Tag Archives: Disaster Recovery

Good Cloud Practices: How to Promote Cybersecurity in Your Organization

Posted on by

As cloud adoption continues to move along with increasing momentum, hackers have moved in to take advantage of the many businesses and organizations that have not properly put forth measures to defend their systems against attack.

With the benefits of the cloud widely extolled by IT professionals (even on this very blog), many businesses have taken notice and started to adopt, sometimes without foresight into every aspect of the cloud, particularly dealing with security. For any businesses looking to up their cloud game, here are some of the best ways to counteract common problems.

Counteract Data Breaches

As illustrated by the recent Equifax debacle and many other leaks of consumer information, dealing with data breaches is paramount when it comes to cloud security. When an organization is breached, it can face criminal charges, lawsuits, and a permanent stain on its reputation.

Because of this, companies should exercise the utmost caution when distributing sensitive information through cloud systems. Multifactor authentication is one of the easiest and best ways to counteract a potential breach, whether through phone verification, temporary passwords, or smartcards. Since many of these breaches occur as a result of poor user passwords or mismanagement of login credentials, these systems help enforce good conduct. It may slightly inconvenience some of your employees—but the cost to them is nothing compared to the cost of even a minor breach.

Physically Protect Your Data

One aspect of system management that many do not consider is potential damage in the face of a fire or natural disaster. If all of your data is kept in a single, physical location, the result of such a disaster can be catastrophic.

The cloud does, however, make it easier to backup and distribute your data. Consider additional data sites and precautions for disaster recovery. Off-site storage options are widely available and more useful than ever for preparing for potential destruction of data.

Audit Employee Accounts

The difficult part of achieving good cybersecurity is considering every point where a system can be compromised. Multifactor authentication is one way to help make the process as fail-proof as possible, but a level of due diligence from the company is also necessary.

For instance, be sure to immediately delete credentials from former employees. Even if their employment ended on good terms, it is wise to ensure that there are no extraneous accounts that have system access.

Monitor Access

The ability of system administrators to monitor a network have thankfully improved over time. Still, frequent checks are necessary to catch any anomalies as soon as possible. Advanced analytics and machine learning play a large part in better monitoring, but there is still no substitute for a seasoned IT professional, particularly one that can flag potential signs of breaches or issues before they happen. Per-app analytics are a great way to deliver application status in a usable manner that can then be acted upon in the event of a problem.

It can be difficult to completely screen a cloud system, but it’s something that every business needs to consider, with the consequences having the potential to permanently damage a company’s livelihood. Fortunately, there are a few tried-and-true methods to help protect from attack or disaster, allowing new cloud infrastructures to flourish and properly work toward improving a business.

Disaster Recovery—Don’t Gamble on Your Security

Posted on by

In this new age of cloud computing, we see companies adopting new systems that they hadn’t previously considered to keep up with the times. IT departments, often formerly regarded as a token failsafe in case of technical disaster, are now taking the lead to overhaul outdated data infrastructure and create lasting change in their companies.

Cloud computing is spreading through the business world, and businesses both large and small are working to adopt the cloud to better leverage their data and provide an easy backup. However, companies often overlook the security and backup measures necessary to ensure that cloud systems aren’t crippled in the event of an outage.

As a result, IT disaster recovery (DR) has gained attention, with businesses needing specialized plans and contingencies to ensure that their systems can be recovered as soon as possible in the event of an issue or an outage. DR has been around for awhile now, but with cloud computing placing further emphasis on Internet integration, the practice is more important than ever.

So what does disaster recovery entail? Are offsite backup servers necessary to ensure the security of your IT systems? Fortunately, the answer is no. With the rise of disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS), paying what you need for the promise of a secure cloud service in the event of a disaster is both cost-effective and highly beneficial.

The main issue with convincing businesses to adopt a DR plan is because of skewed perceptions of the factors that can causes outages or disasters. The name itself implies some cataclysmic event, such as a natural disaster or major storm, when in reality, the majority of outages are caused by operational failure or human error. For that matter, these outages are often very short-lived, and though companies can often get their systems running again in a short time, your customers’ widespread expectation for instantaneous action can make a surprisingly negative impact on relations.

In fact, a 2016 survey discovered that 69% of respondents reported that minutes of downtime would be disruptive to their businesses.

One of the best aspects of DRaaS systems is their ability to address failover in a comparatively small number of systems. As previously mentioned, failures are often much more minor than the moniker of “Disaster Recovery” would indicate. DRaaS systems are often able to group systems into virtual protection groups, allowing for more precise control when addressing problems.

Not all DRaaS systems are created equal, however. It is up to you as a business professional to seek a solution that is largely automated and offers good technical support. There’s no sense in recommending plans or companies here; every business will have its own unique needs when it comes to implementing a DR plan.

That said, adoption is pretty much necessary in this age of technological flux. 72% of companies have reported using their DR plans at least once, and beyond the issues previously mentioned, inconsistent cybersecurity measures have lead to a string of attacks by hackers.

Often, it can be difficult to make business leaders cognizant of the benefits of more robust IT systems. However, highly outdated IT practices have led to inefficiencies in some businesses. Anticipating and overcoming these issues can be the key to optimizing business practices and easing data analytics.