Over the past year, cybercriminals have caused an increasing number of data breaches and the rise of ransomware is a big enough concern so that G7 leaders discuss it. According to cybersecurity firm SonicWall, the number of ransomware attacks in 2020 rose 62% compared to the previous year due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2021, it has already reached 226.3 attacks, 116% more over 2020.
“Cyberattacks are on the rise, but data can be protected and restored when you are prepared,” IBM assures.
The company announced it has added new tools to its FlashSystem family to help organizations recover from ransomware and other cyberattacks. The company has added an enhanced data protection component called IBM Safeguarded Copy that creates recoverable copies of data stored on flash storage arrays.
These data copies are kept in “immutable snapshots” that are isolated from the system and therefore, inaccessible by hackers or malware. When data is lost or stolen by hackers, a compromised business can recover it from snapshots created before the breach.
“Protecting against ransomware and other forms of malware requires a two-pronged approach to resiliency that involves automated protection and rapid recovery,” said Denis Kennelly, General Manager, IBM Storage. “That’s why we’re standardizing our modern data protection software, Safeguarded Copy, across our portfolio, bringing even more cyber resiliency to IBM FlashSystem.”
“Staying ahead of today’s cyber threats is a top priority for us, especially as a local municipality,” said Benny Yazdanpanahi, CIO at The City of Tyler and an IBM FlashSystem customer. “We’re responsible for everything from educational systems to critical public services, so protecting our data is critical. These days, continuous operations have as much to do with thwarting cyberattacks as it does data protection. Having the ability to create and restore immutable copies of data with SafeGuarded Copy is an exciting approach to continuous operations.”
In theory, IBM’s method can help companies and government organizations recover faster from cyberattacks.
Storage admins can schedule snapshots. Automatic snapshots are stored on the storage system and they are only actionable after they have been recovered.
IBM Safeguarded Copy can work as a component of IBM Security QRadar platform. And it can be integrated with other security monitoring tools to proactively create snapshots of data and provide real-time protection against attacks.
IBM also announced that it will launch IBM Storage as a Service in North America and Europe in September, which will enable customers to meet their hybrid cloud storage needs.
