Solving the Data Resilience Equation in the Age of Near-Infinite Data

It’s no secret that the amount of data being generated is exploding. Statista projects that the amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally will grow to more than 180 zettabytes by 2025.

That growth is driven by the rise of big data and analytics, internet of things (IoT) devices, and artificial intelligence (AI), all of which make data management a challenge for the foreseeable future. Another issue for companies is that they tend to focus exclusively on cybersecurity instead of thinking more broadly about data resilience.

Threats are only going to get more sophisticated and more frequent. The 2022 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report found that ransomware attacks grew dramatically in 2022, accounting for 25 percent of all breaches. Cybersecurity Ventures expects global cybercrime to reach an incredible $10.5 trillion annually by 2025—up from 3 trillion in 2015.

These statistics should motivate every IT pro to improve their organization’s data resilience by solving the data protection equation.

Measure Your Recovery Gap

In his ongoing conversations with IT decision-makers, Arcserve executive vice president of marketing, Florian Malecki, has uncovered a sad fact: While many companies have data resilience strategies, they’re too focused on IT security solutions rather than taking a broader view. “Many IT leaders have mainly invested in next-generation IT security products, but many organizations are not necessarily up to the mark with their backup and recovery capabilities,” said Malecki.

Ransomware attacks occur in the time it takes to click on a link. And threats are increasing from all corners, with ransomware as a service and tool kits readily available on the dark web. IT pros need to do more. “To recover your data, you need to understand where your backup data is stored—and how it is protected,” said Malecki.

Ensure Your Recovery With a 3-2-1-1 Backup Strategy

The point is that even if you have backup data ready to restore, it still may not meet your requirements. You must test your recovery capabilities and leverage immutable storage to secure critical data.

Ransomware attackers frequently go after your backup data first to prevent recovery. Without available backups, you could be forced to pay the ransom. Even then, that doesn’t ensure you’ll get your data back. And some attackers just use wiperware to destroy your data. Immutable storage—part of a 3-2-1-1 data protection strategy—protects your backups by using a write-one-read-many-times format that can’t be altered or deleted, even by an admin.

To illustrate, Malecki also shares the story of one Italian city that was hit by ransomware earlier this year. As a result, some of its backups were corrupted, and its Veeam server and VMware infrastructure were unavailable. The city turned to its Arcserve tape recovery solution and other accessible data from its Oracle database and NetApp storage for its initial recovery efforts. But the attack still left a significant gap in the city’s recovery capabilities.

Immutable storage is your last line of defense for recovering data and backups after a successful ransomware attack. And immutability is now available for both on-premises deployments and the cloud. That gives you choices.

Solve the Data Resilience Equation

Malecki recommends storing an air-gapped copy of your backup data separately from your network and securing it offline.

“Essentially, you’re making it hard for ransomware attackers to wipe backup data as you have copies that are not connected to the corporate system. The only way that can happen is if they have an insider or someone social-engineered to corrupt or delete it physically.”

“But cybercriminals are constantly probing, looking for new ways to wreak havoc on your business. So, it's about ensuring that you address every aspect of your data resilience strategy equally, from cybersecurity to orchestrated recovery. That way, when an attack gets through, you are fully prepared and ready to recover quickly,” concluded Malecki.

Get Expert Help     

Arcserve technology partners are experts at helping large and small organizations put together effective data resilience strategies that ensure recovery no matter what. Find an Arcserve partner here. And be sure to check out our free trial offers.