Bridgeworks CEO features in Computing Security Magazine to discuss the latest developments in data centre security.
May 27, 2022
The 2022 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report clearly exposes why organisation should always follow a Zero Trust approach to cybersecurity, maintains David Trossell, CEO and CTO of Bridgeworks. Over the course of the last 12 months, the company’s threat researchers have noticed what they describe as a “meteoric rise in cyberattacks…across all threat vectors”, with significant increases in ransomware [623 million ransomware attacks in 2021, up 105% YoY], cryptojacking, encrypted threats, Internet of Things (IoT) malware and Zero-day attacks. Other kinds of cyber-attacks have also been noted – as has a significant increase in activity following the start of the war in Ukraine.
“These cyber-attacks, threats and trends mean that small businesses, government agencies, enterprises and other organisations cannot be complacent,” Trossell comments. “Protecting themselves to remain able to operate without downtime is crucial. It’s also about protecting their supply chains, their partnerships, their reputations and their customer relationships. All of them should therefore consider cyber-security as a being non-negotiable – or face the reckoning of customers, partners and regulators worldwide.”
Cybersecurity isn’t just about having firewalls, anti-virus software and other measures in place. Organisations, particularly those with the large data centres, need to make sure data centres aren’t located in the same circles of disruption by setting them far apart. “They ideally need to back-up their data in three locations, having a service continuity plan that involves deploying WAN Acceleration solutions to mitigate the effects of latency and packet loss to allow accelerated backups and restores,” adds Trossell. This approach can enable the organisation to keep running, even in the face of any type of cyber-attack.
“Furthermore, it’s important to create air gaps to protect an organisations most sensitive data – including personal data – which falls under EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and under the UK version of it. By preventing data breaches, organisations can ensure regulatory compliance and forestall any need to pay huge fines: UK GDPR and Data Protection ACT 2018 set a maximum fine of £17.5 million or 4% of annual global turnover. So, by taking a Zero Trust approach, data protection compliance can be achieved, data secured and penalties like this avoided.”
The challenge, he says, is that data volumes are increasing exponentially and this can become a major issue, whether an organisation is backing up their data, restoring it after a ransomware attack or doing it for indexing purposes to comply with regulations, such as GDPR. Doing all this over Wide Area Networks (WANs) can be both slow and expensive. Slow, because WANs are a good option, but they also need a boost and this can be achieved with a WAN Acceleration overlay – making it harder for hackers to divert data traffic, while providing a supporting platform for a Zero Trust approach to effective cybersecurity.”