The Ransomware Chronicles: New Strategies and a Shared Solution

Ransomware poses a significant threat to organizations and individuals worldwide. With threats encompassing nearly every industry, companies face major challenges in securing their file systems and protecting their primary data from exposure.

Moving forward, tackling the growing threat of ransomware will require new solutions and new mindsets. While backups provide a means to restore data, they often result in operational downtime that businesses cannot afford. Meanwhile, ransomware detection solutions are focused on the execution of ransomware (i.e., they only alert your organization when the malware has already reached your system), and they can’t offer 100% coverage. (Just look at how Microsoft missed several kinds of ransomware attacks a few years ago.)

The problem is compounded by the sophistication of modern ransomware, which not only locks data but also exfiltrates personal and sensitive information. These kinds of double extortion attacks are a risk that traditional backups and ransomware detection can’t mitigate, since they don’t prevent data from being stolen.

New strategies and solutions for the ongoing threat

To face these ransomware threats, companies need to employ a transformative strategy, one that focuses on securing primary storage data from ransomware attacks. This means shifting from a reactive security approach to a proactive, data-centric one. The reality is that encountering ransomware is a matter of when, not if, and traditional storage solutions and file systems are not adequately designed to handle these threats.

The ShardSecure platform

ShardSecure offers a novel solution that fragments data and distributes it across multiple storage locations to combat ransomware. Our self-healing feature can detect any changes to data and reconstruct affected data in real-time, ensuring that data remains accurate and available even if a storage location is compromised. This approach not only prevents data exfiltration but also avoids operational disruptions and costly downtime.

Using multiple storage locations is a time-tested method for enhancing resilience. However, traditional failover systems often lack automation and compatibility across different services. ShardSecure’s innovative approach leverages a variety of storage and file services — including file servers, object storage, and network-attached storage (NAS) — to ensure seamless functionality across diverse environments.

ShardSecure and Wasabi: the best of both worlds

To further enhance data resilience, ShardSecure offers an integration with Wasabi’s storage solutions, which provides low-cost and immutable cloud storage without egress fees. Data residing in Wasabi's storage cannot be altered or deleted, even by the account owner, providing an additional layer of security. The ShardSecure-Wasabi integration offers an effective and budget-friendly way to protect live file systems and primary storage from ransomware threats, helping organizations to maintain their business continuity without financial strain.

Come visit us at RSAC 2024

Planning to attend this year’s RSA Conference? Come visit the ShardSecure team at booth #5263 Moscone North and meet our Wasabi partners to discuss our shared solution. We hope to see you there!