World Backup Day is Tuesday, March 31, and the Postal Service is reminding employees and contractors to save and back up their data each day to help guard against loss and theft.
A backup is a secure copy of data stored separately from the primary network. Instead of storing all data in one place, such as on a computer or smartphone, a copy of everything would be kept in another safe space as well.
According to the World Backup Day website, 21 percent of people have never made a backup, and 113 smartphones are stolen every minute.
Backing up sensitive and sensitive-enhanced files is good preparation for cyberattacks, system failures and other adversities — and it helps operations resume quickly after an incident.
Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report shows ransomware attacks accounted for 44 percent of data breaches. Backing up data is a good way to withstand such a breach.
The Cybersafe at USPS team recommends following these best practices from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency:
• Identify what to back up. Create a list of what data to back up, such as financial data, customer records, emails and critical communications.
• Use the 3-2-1 backup rule. Make three copies of important files, store them on two different types of storage media (a hard drive, the cloud, etc.) and keep one copy stored offsite.
• Secure and test backups. Use offline copies where possible and regularly test backups to ensure data can be restored. Document the process so recovery steps are clear and repeatable.
Backups of Postal Service files should only be performed on USPS-issued devices, and personal files should never be stored on USPS equipment or devices.
