Fortifying Frontline Defences – Cutting-Edge Enterprise Data Storage Solutions Are Revolutionising Cybersecurity

Written by Eric Herzog, CMO at Infinidat

Today, the threat of a cyberattack has become so pronounced that in a survey of Fortune 500 CEOs in 2023, the #2 threat CEOs cited to their companies was cybersecurity. We live in a data-driven world and protecting data assets is a constant challenge for all enterprise organisations. As Professor Stuart Madnick from MIT wrote in his recent paper, there was a 20% increase in the number of data breaches between 2022 and 2023 and this frequency continues to increase dramatically year-after-year.

One issue behind the rising incidents involving data breaches is that the connection between cyber security resilience and data storage systems tends to be overlooked by CTOs, CIOs, and CISOs. Enterprise storage is sometimes regarded as being at the more traditional, staid end of the technology stack compared with other newcomers, like Gen AI and EDGE computing. And yet, the type of storage in use within an organisation plays a critical role in their ability to recover quickly from a cyberattack. In this respect, storage can be considered one of the missing links to a comprehensive enterprise cyber protection strategy.

In addition to sub-optimal awareness of the vital connection between storage and cybersecurity, another contributor to organisational vulnerability is the lack of automated integration between the infrastructure where data is stored and cybersecurity monitoring systems employed. This is another enterprise security oversight. Cybersecurity monitoring systems like a SOC or SIEM, and SOAR cyber security applications, need a direct link to storage systems because this is the only way to ensure that immutable snapshotting of data – to enable a safe recovery – is automated. Cyberattacks are so prevalent today that most CTOs, CIOs, and CISOs will acknowledge that some form of ‘cyber-incident’ is likely to take place inside their organisation at some point. This is an inevitable part of doing business. The question is not if an organisation will suffer a cyberattack, but when and how often.

So, the goal now for security administrators needs to shift towards firstly protecting the organisation as effectively as possible and secondly, ensuring that the recovery phase is seamless and creates minimal problems. How can they be fully confident that primary and back-up data is safe and can be restored in minutes? And what tools exist to enable storage admins to shrink the threat window and minimise consequences of an attack?

Reaching this point calls for a brand new, more joined up approach to cyber security strategy development, employing strengthened enterprise storage security and automated cyber-scanning. And now, a unique new solution developed by enterprise storage specialists, Infinidat, does exactly this. It has already been given rave reviews by IT industry analysts because of its potential to transform cybersecurity recovery capabilities.

As several of the leading storage industry analysts have noted –

“Infinidat is one of the top enterprise storage companies in the world today, so it’s no surprise to see them launch compelling new solutions anchored in next-generation storage capabilities. With the new G4, the expanded InfiniSafe software, InfuzeOS Cloud Edition for Microsoft Azure, and all the enhancements on the InfiniVerse platform, Infinidat has solidified its position as a ‘go-to’ solution provider for hybrid multi-cloud storage infrastructures. It’s because of innovations like these that Infinidat is now synonymous in the enterprise with high performance and lower TCO for cyber resilient storage. The company is also making the right strategic investments in its InfiniVerse platform, delivering a strong Storage-as-a-Service offering that gives enterprises even more flexibility in deploying business-critical storage.” Steve McDowell, Chief Analyst, NAND Research

“Infinidat has carved out a unique leadership position as the only storage vendor to offer an automated enterprise storage cyber protection solution that seamlessly integrates with cyber security software applications. Infinidat’s newly launched InfiniSafe Automated Cyber Protection (ACP) that easily meshes with the SIEM, SOAR or Security Operations Centres is exactly what enterprises need to include enterprise storage as a comprehensive approach to combat cyber threats. This proactive cyber protection technique is extremely valuable, as it enables taking immediate immutable snapshots of data at the first sign of a potential cyberattack. This provides a significant advancement to ensure enterprise cyber storage resilience and recovery are integral to an enterprise’s cybersecurity strategy. ACP enhances an enterprise’s overall cyber resilience by reducing the threat window and minimising the impact of cyberattacks on enterprise storage environments.” Chris Evans, Principal Analyst at Architecting IT

“The new InfiniBox G4 hybrid and all-flash arrays represent a significant generational advance in cost economics and ultimate performance for enterprise-class infrastructure solutions. In EMEA we’re seeing a rapid acceleration in the Digital Shift and IT is becoming responsible for customer experience and becoming the foundation of modern business models. In addition, the performance demands of GenAI is pushing storage requirements to the limit. Infinidat has built on its proven and scalable storage platform to deliver a storage architecture that can deliver not only on today’s demanding requirements, but also on future storage needs as application demands continue to inexorably increase.” Andrew Buss, Senior Research Director, EMEA Future of Digital Infrastructure, IDC

In a world where data breaches are increasingly frequent and sophisticated, the connection between data storage and cybersecurity can no longer be overlooked. A convergent approach is paramount and there is a real need for integrated, automated and intelligent data storage solutions that offer a robust defence mechanism with added data protection and recovery capabilities. By taking a more holistic approach to cybersecurity, where storage and security are working together, enterprises can mitigate the impacts of cyber incidents and safeguard their most valuable asset: data.