Data Management Glossary
Ransomware Protection
Ransomware protection is the term used for the comprehensive set of tools, policies, and strategies designed to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from ransomware attacks, specifically targeting malicious software that encrypts or threatens to expose data until a ransom is paid. The best ransomware protection strategy focuses not only on preventing the attack itself but also on minimizing damage and ensuring rapid recovery, especially for sensitive and unstructured data. This data is often more vulnerable due to its dispersed and unorganized nature.
Read: Protect Unstructured Data from Ransomware at 80% Lower Cost
How to Protect Against Ransomware – Focus on Unstructured Data
Unstructured data (emails, documents, videos, etc.) lacks a defined format and lives across endpoints, file shares, cloud storage, and collaboration platforms. It is frequently accessed and widely shared, making it a prime target for ransomware attacks. To protect against ransomware effectively, consider these strategies:
- Data Discovery & Data Classification: Identify where unstructured data lives and classify it based on sensitivity and value. This visibility is the first step toward applying the right level of protection.
- Access Control & Least Privilege: Restrict access to only those who need it. Implement role-based access and eliminate excessive permissions, reducing the potential spread if a user is compromised.
- Backup & Immutable Storage: Regularly back up unstructured data and store it in immutable object storage that cannot be altered or deleted by ransomware. Ensure backups are offline or air-gapped when possible.
- Endpoint & Email Protection: Since unstructured data often enters via endpoints or email, use advanced endpoint detection and anti-phishing tools to stop ransomware at the entry point.
- Behavioral Monitoring & Anomaly Detection: Use AI-driven monitoring tools to detect unusual access patterns, like bulk file modifications or encryption activities—hallmarks of ransomware in action.
- Zero Trust Architecture: Adopt a “never trust, always verify” approach. Every user and device must be continuously validated before accessing unstructured data.
- Employee Training & Awareness: Human error remains a key entry point. Educate employees on phishing, safe file sharing, and incident reporting.
- Rapid Response & Recovery Plans: Establish clear incident response protocols and test them regularly. Fast isolation and rollback are critical for the best ransomware protection.
By implementing a layered approach to ransomware data protection, organizations can significantly protect against ransomware attacks, especially when managing vast volumes of unstructured data that are otherwise hard to secure.
Komprise Unstructured Data Management for Ransomware
Komprise delivers a ransomware protection strategy for unstructured data with intelligent data management and visibility across storage environments. Here’s how Komprise contributes to a comprehensive defense against ransomware attacks:
Data Visibility and Classification
Komprise scans and analyzes unstructured data across multiple storage systems (on-prem and cloud), allowing organizations to:
- Identify where sensitive or valuable data resides.
- Understand usage patterns and data age.
- Highlight stale or orphaned data that could be risk-prone.
You can’t protect what you can’t see. This visibility is the foundation of a strong ransomware protection strategy.
Tiering and Archiving to Immutable Storage
Komprise enables transparent tiering of infrequently accessed (cold) data from primary storage to cost-effective, immutable object storage (e.g., S3 with object lock, Azure Immutable Blob). Isolate and store backups or cold data in immutable formats, which Komprise automates:
- Data remains accessible without changing user workflows.
- Reduces the attack surface on primary storage systems.
- Archived/tiered data is protected from ransomware encryption.
Reducing the Ransomware Attack Surface
By moving cold, inactive data out of high-risk, high-access storage:
- There’s less data exposed to potential attack.
- It limits the spread of ransomware across file systems.
This aligns directly with goals to protect against ransomware by minimizing vulnerable data volumes. Komprise Transparent Move Technology (TMT) reduces ransomware cost and liability by tiering cold files to the cloud so you can invest in high-end ransomware protection solutions for mission-critical data. Use Komprise TMT to tier cold data to immutable object storage in the cloud, which prevents ransomware actors from accessing or modifying your data. Set versioning on the immutable object storage to provide a pre-attack copy for restores.
Audit Trails and Data Access Insights
Komprise tracks file access, age, and data growth over time. This helps identify unusual activity patterns, such as sudden mass file access or changes—common signs of ransomware. A key ransomware protection strategy is the ability to monitor for suspicious behavior to detect attacks early and act quickly.
Faster Recovery and Lower Downtime
In the event of an attack:
- Data tiered to secure storage can be quickly recovered or restored.
- Komprise maintains metadata and file paths, helping organizations rebuild environments with minimal disruption.
- This minimizes downtime and reduces the impact of an attack.
In conclusion, Komprise strengthens your ransomware protection strategy for unstructured data by:
- Providing deep data visibility and intelligent analytics.
- Reducing the attack surfaces through smart tiering of unstructured file and object data.
- Leveraging immutable cloud storage.
- Enabling rapid recovery and data resiliency.
Together, these capabilities allow organizations to protect against ransomware more effectively and ensure long-term data security and business continuity.
Watch the Data on the Move discussion with Komprise CEO and cofounder Kumar Goswami: Lower Cost Ransomware Data Protection.
