IT managers are starting to realize that the ransomware threat will continue on – even if they have been attacked and have successfully recovered data from their backup and storage systems.
Cybereason research found that 80% of organizations that paid a ransom experienced another attack. And 46% of companies that regained access to data after having made a payment found that some or all data was corrupted.
The hackers are also getting more brazen: the average ransomware demand in 2018 was $6,000, jumped to $178,000 in 2020 and today stands at $228,125.
Companies understand that while the percentages are high that they will experience a ransomware attack more than once, they have to improve the quality of their backup and recovery and storage operations.
That’s where the Hitachi Data Protection Suite (HDPS) powered by Commvault can help organizations – both with ongoing maintenance in preparation for an incident – and at the actual moment of the attack.
Eric Nelson, a Commvault solution director, explained that day-in, day-out, HDPS does the following core functions: assesses and mitigates risk; isolates, locks and hardens data; monitors and finds anomalous threats; analyzes data; and recovers data quickly. The automated HDPS system tests for data recovery, and takes the backups and makes sure they are recovery-ready. HDPS also does data checking, looking for adds and deletes, honeypots, and failed access log-ons.
Nelson said while HDPS does not function specifically as an endpoint detection and response (EDR) system, it will catch an anomaly, alert the backup and storage system, and recover the data the moment a cyber incident happens. “We then automate the recovery and use machine learning and artificial intelligence to create actions so we can recover quickly,” Nelson said.
How Hitachi Vantara Integrates with CommVault
Cyrus Cama, a Hitachi data protection expert, said while Commvault handles the mechanics of backup and recovery, Hitachi storage takes care of the back-end.
Cama said Hitachi works closely with customers to deploy Commvault’s HyperScale X for Hitachi HDPS. Typically, customers use HyperScale X for the backup and recovery of daily operations. The technology runs over Hitachi Advanced Server HA820 storage servers. HyperScale X for Hitachi HDPS offers the following benefits:
- High performance backup and recovery with automatic load balancing that optimizes efficiency, performance, and enhances recovery capabilities.
- Protection for modern workloads such as containers, and cloud-native IaaS/PaaS, and SaaS applications.
- Optimized scalability that supports single-node expansion, avoiding excess costs caused by overprovisioning.
Hitachi also offers cloud mobility for backup and recovery of archival data with the Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) for Cloud Scale, which are built on Hitachi S11 or S31 servers.
“Keep in mind that Hyperscale X is immutable, meaning that the data can’t be altered or deleted,” Cama said. “We try to impress on customers that they need this kind of protection today because the ransomware operators are getting smarter. They want to attack your backup operations.”
Image Credit: Hitachi Vantara / Getty Images