by Puneet GuptaVice President and Managing Director, NetApp India/SAARC
In an era dominated by digital interconnectivity and an ever-expanding cyber landscape, protecting sensitive information has become a major concern for businesses and individuals.
As cyber threats continue to evolve in complexity and sophistication, the conventional perimeter-based security approach has proven insufficient. The need for a more adaptive and resilient defense strategy necessitated a data-centric approach.
A report by a US-based cybersecurity company revealed that India suffered the second highest number of data breaches in the world in 2022, with 450 million records exposed. Another study highlighted that 73% of organizations surveyed in the country have been affected by ransomware attacks. These findings highlight the critical need for businesses to take proactive steps to protect their valuable data and facilitate rapid recovery in the event of a disaster. cyber attack.
THE security of an organization’s digital assets requires multiple layers of protection at the point of storage and the ability to immediately respond to breach attempts.
Amidst an ocean of known and unknown threats, including Ransomwarerogue administrators and a variety of bad actors, businesses must evolve security strategies that span on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud storage environments.
The convergence of data protection and data security
Cyber resilience is an integrated approach that brings together long-siloed data protection and security functions. When the solutions and workflows associated with both functions are well integrated, the respective teams are better equipped to contribute to a more robust data management paradigm within the enterprise, ensuring powerful protections against malicious actors.
It is essential that businesses view data protection not just as an “add-on” to their digital infrastructures, but rather as a fundamental element ensuring business continuity.
Unplanned downtime due to data outages imposes significant financial burdens on businesses (estimated at nearly $6,000/minute).
An effective, low-cost data recovery and backup solution allows an organization to restore its data and applications in minutes in the event of an attack.
This is particularly crucial in the context of the ever-present threat Ransomwareallowing businesses to recover quickly without being forced to pay a ransom.
Data protection should be complemented by intelligent threat detection to proactively identify anomalies within the organization, including those related to storage and user behavior, providing real-time protection. A comprehensive data security solution serves to alert in the event of an attack and ensures a real-time response.
Strengthening cyber resilience – A strategy in 5 steps
Paving the way for cyber resilience starts with understanding that data protection and security must be built into the foundation of business infrastructure, rather than being “added on” as an afterthought. Businesses can achieve cyber resilience by focusing on five crucial steps.
Assessment – Take stock of the environment by assessing current data protection and security measures, determining the different types of data stored, and evaluating data access protocols.
Action – Implement proactive measures, including data encryption, regular backups, implementing rigorous infrastructure management and access controls, strengthening perimeter defenses, updating vulnerable systems and applications and training staff in cybersecurity best practices.
Caution – Take steps to stay ahead of the curve and proactively identify suspicious activities before they become a significant threat. This includes detecting anomalies in system behavior as well as monitoring suspicious user activities.
Recovery – Developing a disaster recovery and business continuity plan to deal with crisis situations is the next step. This plan should be tested frequently and updated as the threat landscape evolves. Internal and external stakeholders should be well informed of the plan and any changes, to ensure a consistent response during an incident.
Catering – The final step is to facilitate a return to normal as soon as possible – from quickly restoring data to accelerate operational recovery and leveraging intelligent forensics to identify the origins of a threat to be better prepared to the future.
Cyber-resilience: preserving our digital future
If data is today the new oil that fuels our societies and economies, its protection is undoubtedly an essential priority for any digitally focused company.
Cyber resilience goes beyond perimeter protection to a more holistic approach to data and systems protection. It enables businesses to stand strong in the face of adversity and continue to develop innovative products and services that will shape our collective digital future with resilience.