Backup Strategy
also called 3-2-1 Rule
A plan for what is copied, how often, where to, how long it is kept, and — the part that decides whether it is real — how the restore is verified.
The classic formulation is 3-2-1: three copies, on two storage classes, one off-site. The part that has changed with cloud and ransomware is the meaning of "off-site": it now means outside the blast radius of both an attacker and an operator error — a separate account or subscription, with a separate identity path, ideally with object-lock immutability so the credential that manages production cannot delete the backups.
The scope question is where most gaps are found. Databases are usually covered. Frequently not: object storage, secrets and keys, IAM policies, infrastructure definitions, queue contents, and the third-party SaaS holding critical data.
And the discipline that makes it a control rather than a hope: a scheduled, timed restore drill into a clean environment, with the result compared against the stated RTO. The drill is also the only reliable way to keep the runbook current. Alert on backup success rather than failure — a job that has stopped running produces no failures at all.