Originally posted on Data Center POST
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the risk of ransomware attacks continues to escalate, with cybercriminals continuously finding new vulnerabilities to exploit. One area that has recently come under the radar is the backup infrastructure of enterprise organizations. To address this emerging threat vector, Opti9, a prominent hybrid cloud solutions provider, has taken a proactive approach. Opti9’s Observr product, a cutting-edge SaaS tool, has been designed to detect and prevent ransomware attacks within an organization’s backup environment. In a groundbreaking cybersecurity validation assessment conducted by CyPROS, Observr’s effectiveness was substantiated, earning it the esteemed recommendation as a crucial element of a holistic security stack for enterprise organizations.
Observr: An Essential Solution in the Fight Against Ransomware Attacks
The 2023 Global Report on Ransomware Trends reveals a startling statistic – 93% of ransomware attacks now target backup data and infrastructure. Cybercriminals deploy this tactic to destroy recovery capabilities before initiating an attack, thereby increasing the likelihood of receiving ransom payments. Observr is a remarkable anomaly detection service, specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with Veeam, the leading Data Replication and Protection Software Worldwide. Its primary objective is to thwart ransomware attacks and other threats by employing advanced machine learning algorithms to baseline, monitor, and identify suspicious activity within the backup infrastructure.
The significance of Observr lies in its ability to detect the presence of attackers attempting to modify and destroy recovery options within the backup infrastructure. By identifying these malicious actors before they can execute their attacks, organizations gain valuable time to take proactive measures to safeguard their data.
CyPROS Validates Observr’s Effectiveness
Opti9 engaged CyPROS, a prominent provider of penetration testing and threat protection services, to conduct a comprehensive cybersecurity validation assessment of Observr. The report titled “Thwart Cyberthreats: Evaluation Report of the Opti9 Observr” presents the findings and recommendations from multiple scenarios that were meticulously executed in January and February 2023.
During this assessment, CyPROS’ team of elite white hat hackers emulated attack workflows and techniques commonly used by malicious actors. The test scenarios included typical deployments of Veeam Backup & Replication™ software, resembling enterprise environments. Notably, CyPROS confirmed that traditional in-line change-rate based detection mechanisms are ineffective at identifying ransomware in progress. These reactive alarms only notify an organization after their systems have already been infected. Instead, focusing on the backup control-plane proved to be a far more effective means of detecting activities that typically precede an attack.
The additional information from the new report published on the Opti9 website emphasizes that Observr exhibited exceptional performance during the validation assessment. The report details how Observr successfully detected and prevented ransomware attacks on various occasions. It highlighted that Observr’s machine learning algorithms not only detected ransomware presence but also provided actionable insights for security teams to respond effectively.
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