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File Data Ransomware

What is File Data Ransomware?

This is a ransomware attack targeting file data. 

File data can be generated from users as well as machines. From genomics and medical imaging, streaming video, electric car data, and IoT products, all industries are generating vast amounts of unstructured file data, and increasingly enterprises are migrating file workloads to the cloud. File data can be petabytes of data and billions of files, so migrating this much unstructured data to the cloud takes time and can be disruptive. Cloud data migrations require proper planning to ensure minimal disruption and unintended costs.

There is a growing recognition in the importance of having a layered protection strategy in place against potential file data ransomware attacks. Upwards of 80% of data today is unstructured file data, so IT organizations cannot afford to leave file data unprotected from ransomware. Early detection of ransomware will deliver the best outcome, but ransomware attacks are constantly evolving. Detection is not always foolproof and can be difficult. Investing in ways to recover data if you do get attacked by ransomware and establishing an immutable copy of data in a separate location separate from data storage and backups is the best way to recover data in the event of a ransomware attack. 

But keeping multiple copies of data can get prohibitively expensive. Read the blog: How to Protect File Data from Ransomware at 80% Lower Cost

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Learn more about Komprise for cyber resiliency, including optimizing your defenses against cyber incidents, system failure and file data.

What is File Data Ransomware?

Ransomware is an attack by malware that holds your data files hostage by encrypting your systems and making your data inaccessible to you.  The majority of enterprise data in the enterprise is unstructured file data, which means organizations cannot afford to leave file data unprotected from ransomware. While the primary target for ransomware is file data, as the attacks grow more sophisticated hackers are seeking to defeat backups and snapshots.

How to recover your ransomware encrypted data files

The way to recover from a ransomware attack is to establish an immutable copy of your data in a separate location, ensuring it is separate from your data storage. Immutable storage can be physically “air gapped” with offline media such as tape or virtually air gapped with technologies such as AWS S3 object lock that prevent any modification of data even by administrators for a set retention period.

How long does it take to recover from a ransomware attack?

A critical component often overlooked is how long the ransomware recovery can take – if your business can’t resume until data is restored, every minute adds to the cost of the ransomware attack. Recovery from a ransomware attack is equivalent to a disaster where potentially 100% of your data must be restored. Having a tested recovery plan in place is essential to a successful recovery.

How do you protect file data from ransomware?

There are two components of ransomware protection: detection and recovery. Early detection of ransomware will deliver the best outcome, but this is not always foolproof and can be difficult. Organizations should also invest in data recovery strategies and create an immutable copy of data in a separate location data storage and backups in the event of a ransomware attack. But keeping multiple copies of data can get prohibitively expensive. To protect file data from ransomware, the solution must: – Be cost-effective – Protect if backups and snapshots are infected – Provide simple recovery without significant upfront investment – Be verifiable.

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