ST2403

RESEARCH:
RESEARCH: IMMUTABLE STORAGE
"Immutable data storage is an insurance policy against ransomware. While the survey
data shows IT leaders resoundingly agree that immutability is a cornerstone of
cybersecurity strategy, 31% still did not report it as essential. Here's the reality: Being able
to restore quickly from an immutable backup means the difference between a successful
and unsuccessful ransomware attack. Without storage that's truly immutable, you're
vulnerable to cybercriminals' demands."
This reinforces the role immutable data
storage plays as an essential last line of
defence within a cybersecurity toolkit. With
immutable storage, data cannot be deleted or
modified once written, increasing data safety
and ensuring organisations have the power to
restore data with 100% accuracy in the event
of a breach.
VERTICAL AND REGIONAL NUANCES
Comparisons among IT leaders surveyed
across vertical industries and specific countries
reveal a number of notable differences:
Vertical market:
Manufacturing organisations (95%) are
most likely to deploy immutable storage.
84% consider it essential to their corporate
cybersecurity.
Financial services firms (74%) report the
lowest reliance on immutable storage.
60% say it's essential to their corporate
cybersecurity.
Regional:
A majority of IT leaders across all regions
currently use or plan to use immutable
data storage: The US has the highest level
of current or planned immutable data
storage deployments, with 98% of
respondents either having implemented it
or planning to do so within the next year.
This is followed by France at 96%,
Germany at 94% and the UK at 85%.
While a relatively low number (12%) of IT
leaders worldwide who currently use
immutable data storage do not regard it
as "essential" to their cybersecurity strategy,
a larger percentage resides in the UK:
24% of UK respondents have deployed it
but say it is not essential to their
cybersecurity, compared to 11% in France,
9% in the US and 6% in Germany.
Dave Russell, VP of enterprise strategy at
Veeam Software comments: "Widespread
deployment of immutable storage reinforces
an increased awareness of the critical role
secure backup plays as an active defence
against cyberattacks, specifically coupled with
immutable backup data. Veeam believes that
achieving Zero Trust Data Resilience with
immutable storage implementations - that are
indeed truly immutable - is a great
opportunity for IT leaders to reduce the risk of
growing data security threats and improve
their overall cyber resilience."
A WINDOW OF EXPOSURE
The survey reveals the criticality of immutable
storage at a time of evolving industry dialogue
about data cybersecurity best practices and
technologies. But it's important to note that
not all immutability is created equal - some
forms still leave a window of exposure.
Unlike forms of immutability enabled by
traditional solutions (such as NAS/file system
snapshots, dedupe appliances, Linuxhardened
repositories or tape), true object
storage solutions are inherently immutable at
the core architecture level.
The system implements proper protocols
and true object storage semantics to
preserve data in its original form the very
moment it is written - which is not the case
for other immutable solutions that can
introduce time delays before data is
immutable. Each object, even those written
nanoseconds apart, can never be
overwritten, deleted, or modified. This
architectural reinforcement provides a
crucial last line of defence against
ransomware attackers' attempts to encrypt
data and extort victims.
Paul Speciale, CMO, Scality comments:
"Immutable data storage is an insurance
policy against ransomware. While the survey
data shows IT leaders resoundingly agree
that immutability is a cornerstone of
cybersecurity strategy, 31% still did not report
it as essential. Here's the reality: Being able
to restore quickly from an immutable backup
means the difference between a successful
and unsuccessful ransomware attack.
Without storage that's truly immutable, you're
vulnerable to cybercriminals' demands. The
perception among some respondents that it's
not essential to cybersecurity is misguided
and represents an opportunity to shift more IT
leaders towards achieving a modern,
inherently immutable object storage solution
as a much-needed last line of defence to
keep data locked and immune to
ransomware exfiltration, modification or
destruction."
More info: www.scality.com
www.storagemagazine.co.uk
@STMagAndAwards Mar/Apr 2024
STORAGE
MAGAZINE
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