ON THE HORIZON
The Need For Unified BCDR
It ’ s Not Just Backup And Recovery Anymore
By Naj Raza , General Manager , Unitrends MSP
The past 12 months have significantly changed the way MSPs think about protecting and storing data — both their own and their clients . Backups must now protect endpoints , the cloud , and SaaS apps like Google Workplace and Microsoft Office 365 , and this data is growing 33 times faster than those that manage it .
Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the current hybrid work environment by launching even more sophisticated attacks directed at MSPs and their customers . More than half of all businesses experienced a ransomware attack in 2020 , and 2 in 5 SMBs were impacted by ransomware , an increase of more than 145 %. Organizations that paid ransom payments jumped 31 % in 2020 to $ 233,817 .
MSPs are hyper-aware of the security risks they face internally . The 2021 Annual Kaseya MSP Benchmark Survey showed that 39 % of MSPs acknowledged their business was more at risk in 2020 than in 2019 . However , MSPs often struggle to implement more stringent internal security measures because they are already stretched thin — any time spent on internal security efforts is time that isn ’ t allocated to revenue-generating activities with clients .
The news in 2021 isn ’ t better . Having antivirus protection in place and training employees is critical , but it ’ s not enough — threats still slip through . Weak data protection strategies have certainly opened up new opportunities for the criminal denizens of the Dark Web , including account takeover ( ATO ) attacks . ATO attacks have become a lucrative business for cybercriminals who steal or buy credentials in third-party breaches , then reuse them to gain easy access into corporate systems to steal IP addresses , perpetrate business email compromise , gain access to financial accounts , and commit other types of cyberfraud .
To combat the ongoing threats , it ’ s crucial that MSPs position backup solutions as part of their overall cybersecurity strategy . Many companies were already thinking of their backup and security strategies as interconnected , and the continued evolution of the cybercrime landscape has made this shift in thinking a necessity . As the data environment continues to grow in complexity for organizations of all sizes , businesses must equip themselves with integrated solutions that span both traditional security and backup functions to help prevent , anticipate , and mitigate account compromise and data loss .
Unified Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery ( BCDR ) To The Rescue
BCDR represents a set of approaches or processes that helps an organization recover from a disaster and resume its routine business operations . Disasters include natural calamities , outages or disruption due to power failure , employee negligence , hardware failure , and cyberattacks .
Backup and data recovery services are a mainstay for MSPs , and 75 % are offering a combination of cloud and local implementation and SaaS application backup ( up to 69 % in 2020 from 53 % the previous year ), according to the MSP Benchmark Survey . However , there is much more to gain from backup and recovery solutions .
6 | MSPSuccessMagazine . com • VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4