-
United States
AMERICASASIA PACIFICEUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICAEUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
AMERICAS
ASIA PACIFIC
EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
en_us
June 01, 2022
As our lives have become increasingly more digitally focused, so has crime. With the pandemic accelerating the shift to working from home, what can organizations do to safeguard their data from being held hostage?
According to ESG's 2022 Technology Spending survey, 63% of organizations have been exposed to ransomware, 48% have been victim of a successful attack, and 22% have been hit multiple times. Attacks are on the rise because it’s easier than ever for criminals to launch an attack, and because organizations are paying the ransoms to free their valuable data.
In our digital age, companies simply can’t function without availability and access to data. As such, ransomware affects the entire organization from a CEO who is suddenly in a negotiation phase, to the IT department trying to get its head around the encrypted data.
There are primarily three major types of cyberattacks: malware, phishing, and ransomware. Malware is a general term for malicious software. Phishing refers to the process of deceiving recipients into sharing sensitive information with an unknown third party. But the most harmful of this dark triad is ransomware which specifically refers to being denied access to your data or computer until you pay a ransom.
Ransomware is a major problem that only continues to increase as we move into 2022. Storage administrators and IT infrastructure teams play a significant role in how data is protected and stored in a holistic cybersecurity strategy.
It is not enough to continue with what we have been doing for many years – just adding more storage to the data center – we need to incorporate immutable storage and encryption technology and optimize the recovery process.
Rather, organizations need to double down on data storage not only as a viable, but a critical component of the data protection strategy. And key to this strategy is the addition of an immutable capacity layer in which critical copies of data are “locked down” either in the secure zone in the data center, near cloud or public cloud. When implemented, ransom attacks simply cannot get to your data.
Adding immutable storage capacity, which comes in the form of write-once-read-many (WORM) drives, not only protect data, but also stores backups in immutable storage. It is crucial to implement a multi-layered data protection strategy where hackers cannot tamper with your data.
Fail Fast, Recover Even Faster
Once hit by a cyberattack like ransomware, it’s critical that your business resumes operations as quickly as possible to avoid damage to finances, reputation, and legal standing. It is also important to ensure that the data recovered is the most up to date as possible. How often have you attempted to recover a file only to discover the last salvageable version is days, even weeks, old? Again, in certain circumstances or industries, such as healthcare, this could result in irreparable damage. Successful implementation allows for immutability by both automatic defaults and by design.
To gain deeper insight into these challenges and uncover ways of developing strategies that equip organizations with a ransomware strategy, I recently participated in a series of virtual roundtable events held by VMware’s Meet the Boss, and then another by Nimbus Ninety, with C-Level and senior peers. Having reflected on previous conversations I’d had with CIOs, we invited participants to reflect upon the efficacy of their organization’s ransomware resiliency plans. It was noted that when implementing these plans, it is not only necessary to organize them, but to rigorously test them. It is no good having a stellar ransomware attack strategy without identifying the cracks in the defenses internally. However, it was noted that there is frequent hesitancy in doing so despite what is at stake.
There are ways to gird your organization to withstand a ransomware attack. And make no mistake, hoping you don’t get exposed is not a strategy. If you’re only now learning about the need, I highly recommend you start by 1. Acknowledging the severity of the threat; 2. Implementing adequate levels of safeguards, like immutable storage; and 3. Instituting processes to ensure the measures are tested to their limit. We’ve been engaged in helping customers take these very steps for years.
Although you may not be able to stop a ransomware attack, you can certainly deflect it and thwart its negative impact.
Check out more great stories on Insights.
Related Articles
A Proactive Guide to Fighting Ransomware
Discover the proven methods to provide protection against ransomware attacks in this cybersecurity crash course.
Read the Article
Thwarting Ransomware Requires a Fresh Look at Security
Ransomware is a cyber plague, but the remedy may be in your approach to cybersecurity. Chris Jacquet explains.
Read the Article
How Nurturing a Data Culture Can Unlock the Potential of DataOps
Struggling to establish a culture of data? 451 Research reveals two categories of barriers that may be getting in your way.
Read the ArticleSubscribe to Insights
*Subscribe and automatically receive new stories as they post. By subscribing to Insights by Hitachi Vantara and providing your e-mail, you agree and consent to Hitachi Vantara’s Privacy Policy and Website Terms of Use.Data Controller: Hitachi Vantara Corporation. Purpose: manage Hitachi Vantara’s Blog. Lawfulness of processing: Your express consent. Retention Period: Personal data will only be stored for as long as necessary for the purposes it was collected. Recipients of personal data: Personal data will not be communicated to third parties, unless there is a legal obligation to do so, or the communication is necessary to fulfill the purpose. Rights of the data subjects: You are able to exercise your “Data Subject Rights” through our online DSAR form or privacy@hitachivantara.com
Read More +First Name
Last Name
Business Email Address
Title
Company
Address
City
Phone
Postal Code
Additional Information(optional)
Thank you. We will contact you shortly.
Note: Since you opted to receive updates about solutions and news from us, you will receive an email shortly where you need to confirm your data via clicking on the link. Only after positive confirmation you are registered with us.
If you are already subscribed with us you will not receive any email from us where you need to confirm your data.
Explore more about us:
To Talk to a Representative,
Call 1.678.403.3035
You’re in the Right Place!
Hitachi Data Systems, Pentaho and Hitachi Insight Group have merged into one company: Hitachi Vantara.
The result? More data-driven solutions and innovation from the partner you can trust.
You’re in the Right Place!
REAN Cloud is now a part of Hitachi Vantara.
The result? Robust data-driven solutions and innovation, with industry-leading expertise in cloud migration and modernization.
You’re in the Right Place!
Waterline Data is now Lumada Data Catalog, provided by Hitachi Vantara. Lumada Data Catalog, available stand-alone, is now part of the Lumada Data Services portfolio.