Object First Research: 93% Of IT Professionals Say Immutable Storage is Essential to Protect Against Ransomware Attacks on Backup Data

New data reveals that outdated backup technology, limited backup data encryption, and failed data backups are top vulnerabilities to attacks.

BEVERLY, Mass, — October 22, 2024 — Object First, the creator of Ootbi (Out-of-the-Box-Immutability), the ransomware-proof backup storage appliance purpose-built for Veeam®, today released research revealing the impact of ransomware attacks on organizations’ data. According to the survey Object First conducted, research found that outdated backup technology (34%), lack of backup data encryption (31%), and failed data backups (28%) are the top vulnerabilities to attacks. Results also highlighted the importance of prioritizing immutability as part of security investments, with 93% of IT workers agreeing that since ransomware attacks target backups, immutable backup storage built on Zero Trust principles is now a must-have.

 “Our research shows that almost half of organizations suffered attacks that targeted their backup data, highlighting the criticality of adopting backup storage solutions that are ransomware-proof,” said Andrew Wittman, Chief Marketing Officer at Object First. “Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a reminder of the importance of ensuring protection against cyber threats, and it’s time for organizations to reevaluate their data backup and recovery strategies and invest in immutable storage that aligns with zero trust data resiliency (ZTDR) best practices.”

To enhance security defense measures, it’s important for organizations to first understand the challenges surrounding data security and protection. Key survey findings found that:

• Data storage security is lacking: 84% of IT workers say they need better backup security to meet regulations and compliance obligations, and 93% say their backup vendors need to focus more on security, identifying Zero Trust principles and immutable backup storage as key strategies.
• Solutions need to be simpler to deploy and manage: 41% of IT workers say their people lack the skills to manage complex backup storage solutions, while 69% say budget constraints on hiring security experts negatively impacted their security posture, underscoring the critical need for backup storage solutions that are simple to deploy and require minimal security expertise.
• Organizations need faster more powerful backup: 40% of IT workers do not have enough secure storage to protect all backup data against ransomware attacks, and 44% say it has taken one or more months to recover backup data, with 56% revealing downtime resulted in company-wide disruptions.

It’s clear that traditional security measures are no longer sufficient,and most IT leaders understand the need to ramp up the security of their backup storage architectures and tools. 97% plan to invest more in secure, immutable backup storage technology, while 93% say they’ll likely align their backup infrastructure with Zero Trust best practices. 

About the Survey

Object First commissioned Regina Corso Consulting to conduct a survey of those who work in IT in three countries to understand how they’re dealing with data recovery and data storage. The survey polled 615 IT workers – at manager levels and above – at companies having between 500 and 5,000 employees. The numbers of respondents are evenly split between the U.S., Germany and the U.K. More than half of the workers were between 18 and 39, a third were between 40 and 49, and 17% were over the age of 54.