What’s immutable backup? 

What benefits will businesses and individuals get out of utilising immutable cloud backups?

Organisations are faced with an astronomical velocity and volume of data creation. With data intrinsic value increasing every day, it is crucial to protect it from threats and losses. Achieving data permanence and authenticity is also crucial especially in meeting the industry and regulatory compliance. Creating backups of data can help in recovery but if there are security breaches data often will be compromised. Therefore, it is important to have in place effective mechanisms of data protection. The solution to this challenge lies with immutable cloud backups.

Immutable backups

Blockchain enthusiasts must have come across the term immutable and appreciate it is one of the features that make this technology reliable. It means that data cannot be deleted or altered in any way. When it comes to immutable backups, specific data is stored in a manner that cannot be modified, removed, or tampered with. With immutable data backups, once something is written, chances of a hacker removing or deleting any part of data are greatly reduced or eliminated. The principle behind the concept is that immutability is set for a given time where data remains in its original form until the period lapses. Immutable data can be applied to data that is stored in most conventional storage platforms; however, cloud backups are providing an easy and flexible means to ensuring data permanence.

Why cloud backups?

With immutable backups, the cloud is the most preferred medium. One of the reasons is that by using the cloud for immutable storage, data can be accessed or recovered from anywhere. When compared to other mediums such as tapes, these have a limitation as they can only be accessed off-site and the method of retrieval is more complex. Using the cloud for data backup, customers are allowed to apply a time frame on immutability meaning that the unmodifiable copy can be retained for the preferred period.

Benefits of immutable backups

Several benefits can be derived from instituting immutable cloud backups. They include: adding another layer of protection, meeting regulatory requirements, avoiding accidental file deletion, protection against human errors, safeguarding backups among others.

Protected from ransom attacks

One of the benefits that customers will derive from the use of immutable cloud backup is protection from cyber attacks. With immutable storage, data is virtually impervious to attacks. Businesses and individuals can use it to recover data to the latest clean backup, knowing that it is unaffected by the attack.

With an immutable cloud, data is effectively protected from ransomware attacks. Anyone trying to gain access will only get an error message. Ransomware perpetrators are mostly looking to hold data owners and users hostage, they want to pay to release the data, but when one has invested in immutable cloud backup, you are protected from malicious attacks, saving thousands of dollars and more importantly using immutable cloud storage gives you an additional layer of protection.

Meet data compliance regulations

Some regulatory compliance such as GDPR mandates the retention of accurate copies of data. With immutable cloud backups, you will preserve copies of data for a given period. In a way, although meeting these requirements was not the primary objective, you can achieve this effortlessly.

As data currency keeps on rising, data protection becomes more important. The use of immutable cloud backups offers the necessary protection an affordable approach that every business should consider.

We believe an immutable cloud backup is an affordable approach that businesses should adopt.

For more details about immutable backups contact our tech support on +44 (0)808 9000 247 / baas@peasoup.cloud