An article by Christian Scharrer, Enterprise Architect and CTO Ambassador at Dell Technologies Germany.

The most important measure against cyberattacks is a sensible and consistent backup strategy. A cybervault – a digital data safe – is the safest protection and significantly increases a company’s resilience. Point-by-point IT security measures leave cyber attackers with plenty of opportunities. The ever-worsening threat situation should be reason enough for companies to finally implement holistic strategies. However, heterogeneous infrastructures make this considerably more difficult.

Ransomware has become the weapon of choice for hackers in the age of cloud and distributed IT infrastructures: while simple data theft is already unpleasant enough, ransomware enables cybercriminals to exert double pressure. On the one hand, they can demand money from companies to prevent data leaks. On the other, they can take a company’s data hostage by encrypting it. If the company does not pay, all critical business information could be irretrievably lost in the worst case.

What makes the situation worse is that technical know-how is no longer required to commit cybercrime. In the past, hacking was an elitist activity, and people with criminal intent needed a deep technical understanding. Today, they can purchase the necessary capabilities as a service. Following the examples of Software as a Service (SaaS) or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), hackers’ new business model is called “Ransomware as a Service” (RaaS). Those with at least basic developer knowledge have it even easier and cheaper. Depending on their own creativity, AI tools like ChatGPT can help them create the content for their cybercrime toolkit. They just need to know how to bypass the security measures set by the providers through clever questioning – instructions for this can be easily obtained.

Holistic security concepts are needed

Equipped with new tools and darknet marketplaces where hackers offer their goods and services, cybercriminals and wannabes are entering the race for quick money through digital extortion. Unfortunately, they often have an easy time of it, as companies make it relatively simple for them. In many places, basic defense measures and holistic security concepts are lacking.

A holistic security strategy first and foremost includes so-called “no-brainers,” i.e., measures that should actually be self-evident. All software components of a company should always be state-of-the-art, including hardware drivers, operating systems, and apps. There is no excuse for ignoring updates and security patches or putting them off indefinitely. While an always up-to-date IT ecosystem does not guarantee absolute security, it is a central piece of the puzzle to make it as difficult as possible for attackers. This naturally also includes the end devices of employees who access the company network and the connected servers and systems.

Special challenges ...

Concrete recommendations for action for a secure IT infrastructure require a look at the technological reality. The Global Data Protection Index (GDPI) by Dell Technologies, for example, has shown that in many companies public clouds are the method of choice for deploying new applications and updating existing ones. In this context, multi- and hybrid cloud scenarios are also playing an increasingly important role, which does not exactly simplify the security situation. Consequently, the study shows that only a few of the respondents truly believe their data is protected across the entire cloud environment.

The situation is no better when it comes to data security in connection with other technologies: More and more companies are using edge computing, containers, cloud-native apps, and various types of databases to adapt their business to new tasks. Many IT managers surveyed by Dell Technologies therefore see major challenges ahead for their departments. At the same time, the pressure is growing: After all, according to the GDPI, the average cost of a successful cyberattack is over one million US dollars per year—just to quantify the urgency in financial terms.

… require special measures

So what can companies do concretely to get a handle on the security situation—especially in cloud and edge environments? A combination of process-related and technological measures is necessary.

In the context of increasingly distributed IT environments and numerous access points, the so-called Zero Trust approach is essential. Blind trust no longer applies to any account or device: every employee should only be granted access to the specific areas of a company’s digital ecosystem for which they have explicit authorization. This restricted access is typically secured using methods such as two-factor authentication. Unfortunately, Dell Technologies’ survey shows that while many companies plan to adopt Zero Trust, only twelve percent have already implemented the corresponding security architecture. Tools that analyze user behavior—ideally in real time—also help defend against cyberattacks. By identifying anomalies, security experts can sometimes nip attacks in the bud or at least prevent widespread system infiltration.

Multi- and hybrid-cloud scenarios present companies with particular challenges: each environment must be secured separately. The respective clouds often differ significantly in their operation, native security settings, and available toolsets. Companies therefore need experts for each cloud and security platforms specifically designed for multi- or hybrid-cloud environments. Such a security platform may also be suitable for edge environments, where systems can vary greatly from location to location.

Since there is no such thing as one hundred percent protection against cyberattacks, the most important measure for greater resilience is a comprehensive backup strategy to ensure rapid operational readiness in the event of a successful attack. This includes processes—such as regular data backups—and the necessary systems. A disaster recovery cluster where companies store copies of all their files is the bare minimum. In edge environments, it may be necessary to operate it locally at the relevant sites. A so-called Cyber Vault is ultimately the gold standard when it comes to resilience. Data on such a backup server is completely invisible to cybercriminals, even if they successfully access the company’s IT, because it is fully decoupled from the network.

The lower the complexity, the better.

Once all technological and procedural security measures are in place, companies must make them practical and reduce complexity. No administrator can, for example, keep track of all security aspects across multiple or hybrid cloud and edge infrastructures. Therefore, every company needs centralized tools for monitoring and configuring their entire IT. They should also automate as many processes as possible. People are – and unfortunately, this becomes clear time and again with data leaks and cyberattacks – probably the biggest risk factor. External attacks are often only possible because someone clicks on a fraudulent link in an email, opens a virus-infected attachment, or simply fails to update software. By automatically rolling out security patches to hardware components or automating data backups, companies reduce their attack surface and mitigate the potential consequences of successful attacks.

A lack of personnel is no excuse for lax data security. “As-a-Service” models offer a cost-efficient and effective alternative to building a security infrastructure in-house. They include individually tailored systems consisting of software, hardware, and cloud components that cover everything from backup plans to automation mechanisms and recovery tools to secure mission-critical data.

The task for companies is clear: “Let those who acquire data eternally be vigilant.” In times of increasingly frequent cyberattacks and services like Ransomware as a Service, it is first important that they evaluate their security architecture and identify where improvements are needed. Only when preventive and corrective measures work together does a nearly seamless security net emerge.