Cybersecurity Awareness Month – Teaching the Data Storage Protection

Cybersecurity Awareness Month

In a fast-paced world, it’s easy to overlook crucial aspects of our personal and professional lives. Awareness months and days serve as reminders, helping us refocus on important issues like well-being, safety, health, and digital security amidst distractions.

In business, awareness months can be equally important. Companies and professionals need regular workplace safety and data security reminders to maintain sustainable and ethical practices. October is established as Cybersecurity Awareness Month, highlighting the importance of protecting digital lives. It helps ensure that crucial matters receive the attention they deserve.

So, let’s recall why cybersecurity and the fight against ransomware, in particular, are so important and how to approach them in business to ensure essential issues receive the attention they deserve. Let’s not forget – the consequences of not following specific rules or just not being proactive may be horrific for the company.

Ransomware – The Biggest Threat for Business Data Storage

Fighting against ransomware is an especially important and challenging part of cybersecurity. It’s critical for companies because ransomware attacks are the main reason for data loss, causing severe operational disruption, financial loss, and reputational damage.

Ransomware aims to block companies from accessing their data and/or publishing classified data outside the company. Also, the growing sophistication of these attacks makes them harder to detect and prevent.

However, with proper protection, companies can avoid losing access to crucial data, facing downtime, and paying hefty ransoms to retrieve their information. As the business world increasingly relies on digital operations, protecting data becomes a security measure and a key to business continuity.

Fortunately, there are solutions (e.g., Open-E JovianDSS) ensuring that an organization is prepared for the ransomware attack and allowed to recover from such attacks without paying a ransom. By adopting such proactive cybersecurity solutions, businesses can safeguard critical operations, maintain client trust, and ensure resilience in an increasingly hostile digital environment.

The Numbers Speak for Themselves

It’s not hard to find some proof of how big a threat to modern companies and their data storage infrastructure ransomware is:

  • Ransomware attacks increase rapidly. From 2022 to 2023, ransomware attacks surged from 2,662 to 4,611 incidents, almost doubling in one year. This indicates how pervasive the threat has become for businesses across industries.
  • The average ransom payment has dramatically increased, reaching $1 billion in 2023, up from $457 million in 2022. This shows how attackers are becoming bolder, demanding larger payouts.
  • All businesses are increasingly impacted. Approximately 85% reported being impacted by ransomware in 2023, up from 70% in 2022, highlighting organizations’ vulnerability, particularly in sectors like healthcare, education, and government.

As you can see, effective ransomware-proof data storage solutions are becoming vital for companies to safeguard their data and maintain operational continuity. But what’s the best approach? How should every company safeguard data storage infrastructure and business/customer information most effectively? And lastly, is there any universal instruction to follow in this case?

We can answer these questions by combining them into 3 main groups of tips and tricks based on our experience in managing data storage.

Data Storage & Business Protection – Dos and Don’ts

Data Storage & Business Protection

1. Encouraging Organizational and Personal Responsibility

    A key theme of Cybersecurity Awareness Month is that organizations and individuals need to take responsibility for their digital security. There are common mistakes businesses make, with the main one – having no ransomware-proof backup or failing to test the backup sources regularly.

    Companies have to take a more active role in ransomware prevention by using tools like Open-E JovianDSS. It allows for the use of read-only snapshots (which makes them immutable), retention plans, and secure backups both on- and off-site, as well as the Open-E High-Availability Cluster, all of which help ensure that businesses are prepared for an attack or any other risk, and can recover quickly.

    This sense of responsibility is vital for building a resilient cybersecurity posture.

    2. Aligning with Themes of Prevention and Recovery

      Prevention and recovery strategies make ransomware-proof solutions a natural fit. The use of snapshots  immutable, read-only versions of data that can be restored if ransomware strikes – is one of them.

      Additionally, thanks to various encryption methods, it’s even harder for attackers to obtain records from our data storage infrastructure. Also, retention plans and disaster recovery solutions ensure businesses recover quickly and without ransom.

      These strategies tie in with the goals of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, focusing on educating businesses about proactive and reactive cybersecurity measures.

      3. Focus on Data Security and Business Continuity

        Ensuring business continuity is crucial in today’s threat landscape, and this is one of the main messages during Cybersecurity Awareness Month. That’s why solution architectures based on high-availability clusters, which ensure that operations can continue even in the face of hardware or software failure, are essential.

        Additionally, the application of on-site and off-site backups ensures data is protected and recoverable, while ZFS-based self-healing features automatically detect and correct data corruption. These elements guarantee businesses avoid costly downtime and maintain continuity, even after a ransomware attack, aligning with the core themes of business resilience.

        The Best Guide

        Open-E JovianDSS Protects Against Ransomware Attack

        So, if you are looking for the best guide to follow in terms of ransomware protection not only during Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Open-E brochure stands out as an excellent resource. “Next-Gen Defense: How Open-E JovianDSS Protects Against Ransomware Attack Consequences highlights the practical features of Open-E JovianDSS and serves as a comprehensive guide to proactive ransomware prevention and cybersecurity education!

        Educational Value

        The brochure provides a detailed explanation of ransomware threats and the steps businesses can take to prevent them. It educates employees about the risks of malware and the importance of being vigilant in daily operations.

        Aligning this knowledge with Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a timely educational tool to boost awareness and understanding across the organization.

        Historical and Evolving Threat Landscape

        “Next-Gen Defense” also touches on the historical growth of ransomware attacks, showing how they have escalated in frequency and severity over time.

        This historical context emphasizes the need for evolving defenses and reinforces why continual education, such as what Cybersecurity Awareness Month promotes, is crucial in staying ahead of these threats.

        Practical and Advanced Solutions

        Open-E JovianDSS is a scalable and effective anti-ransomware solution with features such as self-healing, encryption, automatic snapshots, multi-layer data protection, and a wide range of data storage infrastructure architectures.

        These tools are designed to defend against ransomware and enable seamless recovery during an attack. By adopting them, businesses can proactively safeguard their data and infrastructure, exactly the kind of action Cybersecurity Awareness Month advocates.

        Related Articles:

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        4. Recovering from a Data Breach: Essential Steps for Businesses
        5. 4 Ethical Consideration in Cloud Data Protection
        6. 7 Key Strategies to Prevent Data Loss in Your Organization
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        Ashwin S

        A cybersecurity enthusiast at heart with a passion for all things tech. Yet his creativity extends beyond the world of cybersecurity. With an innate love for design, he's always on the lookout for unique design concepts.