Infographic Long Live Tape — And Other Data Protection Trends for a New Threatscape
By Insight Editor / 5 Aug 2022 / Topics: Backup & recovery Cybersecurity
Old data protection methods don’t cut it in today’s sophisticated cyber landscape. The good news? There are options. Discover the nine trending data protection techniques businesses are adopting to safeguard their organizations from even the toughest cybercriminals.
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Long Live Tape — And Other Data Protection Trends for a New Threatscape
Cybercriminals have refined their attack strategies and are now targeting data protection environments. To stay ahead of the bad actors, consider incorporating these nine data protection trends we’re seeing across modern data protection environments.
The lifecycle of a cyberattack
Before you can effectively prevent a breach, it’s important to understand the lifecycle of a cyberattack:
Reconnaissance:
Bad actors identify potential targets, assess the target’s defenses, and choose their method of attack.
Initial compromise
Hackers bypass perimeter defenses and gain access to the network.
Command & control:
The attackers use the compromised device to gain further access to the environment and set up long-term control.
Lateral compromise
With access established, the cybercriminals attempt to compromise additional users and machines.
Target attainment
Multiple access points and hundreds of compromised users provide the hackers with in-depth information about the environment.
Exfiltration, corruption & disruption
The attackers now have full access to sensitive data, intellectual property, or other mission-critical systems, potentially costing the organization hundreds of thousands of dollars — or more.
9 trends in modern data protection
#1: Magnetic tape
Tape storage — a form of completely offline, air-gapped backups — isn’t going away anytime soon. New technology has increased magnetic tape storage capacity by 29 times, for a total capacity of 580TB of storage. This makes magnetic tape an extremely cost-effective method for storage and backup. Because air gapping is offline, this type of data protection is nearly 100% secure.
#2: Immutable storage
Historically known as the “nuclear option,” immutability has become an appealing option for security teams. Immutable storage lets organizations take a snapshot of their data and set policies on its expiration, knowing that the data is unaffected and completely restorable until that time, regardless of any unintentional or intentional breach of the environment.
The result? It’s completely impervious to ransomware attacks.
#3: All-flash
All-flash storage is growing in popularity due to its ability to minimize recovery point and recovery time, provide fast or synchronous replication and automatic failover, and be easily integrated with cloud and hybrid cloud environments. Currently, 18% of businesses use all-flash storage, with an additional 14% indicating that they will begin using all-flash by 2022.
#4: Two-factor authentication
Two- or multi-factor authentication validates users prior to granting access to data. In fact, verification via SMS text messages can stop 100% of all automated attacks, 96% of bulk phishing attacks, and 76% of targeted attacks.
#5: At-scale test restores
To test the strength of your data protection strategy, consider performing at-scale test restores. This type of testing exercise restores the entire environment, as opposed to single files, apps, or machines, and is conducted under the premise that the primary data center is encrypted to replicate a ransomware attack.
#6: Cloud-connected storage
As storage moves out of the traditional data center to the edge and into the hybrid cloud, teams are ensuring they only work with top cloud providers and are actively searching for ways to properly secure data in the cloud.
Only 22% of IT security pros say their organization maintains continuous compliance with cloud security regulations and standards — giving the remaining 78% a clear advantage.
#7: Data discovery & classification
You can’t protect what you don’t know exists. Data discovery and classification, performed regularly, is the key to highly effective cloud data protection and storage. 82% of employees say their organization uses a data classification system. But 62% of companies with a data classification policy provide employees access to more data than they need. Such companies are 2.5X more likely to experience a data breach compared to companies with a data classification policy and restricted data access.
#8: As a Service consumption models
The global market for Storage as a Service (STaaS) was valued at $19.9 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $101.9 billion by 2027, indicating that enterprises are identifying the As a Service storage model as a cost-effective, scalable, and secure option for data management.
#9: A shift in the security team mindset
And finally, IT security teams are expanding their understanding of security to include storage and data protection roles not previously included. The best teams view data protection through a business continuity lens, constantly testing and refining their strategies — all while playing a key role in cybersecurity and awareness training across the organization.
If you’re ready to modernize your approach to data protection, Insight can help you determine the best options for your unique environment.
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Sources:
Capers, Z. and Maria, G. (2020, Oct. 5). GetApp’s 2020 State of Data Security Report - 10 Trends to Watch. GetApp.
Johnson, D. (2020, Dec. 17). IBM Makes Tape Storage Better Than Ever. IEEE.
Lapena, R. (2020, Aug. 12). Survey: 76% of IT Pros Say It’s Difficult to Maintain Security Configs in the Cloud. Tripwire.
Moore, M. (2020, July 22). 4 Reasons Why All-Flash Storage Is Rapidly Growing Among IT Organizations. Sirius.
ReportLinker. (April 2021). Global Storage-as-a-Service Industry.
Stone, A. (2021, May 11). What Are Air Gaps and Are They Effective Data Security Strategies? Pure Storage.
Thomas, K. and Moscicki, A. (2019, May 17). New research: How effective is basic account hygiene at preventing hijacking. Google Security Blog
