For years Data Protection has followed the 3-2-1 rule, three copies of the data, two different media types, and one copy offsite. For years that offsite copy was a tape and was used as an insurance policy that was very rarely needed in case of a physical onsite disaster such as a fire. But as cyber-attacks and ransomware have become more sophisticated and common, this offsite copy becomes crucial to the survival of your business.
Think your onsite tape backups are safe because the backup tapes aren’t mounted in the drive of your tape library? Wrong! I have personally seen a recovery from one of these sophisticated attacks where every tape in the library was wiped by a careful and fastidiously professional attacker. Think your offsite tapes are safe and sound? Sure, but think on this, in the case of the attack cited above, tapes were sent offsite – but, in that case, they failed to effectively use test recoveries, rendering much of their offsite tape data, well, useless. This attack would have been something of a complete and total disaster without the ONE tape that had with viable data on it going back FOUR months… YIKES.
The good news: In today’s world we have more options that allow for better Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) because the data is more easily accessible and better Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) as the data can be sent offsite more often.
The bad news: The downside is that as this becomes easier to do it also allows the bad guys a way to target this all-important copy unless your team is extremely good with cloud security and design.
Thanks Frank…. now what do we do? Well, let’s talk about it.
Immutable Data is Key
Alright, this might sound a bit like a product commercial, and it is, but it’s also not. I’m just pointing out some of my favorite tech that solves for these challenges. Take for example, Cohesity, a data protection technology company that offers services such as FortKnox - a SaaS offering to address the challenges of offsite data with truly immutable data protection. You want immutable backup data, right? You read what I wrote above, so yes, yes you do.
Wait, what does immutable mean? Well, it simply means that your data cannot altered or deleted and access to it is subject to the strongest security. This gives you the level of comfort that tapes provide but with the increased RTO and RPO of an online solution. These benefits and more are highlighted below.
· Virtual Air Gap
· Immutability
· Data Security
· Access Control
· Ransomware Detection
· Rapid Recovery (meaning you can test on demand)
· As s Service Consumption
· Single Pane of Management
Got your attention? Good, because this is where the world of data protection is going. Simple, easy, protected…recoverable.
There are no such things as good backups, only good recoveries….
You know this, or at least, you should… There is no question if your business will be targeted by a cyber-attack, but when. Further, the question has to be: How far will the attack spread and how will we unravel the proverbial gordian knot of mess it makes? In the context of this blog entry, I want to ask you:
· What is your data protection strategy, and will you be able to recover?
· What if your onsite backup copies are corrupted?
· Is the offsite copy of your data valid and sufficient to recover what the business needs to continue to function?
· How long will that recovery take and what impact will that have on the business as a whole?
Let’s explore the answers to those questions and get down to a basis of truth around a prime factor of protection.
What are the next steps?
Are Cohesity and the FortKnox SaaS offering exactly what your business needs to secure your data and ensure that you will quickly and efficiently recover from a malicious act? Maybe. More than just the tech, it helps to know what approaches are available and being successfully used – that’s what you need. We at SnowCap Technologies are here to help you on your journey to modern data protection – it’s a conversation. That said, I’ve included some links below to the Cohesity Product Page and Solution Brief for your perusal. If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to reach out to myself or anybody else here at SnowCap Technologies and we will be glad to help.
Product Page and Solution Brief:
https://www.cohesity.com/products/fortknox/
https://www.cohesity.com/resource-assets/datasheets/cohesity-fortknox-data-sheet-en.pdf