A Ransomware attack is far more likely to occur today than ever before, and any organization could fall victim. It is predicted that by 2031 ransomware attacks against businesses are likely to occur every 2 seconds¹. Ransomware demands have grown from an average of $6,000 to $570,000², and growing. If companies fall victim to an attack not only may it affect revenue, but it may also hurt your brand.   

Air-gapping as a deterrent to ransomware attacks 

Air gapping adds a layer of security to help safeguard your data and mitigate ransomware risk. It is designed to isolate and segment secondary or tertiary backup copies and make them inaccessible from the public portions of the environment. If your organization is infiltrated by ransomware or a malicious attacker, the cyber threat will have a limited attack surface. The public portions of the environment may get infected, but the isolated data will not because it cannot be accessed. The backups are safe, secure, and available for restoration. By storing a backup copy on a storage infrastructure that is physically inaccessible from an external connection, you restrict access and drastically limit the potential for infection. 

Compare air gap to defending a medieval castle. The castle is surrounded by water, and the only access to the castle is if the drawbridge is let down periodically to bridge the gap. To learn more about air gap refer to this video:  

Commvault Simplifies Air Gap

Commvault’s data management and protection software simplifies cloud storage and isolates data protection with predictable costs and reduced overhead. Coupled with Commvault solutions, Metallic? Recovery Reserve? makes it easy to add air gap to your data protection toolset. Using Metallic? Recovery Reserve?, you can easily implement an offsite cloud storage location, providing a virtual air-gapped, immutable copy of your data to safeguard it from ransomware.

Metallic? Recovery Reserve^TM is the “easy button” to adopt secure and scalable cloud storage in just minutes, allowing you to meet the needs of your organization’s hybrid cloud strategy without requiring additional cloud expertise within your organization.

• Easy to onboard: There is no additional vendor management required
• Easy to configure: Provides a hassle-free onramp to modernize your IT ops
• Easy to manage: Simplified management and predictable costs
• Easy to protect: Optimized for daily backups

Metallic? Recovery Reserve^TM cloud storage is built with secure restrictive account access and data isolation managed within Commvault for overall ransomware protection.

For more details on air gap, refer to The power of Air Gap solution brief.

References

1. Cybercrime Magazine, David Braue, Global Ransomware Damage Costs Predicted to Exceed $265 Billion By 2031, June 2022 – 2. Industry Insider, Global CIT Group, The True Cost of a Ransomware Attack, June 2022.