It was World Backup Day yesterday, 31 March, at a time when business continuity is threatened more than ever before. That makes calls for protecting email and defending against ransomware all the more urgent.
The global coronavirus pandemic has brought into stark relief many organisations’ lack of business continuity plans and policies. With more than two billion people around the globe in forced lockdown in wide-ranging government efforts to stem the tide of infections, an unprecedented number of employees are working remotely.
This interruption to the normal way of work is precisely what an effective and resilient business continuity strategy should plan for, says Heino Gevers, cybersecurity specialist at Mimecast.
“Companies
need uninterrupted access to critical business applications
during times of disruption, including safe and secure web and email
access for workers that are now operating outside the normal perimeters
of the organisation,” he says. “In addition, comprehensive backup and archiving solutions should be ready to restore access to
critical business applications should there be any unplanned downtime to ensure continuity until the crisis passes.”
According to Gevers, the current global
crisis is likely to push business continuity up the list of priorities
for many organisations that have been disrupted by the
effects of the coronavirus.
“Organisations
are facing new challenges to their productivity; for example in terms
of technical support. If a remote user is infected with malware or
ransomware, how does the IT team restore that device or do any
remediation without
being able to physically access it?”
Gevers advises that organisations implement
tools that enhances the data protection capabilities of commonly-used
tools such as Office365 and can leverage archived data to provide quick
recovery
of email data in the event of accidental loss, malicious attacks or
technical failure.
“As adoption of cloud-based business applications grow in the wake of forced lockdowns around the globe, companies need to ensure they have the tools to recover in any situation,” he says. “This includes a data management strategy that combines archiving, backup and data protection capabilities to allow for quick restoration of critical systems and applications in the event of disruption.”
Jasmit Sagoo, head of technology at Veritas for the United Kingdom and Ireland, warns that this is a golden age for cybercriminals looking for ransomware opportunities.
“As the global cost of ransomware continues to grow, this World Backup Day,
Veritas is saying: ‘don’t pay up, back up!’,” he says. “Ransomware is
said to generate an estimated annual revenue of $1 billion a year, and
companies who are not consistent in backing up their data are allowing
criminals to line their pockets.
“Ransomware attacks exist only
because some businesses can’t survive unless the hackers give them back
their data. So, the key to survival is removing that reliance and being
able to regain access to data, without engaging with the
cybercriminals. The best way to do that is with a sound backup strategy.
“Sagoo advises organisations to create isolated, offline backup copies of their data to keep it out of reach of any attackers. They then need to proactively monitor and restrict backup
credentials, while running backups frequently to shrink the risk of
potential data loss. Businesses should also test and retest their
ransomware defences regularly.
“Ransomware strikes without
warning and it doesn’t discriminate between its targets – it can happen
to any organisation, large or small. Despite their best efforts, most
companies will fall to at least one attack. What distinguishes one
victim from another is the ability to bounce back, which ultimately
depends on its backup strategy.
“When
ransomware hits, organisations that aren’t prepared often feel helpless
to do anything other than to submit to their attacker’s demands.
That’s why we’re urging all businesses to use World Backup Day as a catalyst to get ahead of the situation and get their data protected.”
