Ransomware reality: 96% of attacks target backup repositories

Willie Jansen van Rensburg, Strategix Group Sales Director – Africa.

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One billion euros – this is the fine Meta Platforms paid in May 2023 for violating the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union. It remains, at €1.2 billion, the highest fine issued by the regulatory body so far, but it is not the only fine issued to the same company. Meta has been fined four times over the past three years. Amazon, TikTok, WhatsApp Ireland, Google and Facebook Ireland have also been issued fines since 2021 and they all sit in the millions. Their crimes? Not complying with data protection regulations.

In South Africa, the situation isn’t any less complex. Dis-Chem recently dodged a R10 million fine for a data breach, and government departments are experiencing attack after attack. In 2024, there have been attacks on the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the CIPC.

However, when it comes to data protection, it’s not just regulations companies need to worry about. Threat actors and increasingly pervasive attack methodologies are the other side of the data coin. According to the Veeam 2024 Ransomware Trends Report, ransomware – one of the most pernicious forms of malware – is an inevitability, not a possibility. The report also found that 96% of ransomware attacks prioritised backup repositories.

More concerning? Only 14% of companies could recover their data without paying a ransom and 28% who did pay were unable to recover their data.

Protecting your data is critical. That much is clear. What isn’t always clear is the how. How can companies deftly navigate the evolving threat landscape and what solutions should they prioritise to ensure they are protected in the event of a successful attack?

One of the answers lies in reliable backup. An effective backup solution designed to handle rigorous security expectations while giving the business peace of mind. The Veeam Backup and Replication platform is designed to help companies manage their data security without compromising on its availability. The solution creates image-level backups of workloads across the cloud, physical and virtual environments, then captures this information in a consistent state. This allows for rapid data recovery and complete control over the entire life cycle of your data’s storage, admin and security.

Veeam is one of the market leaders in data protection solutions and its Backup and Replication platform is built to meet the needs of the modern business. It offers resilience for critical workloads, is designed to mitigate the risk of ransomware, offers instant recovery capabilities and comes at a solid price point that offers a long-term return on investment.

As one of Veeam’s trusted integrators and service providers in South Africa, Strategix can help organisations implement an incredibly reliable and capable data protection solution. Strategix is the only Veeam Accredited Service Provider (VASP) status company in sub-Saharan Africa – a status achieved through consistent expertise and a commitment to service delivery – and brings a real-world understanding of the challenges companies face when it comes to meeting their compliance and security requirements. The advisory and support provided by Veeam include enhanced data protection and cyber security features, scalable backup environment management, exceptional deployment and configuration and improved operational management. It is a comprehensive and holistic approach that reimagines a company’s security posture with the latest features and capabilities.

The Strategix commitment to security is also felt in proven case studies where the company has collaborated with organisations in South Africa to create robust data protection ecosystems. Built on the stable and reliable Veeam foundations, these Strategix implementations have delivered measurable results across data performance, accessibility and security.

Transform your security with Strategix.