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PREDICTIVE INTELLIGENCE
Rewriting the rules on resilient infrastructure
Taking the right steps to forming a reliable Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery strategy are firmly placed at the heart of many boardroom discussions . Steve Blow , EMEA Sales Engineering Manager at Zerto , a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company , discusses the importance of building a stronger line of defence when it comes to cybersecurity , and why a holistic strategy that combines Disaster Recovery and backup with cybersecurity prevention solutions is the answer . n the traditional
I sense , the need for resilient infrastructure has been about maintaining the integrity of a variety of utilities , communication links , transport networks and many other factors that are the foundation of modern society .
As countries around the world face greater challenges , particularly those presented by climate change and natural disasters , resilience is becoming even more important . And today , there is also a compelling argument that efforts to mitigate the risks facing critical infrastructure should also be extended to IT systems and data centres . Indeed , the digitisation of society has become so deeply embedded in the way economies and cultures function , there are few places that can afford to see these key components of national infrastructure put at risk .
Take the huge problems caused by the rise in cybercrime in general and ransomware in particular . According to Cybersecurity Ventures , the global economic impact of cybercrime as a whole is expected to hit US $ 6 trillion this year and ransomware is a particular problem – it is expected to cost around US $ 265 billion a year by 2031 , with some individual demands now as high as US $ 50 million .
As a result , large US companies lose an average of US $ 5.66 million a year
Steve Blow , EMEA Sales Engineering Manager at Zerto , a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
in disruption – such as downtime and lost productivity caused by ransomware attacks – according to analysis from the Ponemon Institute .
The attacks on critical infrastructure , for example , are among the most alarming . Colonial Pipeline is among a number of recent examples where the loss of access to IT systems and data had a serious knock-on effect on its ability to maintain vital fuel supplies .
The company is reported to have paid a ransom demand of US $ 4.4 million to its attackers in order to restore its systems to normal .
The attack on the Irish healthcare system also caused weeks of widespread disruption , with public health services . Until recently , experts were expecting it to take many months before IT systems were fully restored .
Moreover , events of the past 18 months have added significantly to the pressure being placed on IT systems by cybercrime . With home and hybrid working set to continue as a permanent option for many millions of workers , safeguarding IT systems against failure has become more important than ever .
It ’ s clear , therefore , that critical IT infrastructures and data centres must become more resilient . In particular , IT teams should keep their IT resilience strategies under constant review and integrate new technologies into their operations to address both ongoing and emerging threats .
Cyberattacks – Not if , but when
More effective protection will also require a shift in mindset , because for most organisations it ’ s now a question of when they will be targeted , rather than if . One piece of industry research , for example , reported that 61 % of companies had been impacted by ransomware in 2020 .
This represents a 20 % increase over the year before and equates to an average of six working days lost to system downtime . Over a third said that ransomware downtime lasted one week or more .
Given that just one hour of unplanned downtime can cost a large enterprise up to www . intelligentciso . com
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