While we are creating mountains of online data at an extraordinary rate, not much thought is being given to the future of that data. For example, says Nat Maple, senior vice president and general manager at Acronis, consider that by 2032, it's not farfetched to predict that a United States presidential candidate will have a Facebook page that chronicles his entire adolescence. While this raises questions about privacy and the desire to protect potentially embarrassing online broadcasts, it also highlights the amount of insight we can gain in the future from the data we are creating now. Says Maple, "[This] creates an entirely renewed sense of urgency around storing the digital moments of our lives in a place where only we can access them."

Health care is in the headlines this week because of Monday's deadline for uninsured Americans to enroll in Obamacare. But a separate health care law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), has big implications for how providers store, protect and back up their patients' data.

As you probably know, Acronis not only has an amazing set of R&D laboratories but also close associations with a number of leading academic institutions. We placed a long-shot bet on quantum backup additions to our AnyData Technology, and I am please to tell you that it has paid off in spades. We have successfully created an entangled, yet stable quantum system that stores users' data reliably and at an incredibly high density.

Malware, ransomware, and electrical fires are just a few of the problems that can compromise a company's data — or make it disappear altogether. Any CIO could tell you that the adage, "Hope for the best, plan for the worst," can make all the difference when faced with a true data disaster. Here are a few data recovery and disaster planning tips and tricks from around the web this week: