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Addressing Cyber Protection and Data Protection Holistically, summary of IDC White Paper

A recent IDC research survey revealed there are two inextricably intertwined statistics that are driving a fundamental change in how enterprise IT operations are organized and operating.

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Practically every aspect of the modern world is driven by data and our reliance on digital assets will only increase in the future.

Adressing Cyber Protection

IDC views data security and availability as cornerstones of an IT transformation strategy.

It also acknowledges that managing data protection across increasingly hybrid environments is becoming more complex as threats become more diverse and sophisticated. Furthermore, the nature of this transformation is increasingly challenging because it entails distributing and collecting data from diverse systems and geographies, reducing visibility and control of the data for IT staff.

Ultimately, the increase in malware sophistication, ransomware, and targeted attacks is multiplying the threats to data availability and accuracy, so it is critical to evaluate existing defenses and processes.

93%

of organizations have experienced a cyberattack within the past three years

40%

of respondents cite sophistication of attacks and complexity of security

$250,000

the cost for an enterprise for an hour of downtime

Data protection and cybersecurity are merging to become cyber protection

Although cybersecurity and data protection have traditionally been treated as separate disciplines, IDC believes they are quickly merging into complementary, linked capabilities. The result is a new IT discipline of cyber protection. Cyber protection tools may be separate or integrated with threat detection software. These components include backup, off-site disaster recovery, malware detection and prevention, intrusion detection, encryption and authentication, and secure tiered storage, including off-site and/or cloud capabilities.

Furthermore, new technologies are becoming key to cyber protection. These include using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques to spot the anomalous behavior that often precedes an attack. Systems must be able to detect zero-day attacks – dangerous exploits that have not previously been encountered and therefore make traditional signature-based solutions ineffective.

Data storage and integrity will be enhanced by blockchain technologies

The growing prevalence of data storage and backup archiving in the cloud – along with the rise in malware attacks on data integrity – contributes to the need for scalable means to ensure and publicly verify data integrity. Companies, their customers, their business partners, and other actors (e.g., parties in lawsuits pursuing eDiscovery) increasingly need proof that data has not been tampered with, regardless of where it was stored or backed up (e.g., in public or private clouds). They also need to verify that recalled data is identical to what was stored or backed up. Blockchain technology is emerging as an effective technology for ensuring data authenticity.

To effectively adapt to exponentially increasing data volumes being collected (especially through edge computing and IoT devices) and the changing cyberthreat landscape, IDC recommends that IT organizations take the following actions to effectively implement an IT transformation:

  • Create a cyber protection center of excellence that focuses on data security and availability in IT transformation operations.
  • Embrace a strategy of cyber protection by more closely integrating data protection, disaster recovery, and data security operations.
  • Design cyber protection into infrastructure architectures, not incorporate it as an add-on.
  • Leverage automation and AI/machine learning to maximize responses to evolving threats.

Acronis is at the forefront of cyber protection solutions

Acronis Cyber Protection delivers an integrated set of solutions – both to customers and service providers – that combines traditional data protection with the cybersecurity needed to combat modern, ever-evolving threats. From the underlying infrastructure to its cloud-based delivery platform, Acronis Cyber Protection is designed to protect servers, virtual machines, traditional applications, cloud-native applications, edge and mobile devices, or any combination. This approach ensures that any environment, including hybrid cloud (on-premises to public cloud) and multi-cloud (public to public cloud), is covered by the Acronis Cyber Protection umbrella.

Acronis’ cyber protection strategy is based on five vectors:

Safety

Ensuring that a reliable copy of data is always available

Accessibility

Making data easily available from anywhere at any time

Privacy

Controlling who has visibility and access to data

Authenticity

Creating undeniable proof a copy is an exact replica of the original

Security

Protecting data, apps, and systems against malicious threats

Acronis integrates these concepts across its product lineup

IDC has determined – and outlined in this full whitepaper available for download – that Acronis has designed its solutions to offer IT organizations better control of their cyber protection environment through global policies, role-based data management, and encryption. Security is enhanced using active AI and machine learning-based ransomware detection, alerting, and automated recovery of affected files, as well as by an integrated, blockchain-based backup notarization service.

Finally, the Acronis product architecture is designed for universal scale-out deployment with simple implementations and management. This unique approach separates Acronis from the pack of traditional data protection and recovery software vendors, with a platform of solutions that tackles increasingly complex data protection challenges. Service provider partners and enterprise customers will be the beneficiaries.

Security is enhanced using active AI-based ransomware detection, alerting, and automated recovery with certified data authenticity via blockchain technology. Finally, the Acronis product architecture is designed for universal scale-out deployment with simple implementations and management. This gives Acronis an opportunity to separate itself from the traditional data protection and recovery software vendor pack, by applying a platform of solutions that tackle increasingly complex data protection initiatives and threats; its service provider partners and enterprise customers will be the beneficiaries.