Lisa Strydom, Senior Manager Channels Africa at Veeam. (Image: Supplied)

Data is the lifeblood of every business, yet it’s under constant attack. As cyber-criminals evolve, the risk of losing sensitive information grows. Without ironclad protection, companies face devastating consequences. 

Today, data security isn’t optional - it’s everything, writes Lisa Strydom, Senior Manager Channels Africa at Veeam.

Gone are the days of data living solely in physical folders and locked cabinets. Today, critical business information exists in the vast digital realm, making it a prime target for cybercriminals.

The rise of cyber crime poses a constant and growing threat, with hackers exploiting vulnerabilities to steal sensitive data, disrupt operations, and hold companies hostage. 

One breach can have catastrophic consequences, from financial devastation to irreparable damage to a company’s reputation.

So much so that ransomware, in particular, has evolved into one of the most devastating cyber threats, with both its volume and sophistication increasing at an alarming rate. 

This as the 2024 Veeam Ransomware Trends Report suggests that 75% of companies experienced at least one attack in the past year, with 25% enduring four or more. 

Concerningly, paying the ransom offers no guarantee of recovery, as 25% of businesses reported losing data even after making the payment. 

With AI fueling the rise of more complex and frequent attacks, the impact on businesses has become more severe than ever before.

The world runs on data, and so does every business. When this vital data is compromised or inaccessible, everything comes to a standstill. Imagine a world where your operations are halted because your data is out of reach. 

To prevent such disruptions, it's crucial to safeguard data across every conceivable platform, including clouds, endpoints, virtual machines, applications, containers, and SaaS environments. 

The key to avoiding these catastrophic failures is Data Resilience, ensuring that your data is always available, precisely when and where it's needed.

So, what does a data resilient approach look like? Data Resilience isn’t just an objective, but the core principle driving a secure and reliable resiliency strategy to make sure that business-critical data is secure and recoverable in the worst case. 

This approach is built on five essential pillars, each crafted to ensure that your data remains protected, accessible, and recoverable at all times. These include:

1. Data Backup: Since backup data is the first target of ransomware attacks almost 96% of the time according to Veeam research, ensuring a clean, locked-down, immutable, and air-gapped copy of your data is essential for a smooth recovery. This safeguard ensures that even if your primary systems are compromised, you can restore operations quickly and efficiently.
2. Data Security: True security begins with a zero-trust architecture, ensuring that your data is protected with secure, controlled access. This includes security fundamentals like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and end-to-end encryption, alongside proactive measures such as continuous threat scanning to detect and prevent potential vulnerabilities.
3. Data Recovery: Whether due to cyberattacks, regulatory requirements, human error, or natural disasters, disruptions can strike unexpectedly. Data recovery is about ensuring that no matter the cause, your data can be restored instantly, anywhere, without loss or risk of re-infection – it will keep your business up and running without interruption.
4. Data Intelligence: This involves more than just safeguarding data; it’s about deriving valuable insights from your entire data estate. By leveraging data intelligence, you can improve your systems, gain deeper visibility, and make your data management more efficient and effective.
5. Data Freedom: Having the flexibility to move your data as needed, without being locked into a single vendor, platform, or location, is critical. Data freedom gives you the power to make decisions based on your business strategy, ensuring you remain agile and responsive in an ever-changing environment.

Here, Data Freedom is more critical than ever. In today’s fast-paced and highly digitised business environment, it provides the flexibility to move and manage data without being tied to a single vendor or platform. This agility helps businesses make strategic decisions and scale effortlessly, free from restrictive technologies.

Data Freedom goes beyond crisis mobility - proactively preventing vendor lock-in and granting control over data storage and recovery. Whether shifting from VMware to Hyper-V, Nutanix, or across cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, it ensures smooth transitions and operational continuity.

In the event of ransomware or other cyber threats, it allows for quick recovery to alternative environments, such as different clouds or new platforms, sidestepping traditional constraints. 

It also supports adaptability for regulatory changes, tech migrations, or platform shifts, ensuring data remains portable and accessible amidst disruptions.

In an era where data is under constant siege, fortifying your defences proactively and building data resilience is crucial. 

Think of your data strategy as an impenetrable shield: robust backups, tight security, swift recovery, insightful management, and ultimate flexibility ensure you’re not just protected but prepared for any threat. 

Partnering with the right solutions offers you a fortress of resilience, keeping your operations secure and agile in the face of evolving cyber risks.