EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

DALE HEATH , SALES ENGINEERING MANAGER ,

AT RUBRIK A / NZ

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics , the pandemic has seen cloud become the most popular technology for local enterprises with 57 % of businesses using it today . Cybersecurity software was a distant second , reportedly used by 26 % of Australian businesses .

However , as workers became increasingly dispersed , ransomware attackers went into overdrive . devices and applications are untrustworthy and can be compromised .

This approach is particularly important when using cloud-based productivity and collaboration SaaS platforms as they hinge on a shared responsibility model . In this model , the SaaS provider is responsible for keeping the cloud functional while the business is responsible for protecting the data created within that cloud .

One of the most common platforms organizations have turned to enable remote work and ensure employees can collaborate and remain productive while working from anywhere is Microsoft 365 .

As new cloud collaboration and productivity apps were rapidly brought into enterprise environments , and workers began operating far from the purview of their business ’ IT security teams , the potential surface area attackers could exploit increased exponentially . And they wasted no time exploiting it .

Recent research suggests ransomware attacks increased 500 % worldwide since the start of the pandemic . Week after week a litany of high-profile victims brought home the point that ransomware was now the number one cybersecurity threat with organizations including JBS , Kaseya , and even Australian healthcare provider UnitingCare Queensland , all taken offline .

So , with attackers more sophisticated and more active than ever , and with enterprises defending a larger and more complex attack surface , how can organizations effectively defend themselves against such attacks ?

The answer lies in taking a ‘ Zero Trust ’ approach to data security .

Developed by the National Institute of Standards ( NIST ), a Zero-Trust approach assumes all users ,

To help organizations achieve effective cloud security , Rubrik and Microsoft recently announced Microsoft 365 and hybrid cloud data protection , along with integrated cloud services on Azure .

Together , Microsoft and Rubrik will ensure Microsoft 365 data is secure , discoverable and always accessible in the case of a ransomware attack – while also providing data resiliency in the event of accidental deletion , or corruption , as well as longterm archival of Microsoft 365 data for regulatory compliance purposes .

Critically , this partnership extends the Zero Trust approach to tightly integrate protection and automation with applications such as SAP , SQL , Oracle , VMware and enterprise NAS workloads on Azure .

With ransomware attackers increasingly targeting both cloud platforms and backup data , taking a Zero Trust approach to data management is more imperative than ever . Organizations must plan ahead so they are in a position to rapidly recover business-critical data after an attack without paying a ransom , and without experiencing any data loss , so there can be minimal disruption to the business .

34 INTELLIGENTCIO APAC www . intelligentcio . com