Ransomware is on the rise, data volumes are increasing, and compliance standards are becoming stricter. Yet many businesses still rely on outdated or insufficient backup practices – leaving them vulnerable to cyberattacks and data loss.
One critical area of risk that organisations face today – and must manage properly – is the threat of a cyberattack, particularly ransomware, and the need to back up their data to ensure it can be recovered in the event of such an attack.
Backing up data to a cloud repository offers an additional level of security, as you will have untainted data you can leverage to restore your business to a point before the attack occurred.
The 3-2-1 Principle
The best approach to backup is to leverage what is referred to as the ‘3-2-1’ principle. Essentially, this calls for a business to have three different copies of its data: the first copy is kept on-premise; the second is stored offsite; and the third is backed up into the cloud.
Routed understands the importance of backup, which is why we offer an enterprise-grade Backup as a Service (BaaS) solution for customers. Our BaaS offering provides the cloud service into which they can cost-effectively back up their third copy of data.
This approach is crucial, because ransomware infiltration breaks into your management system and encrypts all your data, including backup copies and backup repositories. In such an instance, the third copy, secured in the cloud, is the one you would turn to in order to restore your data.
Routed is able to offer a Veeam Cloud Connect Backup Repository, which allows us to use a cloud backup repository that sits behind a secure gateway.
So, in a scenario where your on-premise site is hit by ransomware, and you cannot trust your offsite copy, we can ensure your data is protected in the cloud – this third copy can be configured as immutable and cannot be altered in any way.
The second option we offer to customers is for those who are already in our cloud. With data centres in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, which operate independently of each other, we are able to leverage both data centres to help clients with the first and second copies of their data through our integrated backup system.
Two-Tier Storage
Additionally, our integrated backup system offers customers two tiers of storage, using Veeam Scale-out Backup Repositories – namely, a performance tier and a capacity tier. The former is for business-critical data that is accessed regularly by the company. The latter is used for data that requires long-term storage and retention. Importantly, this storage is much more cost-effective, due to its archival nature.
Data today is often described as the lifeblood of business, so ensuring its availability is vital if you wish to avoid downtime and business disruption. Ransomware attacks are extremely disruptive, which is why implementing an effective defence is so necessary. The reputational and financial impacts of having data corrupted in this manner are such that some organisations have had to close their doors due to the disruption caused by a ransomware attack.
To avoid the critical loss of client and operational data, it is imperative to ensure that you have a backup system that applies the 3-2-1 principle, with a secure and immutable copy of the data stored in the cloud.
The importance of properly applied GRC principles must not be underestimated, and sticking to these means that your business should not only ensure effective backup protection for your data, but your organisation must also have an effective DR plan in place.
Apart from its BaaS offering, Routed also provides a DR as a Service solution, meaning our customers are assured their businesses have the necessary resilience to be able to meet any potential disaster scenario head-on, while also fully complying with all the GRC requirements.
Ultimately, true business continuity should encompass both backup and DR solutions, along with an effective recovery plan.
