Air-gapped backup has gained support among many businesses now. This support will only continue to grow. The reason behind this support is ransomware. The growing threats of ransomware attacks and malicious incidents have made businesses rethink their data protection strategy.
Businesses need a more reliable solution to tackle such advanced attacks. And this is where air-gapped backups come in.
Air-Gapping & Air-Gap- What is it?
Air-gapping is not a new concept. It has been in discussion and practice for quite some time now. Especially since the increase in the number of ransomware attacks recently.
An air-gap is a technical configuration of a backup environment. Data is stored offline and is separate from the production environment.
As a result of this, it is much harder for cyber attackers to access the data remotely. This ensures that data remains safe and secure. In case of a ransomware attack, the business would have an uninfected copy of their data ready to be recovered.
How Air-Gapped Backups are Deployed
There are two strategies of deploying air-gapped backups. Offline storage and air-gapped networks. Which is chosen depends on the use-case and preference of the user.
Offline storage is usually used by Small to Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs). Tape backup and removable media are examples of offline storage.
The working of offline storage is simple. It requires that tape or any other removable media gets stored in a safe. Separate from the production site.
However, with tape, there are many durability concerns. It can easily be corrupted or even destroyed in a disaster. It can even get lost. So, tape is not recommended anymore. Nowadays, cloud has emerged as an alternative.
Having said that, it is important to take note of one thing. The architecture must be designed in a way that the data is stored separately. Air-gapped backups don’t work if the production environment becomes infected and them backed up. Data needs to be backed up to air-gapped volumes before the infection. Otherwise, there is no point.
The is why backup retention should be long. So that it is possible to recover from a point where the environment is not yet infected.
Air-Gapped Backup in Backup Appliance
Many modern backup appliances offer air-gapped volumes. This can offer the required ransomware protection and can help fight advanced ransomware. Apart from this, the added features and performance adds to the data security even more. Features like as immutable snapshots, encryption, anti-ransomware, WORM (Write Once Read Many) and more.
Furthermore, a backup appliance can offer the necessary performance needed to excel their business. This can be a breath of fresh air when the added performance is needed in order to compete against their competitors.
Conclusion
Air-gapping and air-gapped backup is a great way to tackle the threat of ransomware. Every business should consider air-gapped backup. It should be a part of their backup and recovery strategy. And for added performance, businesses should also invest in a backup appliance with air-gapped backup as a standard feature.