ArticlesC2 Winter 2021DataData SecurityHow to Safeguard Your Data & Applications from Ransomware by Cohesity December 6, 2021 written by Cohesity December 6, 2021 [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Itβs ugly out there. Each week, we all see the news reports about more and more companies and organizations falling victim to ransomware and the trend is accelerating. No doubt, you or your colleagues work in or are aware of organizations that have been hit by ransomware over the last few years and had the unenviable responsibility of scrambling to recover data, applications, workloads, and systems in the aftermath of an attack.The problem isnβt getting any better, especially as the bad actors have changed their tactics β going from encrypting production data as a means to extract ransom payments from their victims to aggressively targeting backup data to exert more pressure on their victims to pay up. Now, the latest tactic is the so-called βdouble extortionβ scam, a fallback pressure tactic when the bad actors realize that their victim has recovered their data and shifts to extorting money to prevent the public disclosure of sensitive data that they exfiltrated.To address modern day breaches, letβs discuss consumer perceptions, how we got here, the defensive capabilities that you need to protect your organization and your data from ransomware, and how the nature of ransomware has fundamentally changed. New Research Reveals Consumersβ Distrust of Corporate Ransom PayoutsNew research indicates that when businesses pay the ransom, they run the risk of losing consumer confidence and prompting people to take their business elsewhere.This research is based on an August 2021 survey commissioned by Cohesity and conducted by Propeller Insights of more than 1,000 adult U.S. consumers between the ages of 18 through 75 and older, all of whom have heard of ransomware.40% of Americans surveyed said that they think companies hit by ransomware attacks should not pay the ransom.More than half of those surveyed, 55%, said that companies that do pay ransoms encourage ransomware and bad actors.43% of respondents think that ransom payments will raise the price of goods and services.23% of those surveyed said that they would stop doing business with a company that paid the ransom, and 48% said while they canβt say yes or no, they would give it a lot of thought as it concerns them greatly.When asked if consumers believe organizations are doing enough to protect their data, 42% answered either βitβs unlikelyβ or βno.βWhile no organization is immune from ransomware attacks, those enterprises that implement modern security and next-gen data management strategies that enable them to quickly recover if they are attacked β without having to pay the ransom β are the ones that will win favor with consumers over those that canβt. Traditional Approaches to Data Management Donβt Solve RansomwareMany of todayβs data management tools were designed years or even decades ago β before multicloud, ransomware, GDPR, and other modern day IT considerations. Others were designed either for on-premises or cloud-only operation (not hybrid or multicloud) and had limited functionality.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”6879″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” css_animation=”rollIn”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]For years, IT has had to assemble a βDo It Yourselfβ collection of dozens of tools to handle all the aspects of data management (like backup, files & objects, security, governance, dev/test, analytics, etc.) into a working system β kind of like self-assembly furniture without the instructions. This created all kinds of challenges: multiple UIs, no single policy control, inefficient silos, duplicate data, high operational costs, different solutions for the cloud vs on-premises, etc. IT teams are spending 40% of their time just managing this complexity, instead of on more important tasks.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”6880″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” css_animation=”rollIn”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]This fragmented approach with separate tools presents an easy attack surface for cyber criminals to target with ransomware and other security exploits. No central visibility into incoming threats, different security standards between components, reliant on human operatorsβ diligence, no mechanism for rapid recovery β a disaster waiting to happen.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”6902″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”rollIn”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]The modern enterprise is just too complex and dynamic for IT teams to manage manually. Overworked IT teams can easily miss an impending cyber-attack or system problem that can put you out of business. IT tools should be smart enough to anticipate these issues and provide some warning or recommendation rather than relying on human diligence.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”6882″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” css_animation=”rollIn”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]So far, weβve only discussed the difficulties in getting your data under control. What about getting value out of your data to help drive the business and beat the competition? Today this is a whole separate task for IT, involving moving data out of one system into yet another set of tools just to extract insights.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Given the trends we spoke about, the relentless growth in corporate data, and the pressure on IT to meet tougher SLAs, we believe the situation is unsustainable β the industry needs a new approach. The Key to Cyber Resiliency: Next-Gen Data ManagementIt should come as no surprise that businesses are changing their strategies in response to the ransomware threat, looking to next-gen data management to go beyond backing up their data to make sure they plan for recovery when ransomware strikes.Next-gen data management aims to deliver a unique combination of four elements that could not only help to improve security postures but also address todayβs challenges of complexity, cost, and risk associated with legacy data management solutions – and allows you to unlock limitless value from your data.Beyond Zero Trust Security: Detect, protect, and rapidly recover from ransomware attacks.Build-in AI-powered threat detection, immutability, and instant mass restore helps thwart ransomware attacksDisaster recovery and automated failover minimize downtimeIntegration with leading security ecosystem partners automated and extends protectionSimplicity at Scale: Manage everything in one place, expand with ease.Single hyperscale software platform powers multiple use casesSingle UI provides global visibility and control across the multicloud and hybrid cloudFlexible deployment choice: self-managed, partner-managed, or SaaSPowered by AI: Improve decisions and act faster with built-in smart capabilities.SmartAssist offloads manual effort, provides proactive alerts, and health checksAI-based threat detection and scanning counters cybercrime, including ransomwareAI-powered recommendations reduce cost and improve performance3rd Party Extensibility: Leverage marketplace apps or integrate with industry-leading solutionsDiscover and download third-party and Cohesity apps for file analytics, anti-virus detection, vulnerability scanning, custom reports, and visualizationEnable self-service operations through ready-to-use automation and orchestration tool integrationsBuild, automate, and manage operational workflows to cut cost and time A Next-Gen Data Management Portfolio Optimized to Minimize the Impact of Ransomware, and moreβ¦Today, we operate in a hybrid world where you can choose to deploy on-premises or in the cloud. The Cohesity Helios platform is designed to support all these capabilities through multiple use cases and deliver them in a consistent and safe manner to protect, defend, and recover at scale. Itβs your choice to consume these as a service (e.g., HPE GreenLake) or self-managed on-prem. The Cohesity Helios platform logically spans your multi-cloud environment. It operates on zero trust security principles. It gives you simplicity at scale. Itβs powered by AI insights. And it has 3rd party extensibility. On top of all of that, you can consume it the way you like. You can manage the software yourself on-premises, or you can consume it as a SaaS service in the cloud.Go Beyond Zero Trust with Threat DefenseDefend your business against sophisticated ransomware attacks that aim to encrypt and exfiltrate your data with a multilayered data security architecture. Click here to learn more.AuthorLisa Robinson Schoeller Cohesity | HPE Product and Solution Marketing CohesityLisa Robinson Schoeller leads Cohesity | HPE Product and Solution Marketing for Cohesity. A technology marketing executive with over twenty yearsβ experience, Lisa helps companies accelerate growth by rapidly turning business goals into increased revenue and market share.Follow her on Twitter.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row] CohesityCohesity HeliosConnect ConvergeConnect WorldwideConnectConvergeCyber ResiliencyData BreachData ManagementData SecurityHewlett Packard EnterpriseHPEHPE GreenLakeHPE user communityHPE User Groupnext-gen data managementPropeller InsightsRansomwareransomware attackZero Trust Security 0 comment 1 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail CohesityCohesity ushers in a new era in data management that solves a critical challenge facing businesses today: mass data fragmentation. The vast majority of enterprise data β backups, archives, file shares, object stores, and data used for dev/test and analytics β sits in fragmented infrastructure silos that make it hard to protect, expensive to manage, and difficult to analyze. Cohesity consolidates silos onto one web-scale platform, spanning on-premises, cloud, and the edge, and uniquely empowers organizations to run apps on that platform β making it easier than ever to back up and extract insights from data. Cohesity is a 2019 CNBC Disruptor and was named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. Visit our website and blog, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and like us on Facebook. previous post Working the Great Resignation: How Employers Can Transform Things to their Advantage next post Getting the most from your data-driven transformation: 10 key principles You may also like Developers: Get free resources and training through the... 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