Ransomware is everywhere
Ransomware is everywhere. And it’s a severe threat to your business, data and continuity. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that blocks access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. Ransomware can infect computers through email attachments or links on websites. Once installed, ransomware encrypts files stored on the affected computer and then holds them hostage until its owner pays an exorbitant fee in cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.This process can take hours or even days—and during this time, you’re unable to use your network or access critical information stored on your servers that may be needed for business operations.
The standard approach to defending against ransomware attacks have been two-fold: backup everything possible and keep good antivirus software installed on all computers so they can be protected from infection in the first place. (the latter strategy has proven less effective).
But these measures still don’t eliminate downtime during which employees can’t get their jobs done—not when it takes hours for an IT team member to manually decrypt each infected device since there are no practical tools available yet that automate this process between different brands/models of hardware/software platforms out there right now!
What your current backup solution gets you
Whether it’s a cloud-based backup service or an on-premises server, your current backup solution will not help you recover from a ransomware attack. That’s because your backup is encrypted along with everything else! If your backups are encrypted, and you need to recover data that was lost in the attack, how can you do so? You can’t!
The same goes for remote-provisioned backups of Windows machines; they’re also encrypted. The only way to get around this problem is by keeping separate backups in a different location away from your production environment—but even then, those would be encrypted too.
Backup isn’t enough.
- Backups are not a replacement for a disaster recovery plan!
- Backups are not a replacement for a business continuity plan!
- Backups are not a replacement for a rapid recovery plan!
Ransomware and immutable storage
As the name implies, immutable storage is a way to store data that can’t be overwritten. If you want to protect your data from ransomware, consider using an immutable object storage solution.
Why? Because it not only means that your data remains intact but also that it is immune from being encrypted by ransomware in the first place.
The benefit of this approach is very clear!
The best way to leverage immutable storage
Immutable storage is a strategy that allows you to treat your data as if it were no longer changing. With immutability, once something has been written to the object store, it can be counted on not to change. This means that when you go back and look at a file or image on this type of storage, it will always be exactly what it was when it was first stored there—with no chance for changes or overwrites.
If this sounds like a big deal from an availability standpoint? Trust us: It is!
If a ransomware attack takes down all your data and your backups, having an immutable copy of your most critical data is the only way to get back up and running as quickly as possible.
If a ransomware attack takes down all your data and your backups, having an immutable copy of your most critical data is the only way to get back up and running as quickly as possible.
Ransomware attacks can be devastating, but they don’t have to be. With the right strategy in place, you can mitigate their impact on your business by reducing downtime and recovering faster than ever before.
Did you know that WESTPOLE has created an entire vlog series on Object Storage? Together with our partner Cloudian, we discuss the advantages and use cases for Object Storage and the important role it can play in your data availability strategy! Head over to WESTPOLE Talks – WESTPOLE Belgium NV to learn more about it!