// SCALING UP //
“
AS RETAILERS GROW
INCREASINGLY DEPENDENT ON
DATA-FUELLED INSIGHTS TO POWER THEIR OFFERS , PROMOTIONS AND LOYALTY PROGRAMMES , CYBERSECURITY
WILL BE EVEN MORE CRITICAL
IN 2022 .
Mark Carl , Chief Security Officer , PDI Software to meet a wide variety of capacity and performance requirements . Next , SMEs should seek a solution that provides multi-protocol support . Certainly , at a minimum , the storage must support block ( iSCSI , FC ) and file ( NFS , CIFS / SMB ). However , given the increasing SME desire to run cloud-native applications , backup and restore critical data , as well as archive data in the cloud , S3 object storage support has become a must-have as well .
Today ’ s Digital Transformation strategies would be remiss if data protection and Business Continuity were not at the top of the list of considerations as well . This is especially true in an era when SME IT managers are not just concerned with equipment malfunction , but also insider threats and external cybercriminal activity , such as ransomware attacks . So , capabilities such as immutable volume and file system snapshots that deliver secure point-in-time copies ; object locking in a bucket or object-level protection for specified retention periods ; and pool-scrubbing to detect and remediate bit rot and data corruption are essential .
MARK CARL , CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER , PDI SOFTWARE
Any Digital Transformation journey is tied directly to cybersecurity . In 2020 and 2021 , SME convenience retailers learned first-hand how Digital Transformation could help them thrive , even during the largest economic disruption of the century . Those that had already embraced Digital Transformation were able to adapt on the fly and manage the rapidly changing market dynamics .
These retailers had the agility to move wherever consumers ( and suppliers ) wanted to go . But that technology investment has only escalated the urgency to protect the digital infrastructure and all the valuable data that drives c-store success .
As retailers grow increasingly dependent on data-fuelled insights to power their offers , promotions and loyalty programmes , cybersecurity will be even more critical in 2022 . Unfortunately , the proliferation of ransomware will also continue to be a serious threat .
That ’ s because a lot of the rapid technology adoption during the pandemic forced retailers to make trade-offs with cybersecurity , and now those bills are coming due . Convenience retail has been one of the industries hit hardest by ransomware attacks . The highly distributed business model , numerous endpoints connected to the Internet and a relative lack of onsite IT staff have combined to make c-store chains a prime target .
The good news is that if you know a ransomware threat looms on the horizon , you can at least prepare for it – even if you can ’ t necessarily prevent it . Here are four key things to know :
1 . If you ’ re using anti-virus tools , that ’ s good – but they ’ re no match for today ’ s sophisticated cyberthreats .
2 . If you ’ re subject to industry regulations and compliance mandates like PCI , you simply can ’ t afford a data breach .
3 . If you don ’ t have 24 / 7 / 365 coverage , your business isn ’ t adequately protected .
4 . If you don ’ t have in-house cybersecurity resources or expertise , you need ways to supplement your efforts .
You can fight back by working to prevent an attack and implementing the tools to detect potential threats and respond to them in real-time before they impact your business . In many cases , it might make good business sense to outsource your cybersecurity efforts .
Doing so can give you access to the latest security tools and around-the-clock monitoring from a team of cybersecurity experts – freeing you up to focus on what you do best . After all , your Digital Transformation journey will only be as successful as your cybersecurity strategy . �
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