Ransomware attacks have risen by 13% in the last five years, with an average cost of $1.85 million per incident. It is a serious threat, but it doesn’t have to be a business-ender. By taking the right steps, enterprises can protect their data and reduce their risk of being attacked.
Organizations that can either prevent ransomware attacks or protect their data against attacks can save themselves from significant recovery costs, reduce the risk of having their regular business disturbed, and protect their reputation. It is also vital to implement ransomware protection measures early.
In this article, we will discuss three effective strategies that enterprises can implement to safeguard their data from ransomware attacks. The attackers are on the horizon; they get smarter every day, and time is not your friend. These steps will help you detect and recover quicker from an attack and will give you the confidence that you have taken responsible, informed steps to protect your data.
3 Effective Strategies to Protect Your Enterprise Data from Ransomware Attacks
Immutable Backups
Immutable backups are a type of backup that cannot be altered or deleted, even by those who have access to them. These backups are critical to protecting your data against ransomware attacks, as they ensure that your data is safe from any malicious activities.
Immutable backups can be created using various technologies, such as WORM (Write Once Read Many) storage or cloud-based object storage that supports the immutability feature. For example, Amazon S3 Glacier offers an immutable storage class that can be used to create immutable backups. You have to have a strategy around the immutability of your backups to be able to recover your data yourself, even though you might still be paying to prevent them from publishing some of that data.
According to a recent study, enterprises that used immutable backups were able to recover their data from ransomware attacks 96% of the time. This highlights the importance of having immutable backups as part of your data protection strategy.
Tape Backups
Tape backups have been around for a long time and are still relevant in today’s digital landscape. Tape backups provide an air-gapped backup solution, which means that they are physically disconnected from the network and the internet. This makes them an effective defense against ransomware attacks, as the malware cannot spread to the tape backups.
Moreover, tape backups offer a cost-effective backup solution, as they are cheaper than other types of backups, such as disk-based backups. According to a study by the Enterprise Strategy Group, tape backups can be up to 15 times cheaper than disk-based backups.
3-2-1 Backup Strategy
The 3-2-1 backup strategy is a widely accepted best practice for data protection. It involves having three copies of your data, stored on two different types of media, with one copy stored offsite. This ensures that your data is protected against various threats, including ransomware attacks.
According to a study, enterprises that followed the 3-2-1 backup strategy were able to recover their data from ransomware attacks 96% of the time.
How to Achieve the 3-2-1 Rule with Zmanda?
Zmanda’s ability to crank up so many variations of the 3-2-1 rule is one of our favorite aspects of being a software vendor with a strong lineup of partnerships. Zmanda is quite adaptable, and each of the following applications would count towards the 3-2-1 rule configuration:
- Supports backups on reliable and straightforward disk storage
- Supports long-term data archival with tape storage
- Supports backups on NAS and SAN devices
- Backups on removable storage
- Backups in object storage such as in the public cloud
- Backups in cold archive storage in the public cloud
- Backups hosted or managed by a service provider, including Zmanda Cloud Connect
Zmanda Enterprise Backup: A Comprehensive Solution
Zmanda Enterprise Backup is a comprehensive backup solution that offers support for both immutable backups and tape backups. With Zmanda, you can create immutable backups using cloud-based object storage that supports the immutability feature. Additionally, Zmanda offers support for tape backups, allowing you to create air-gapped backups to protect against ransomware attacks.
Furthermore, Zmanda offers a cost-effective solution for implementing the 3-2-1 backup strategy. With Zmanda, you can back up your data to multiple destinations simultaneously, ensuring that your data is protected against various threats.
In conclusion, ransomware attacks are a major threat to enterprises, and it is crucial to implement effective measures to protect your data. Immutable backups, tape backups, and the 3-2-1 backup strategy are all effective strategies that can be used to safeguard your data from ransomware attacks. With Zmanda Enterprise Backup, you can implement all three strategies and ensure that your data is protected against any threats.
