The results of the survey, which launched on the PollFish platform on October 29, 2024, come as global data creation reaches unprecedented levels, with worldwide data consumption expected to hit 149 zettabytes in 2024 and projections showing a surge to 394 zettabytes by 2028.
"The volume of storage devices has surged dramatically. From car video recorders to large data centers, the increase in storage equipment reflects growing data needs," explains Andrey Vasilyev, COO of ACE Data Recovery Service. "As more businesses and individuals generate and store large volumes of data, the likelihood of data loss due to hardware failure, human error, or cyber incidents increases."
Yet, despite users generating and consuming more data than ever before, only 33% regularly backup their digital assets, and 22% don't backup their data at all. The rest create backups just a few times a year (27%), or they do it once in a long time (18%).
Interestingly, Mac users (41%) and iOS users (36%) backup their data on a regular basis slightly more than their Windows (32%) and Android (34%) counterparts. It would be natural to assume that this disparity stems from Apple's Time Machine and iCloud being more user friendly than File History and OneDrive, their counterparts from Microsoft. However, paradoxically, more Mac users report difficulties with the backup process (45%) than Windows users (32%).
In fact, the convenience of personal cloud storage solutions like iCloud, OneDrive, or Dropbox has made them the preferred data storage location for 55% of users. Unfortunately, there's a widespread misconception about cloud storage security: 63% of respondents believe that syncing their data with cloud storage constitutes a complete backup solution.
As a result, half of the users maintain no physical backups of their cloud-stored data—a dangerous practice in an era of increasing cyber threats. For example, there have been many ransomware campaigns targeting cloud storage services recently, including the DoubleDrive attack, which exploits Microsoft OneDrive, and numerous phishing scams targeting iCloud and other cloud storage users.
These and other attacks can lead to permanent data loss when cybercriminals encrypt or delete cloud-stored files, while the absence of physical backups makes it more difficult and sometimes even impossible for users to recover their lost information, which is probably why 68% of those who experienced data loss now regularly backup their files—a hard lesson to learn, indeed.
The remaining 32% who experienced data loss but still don't perform regular backups are playing with fire as data loss can strike at any moment. The survey revealed that accidental deletion and lack of backup were the most common reasons at 34%, followed by device failure and hardware malfunction at 30%. Physical damage accounts for 11% of cases, while power outages during file editing and malware attacks each contribute to about 8% of data loss incidents.
While some forms of data loss, particularly those caused by user error like accidental deletions, can often be recovered using specialized software tools, other types of data loss scenarios present much bigger challenges. Physical damage to storage devices, for instance, frequently requires professional data recovery services that can cost thousands of dollars, with no guarantee of success. Similarly, ransomware attacks or severe hardware failures might render data completely unrecoverable without proper backups.
The most popular backup option for those who regularly protect their data are USB flash drives (33%), followed by traditional spinning hard drives (32%), SD cards (20%), and solid-state drives (15%). Together, these physical storage devices are the go-to backup choice for almost 60% of respondents, while the cloud is the preferred option for just 42%.
The ongoing dominance of physical storage devices as backup locations has a lot to do with the fact that 37% of users prefer to save sensitive information locally instead of uploading it to a remote server, but the fact that many use it as their primary and only storage location certainly also comes into play.
While external physical storage devices are readily available and generally reliable enough for regular backups, they can be easily stolen or lost. When that happens, unencrypted drives become a significant security liability, yet the survey found that 62% of users still choose not to encrypt their external storage devices. It's possible that users are concerned about losing access to their data if encryption passwords are forgotten or keys become corrupted.
The good news is that the growing storage capacities of all physical storage devices allow users to backup everything without being selective, and 48% of respondents take advantage of this by backing up all their data regardless of sensitivity.
When users do prioritize certain data, some interesting prioritization patterns can be observed. Financial records lead the pack with 21% of respondents marking them as their top priority, followed closely by passwords and login credentials at 19%. Legal documents rank third at 18%, while medical records and personal photos garner 17% and 15%, respectively. Surprisingly, work-related documents receive the least attention at just 9%, and 3% of respondents believe none of their data requires special protection.
The findings of this survey should serve as a wake-up call for both individual users and organizations. While modern technology offers many convenient storage solutions, from cloud services to physical devices, the key to effective data protection lies in implementing a comprehensive backup strategy that includes multiple storage methods spread across multiple geographic locations to achieve complete protection against hardware failures, natural disasters, cyber attacks, human error, and other causes of data loss.
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