While many organisations have invested heavily in frontline defence tools to try to keep out bad actors, they have spent far less time and money preparing for what happens when the criminals eventually get in. And they will get in. With the use of AI among bad actors growing more prevalent, hackers are proving more adept than ever at infiltrating enterprise networks. Meanwhile, the fallout from breaches is growing more severe. As a result, businesses must shift their strategic thinking to emphasise how to quickly and securely recover from a cyberincident.
Polymorphic cybersecurity landscape
In recent years, the landscape of cybersecurity has evolved drastically, challenging enterprises to rethink their IT resilience strategies in the face of increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats. Traditionally, businesses could rely on fortified security perimeters and robust backup systems to recover from disruptions like natural disasters or network outages. However, the advent of cloud computing has rendered these defences obsolete, expanding IT environments and multiplying the attack surfaces. Today, organisations navigate through a plethora of software tools daily, trying to address the polymorphic nature of cyberattacks.
AI-driven cyberthreats and rising costs
Concurrently, hackers leverage AI to exploit vulnerabilities, presenting a daunting advantage over enterprises still grappling with how to effectively deploy AI in their defence strategies. The consequences of cyberbreaches have escalated dramatically, with breaches averaging $5 million per incident, alongside severe reputational damage and legal ramifications under new disclosure regulations. A pivotal requirement for businesses now lies in fortifying their defence strategies, with a heightened focus on safeguarding backup data.
Challenges with traditional data recovery
Traditional data recovery methods, relying on retrieving the latest backup, are no longer foolproof. Increasingly, cybercriminals infiltrate backup data, infecting crucial recovery systems with ransomware and other malware. The persistence of these threats is evident, with attackers remaining undetected within systems for an average of 277 days before discovery, embedding malicious software into recovery data repositories. A significant majority of ransomware attacks now targets backup repositories, exploiting the short retention periods of clean data, leaving enterprises vulnerable to deploying infected data unknowingly during recovery efforts.
Comprehensive cyber-recovery solutions
This scenario amplifies the severity of attacks, compounding the damage inflicted by hackers. To combat these threats effectively, enterprises must invest in comprehensive cyber-recovery solutions that integrate seamlessly into their existing infrastructure. Historically, businesses sought secure restoration environments through costly dark sites or cloud storage solutions, which posed unpredictable risks.
Bridging organisational silos
Today, advancements in technology offer platforms that streamline the creation of secure backup environments, ensuring swift recovery capabilities in the event of a cyberincident. A fundamental strategy gaining prominence is the ‘3, 2, 1’ approach, requiring businesses to maintain three copies of their data, with at least two stored in separate locations. Crucially, one repository should remain ‘air gapped’, securely isolated in a cloud-based offline centre accessible only to authorised personnel. This setup provides a clean repository for data recovery and validation, essential during regular audits to detect anomalies and ensure compliance with cybersecurity regulations. Despite these advancements, organisational silos between security and recovery teams remain a challenge.
Prioritising cyber recovery
Traditionally, cybersecurity falls under the purview of chief information security officers (CISOs), while data backup and recovery are managed by IT teams reporting to chief information officers (CIOs). This disconnect delays the detection and response to breaches, underscoring the critical need for integrated approaches that unify security and recovery efforts. Moreover, the integration of AI-powered technologies like Security Information Management (SIM) and Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) systems offers enhanced detection capabilities, enabling real-time alerts and coordinated responses across security and recovery teams.
By bridging these gaps and leveraging advanced technologies, enterprises can significantly reduce downtime and mitigate the impact of cyberincidents. As cyberthreats continue to evolve, enterprises must prioritise cyber recovery as a cornerstone of their security strategies. By aligning recovery capabilities with proactive security measures, businesses can swiftly navigate cyberincidents and safeguard their backup environments against ongoing digital threats, ensuring operational continuity and resilience in an increasingly volatile cybersecurity landscape.
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