
You should schedule an axis diplomat backup overnight prior to the Windows system backup – the system backup then includes the axis diplomat backup file in addition to all of the files associated with axis diplomat – this makes it much easier to restore a system since you can reload that one backup file in the event of a failure.
axis diplomat backups can also be archived to any location accessible via a UNC path (e.g. another server, a NAS device or cloud storage service).
SOS is a subscription-based service whereby the axis diplomat backup function can automatically transfer the backup to axisfirst’s servers. The three most recent backups are retained on those servers. Software running on those servers monitors arrivals of backups from each subscriber and raises an alert if backups are not received, or are incomplete. Regardless of whether your axis system runs on premise or in the cloud, storing your most recent axis diplomat backups at a secondary location provides you with the best security for that data since, even if your systems are compromised or destroyed, your data also resides elsewhere.
None of axis diplomat's data protection facilities should be considered as a replacement for operating system level backups to a remote device on-site or cloud (or both). We recomend that all systems are backed up at the system level on a daily basis (normally automated overnight). These backups are your main defence against system or data loss.
Your backup software should include the following facilities:
If you are using removeable media as a backup solution, you should also endeavour to store your backups off-site and that media is brought back in before being next required in the rotation. When not off-site, media should be stored in a secure location, such as a fireproof safe.
Most server-based operating system environments (such as Microsoft Windows Server) provide the ability to restrict access to files according to the current logged-in user.
axis diplomat utilises the security access rights assigned to Windows (Active Directory) user accounts and user groups to restrict access to the axis diplomat files (both programs and data). This can significantly limit the damage that malicious software (malware) can do to your axis diplomat system in the event of an infection by restricting or preventing access to key axis diplomat files.
If you are running your axis diplomat system on a server that supports security (e.g. Microsoft Windows Server) you should install axis diplomat using the secure option within SETUP.
Whilst there may, on the surface, seem a thin line between Data Security Best Practice and paranoia, you should consider your procedures carefully. Data is virtually uninsurable and a significant loss of data often results in a business failure.