Data protection, backup and archiving

RAID, flash and erasure coding: What works best with solid state?

We look at RAID and flash to highlight key choices when it comes to drive data protection. What RAID levels work best with solid state and when is erasure coding a good choice? Continue Reading

Need to know: Five key things about backup testing

We look at five key things to consider when it comes to backup testing – what to test, how often, making sure backups work, whether recovery is effective and ensuring processes are consistent Continue Reading

Kaspersky shuts down data-processing activities in Russia

Cyber security provider’s data storage and processing activities for customers in Europe, the US and Canada, have now been fully relocated to Switzerland Continue Reading

Will we lose our treasured memories to cloud policies?

People who use the free Google Drive service for personal use to store, share and collaborate on documents, will be aware that the company has been slowly shifting consumers to pay for cloud ... Continue Reading

Dutch bank set to save €5m via Veeam backup upgrade

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Leaky AWS S3 bucket once again at centre of data breach

Prestige Software exposed millions of records after failing to pay attention to the security of its cloud instances Continue Reading

IT Priorities 2020: Covid-19 consolidates storage push to cloud

The emphasis on home and remote working has been felt in storage and backup as in all areas of IT, with continued evolution towards the cloud and as-a-service storage and backup Continue Reading

Canada ad firm subtracts 44U with HPE and Ctera hyper-converged

Glenn Davis Group slashed its hardware estate from 48U of rack space to 4U when it ditched its SAN and tape legacy kit for flash-based Ctera X Series and cloud backup Continue Reading

Quantum’s ATFS aims to classify and manage unstructured data

Quantum triumvirate now comprises ATFS for file system classification and management, StorNext for high performance with large files and ActiveScale object storage as a bulk store Continue Reading

Slot of the Antarctic: Tape the best option for polar survey backup

Tape deemed the best medium for backup on board the Antarctic research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, with Quantum’s Scalar i3 chosen in a fully redundant deployment Continue Reading

NetApp boosts NVMe, QLC and container hybrid cloud offer

Storage giant NetApp unveils new AFF, FAS and E-series arrays with NVMe and QLC flash capability, plus object storage in Ontap and Spot cloud container resource management in Cloud Manager Continue Reading

British businesses need to be prepared for post-Brexit changes to our data protection laws

This is a guest blogpost by Ben Tomlinson, Personally Identifiable Information Security Officer and Marketing Manager at Atlas Cloud. Data is arguably now the most valuable resource on earth; the ... Continue Reading

Commvault launches Metallic backup service in Europe

Backup giant adds backup as a service, with cloud-to-cloud backup and e-discovery functionality that can work across on-site datacentres and the AWS and Azure clouds Continue Reading

Podcast: Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Covid-19 and storage

We look at how organisations can use Cybersecurity Awareness Month as an opportunity to revisit their handling of data and compliance, especially with changes brought by Covid-19 and home working Continue Reading

Top five ways backup can protect against ransomware

Ransomware threatens to put your data beyond reach, so the best way to prepare is to have good-quality data you can restore from backup. We look at the key things to consider Continue Reading

Cloud data protection keeps the Crick’s medical research Covid-secure

Cloud data management services from Rubrik gave the Francis Crick Institute a data protection edge and have helped keep its vital work going through the pandemic Continue Reading

CW APAC: Trend Watch – storage

Many organisations turn to cloud to cut storage bills, but the options available and potential costs are many and varied. In this handbook, Computer Weekly takes a peek at future storage technologies, such as helium and DNA, and offers some valuable tips on how to keep cloud storage costs under control. Continue Reading

Veeam bullish on growth in APAC

Veeam’s top executive in Asia-Pacific expects the company’s growth momentum in the region to continue despite the Covid-19 pandemic, and is setting sights on growth areas such as container backups. Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Adapting defences to evolving ransomware and cyber crime

The threat of identity theft via a data breach is heightened with the rise of attacks where ransomware threat actors both encrypt and ransom, and exfiltrate and leak their victims’ data. How does this evolution in cyber crime heighten risk for the enterprise, and what steps can we take to safeguard the personal data we hold? Continue Reading

Veeam buys Kasten to get a boost in Kubernetes backup

Virtual machine backup pioneer sees $150m purchase of Kasten and the addition of Kubernetes backup to its portfolio as key to becoming a ‘$2bn company’ Continue Reading

Backup audit: What is a backup audit and why do we need them?

Backup and recovery are vital components to protect against data loss, whether technical or causes such as ransomware. So how can a backup audit help protect our key assets? Continue Reading

Erasure coding vs RAID: Data protection in the cloud era

Erasure coding has come to prominence with its use in object storage and, by extension, in the cloud. We run the rule over its pros and cons vs RAID data protection Continue Reading

Swiss ISP opts for Scality object storage for backup service

Move to object storage allows Lake Solutions to cut customer backup costs by 66% while providing new S3-based bucket storage for customers based on Scality on HPE Continue Reading

Top five ways backup can protect against ransomware

Ransomware threatens to put your data beyond reach, so the best way to prepare is to have good-quality data you can restore from backup. We look at the key things to consider Continue Reading

India’s storage market takes hit but hasn’t lost its shine

The slower growth in storage spending in India amid the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to be mitigated by digitisation efforts by financial services and manufacturing firms Continue Reading

Open Data Institute explores diverse range of data governance structures

Unlocking the economic and social potential of data will require a diverse range of governance structures to meet the needs of different contexts, use cases and stakeholders Continue Reading

Top five ways to benefit from tape today

We look at the benefits that tape can bring, including in backup and recovery, long-term and ‘warm’ archiving, compliance and WORM use cases and ‘air gapping’ to protect data Continue Reading

A peek into the future of storage

Flash-based storage is here to stay and will continue to be enhanced, even as helium and DNA are being primed for use in the distant future Continue Reading

Scality aims at high-performance object with Ring 8 all-flash

Object storage specialist – with file storage capability – aims at tier-1 use cases such as AI/ML, content delivery and some backup tasks with all-flash upgrade to Scality Ring 8 Continue Reading

Dutch bank set to save €5m via Veeam backup upgrade

Rabobank ditched legacy backup where patching took months and restores took hours. Those times are now cut down massively and the bank has a readily available test environment Continue Reading

Pure aims at unified file and object and launches new QLC storage

Flash storage maker says unified storage in file and object is what is needed for contemporary analytics and AI workloads, while it launches a new all-QLC version of FlashArray//C Continue Reading

Double extortion ransomware attacks and how to stop them

As ransomware attacks increase, hackers are diversifying their tactics to get victims to hand over larger sums of money. We investigate the rise of double extortion attacks Continue Reading

TikTok takes Trump to court

Under-fire video app TikTok files a formal complaint in the federal courts challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to ban it in the US Continue Reading

Getting physical with datacentre security

Whether it is natural disasters, terrorism or break-ins, datacentres will be vulnerable to a range of risks unless they are physically secured. Here’s how you can improve the physical security of your datacentre Continue Reading

Veeam to add CDP, plus Google cloud as a target

Backup giant set to add continuous data protection for the most critical workloads, plus Google cloud as a target – all on the back of a storming quarter during the pandemic Continue Reading

Reports Oracle to enter TikTok bidding war

Oracle may be about to make a bid to acquire the US operations of TikTok from its Chinese parent ByteDance, according to the FT Continue Reading

How Covid-19 elevated the datacentre

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine how datacentres and their workers became part of our critical national infrastructure due to the pandemic. Firms considering upgrading to SAP S/4 Hana face hefty bills – we look at how to keep costs down. And we analyse the increasing rate of applications being migrated to the cloud. Continue Reading

Pure and Cohesity launch FlashRecover for flash-speed restores

Flash market pioneer links up with scale-out backup product maker to provide bundled backup plus super-fast recovery based around Pure FlashBlade storage arrays Continue Reading

Cloud storage costs: How to get cloud storage bills under control

Many organisations look to the cloud to cut storage budgets, but the potential costs are many and varied. So what are the key ways to cut cloud storage costs? Continue Reading

Freezing digital history in the Arctic Circle

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out why GitHub is storing its historical open source code repositories on analogue film in the Arctic Circle. Our buyer’s guide examines modern software development practices. And we hear how virtual reality technology helped the UK build more ventilators to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Majority of organisations at risk of cloud data exposure

Report casts doubt on the effectiveness of the shared responsibility model of cloud security Continue Reading

Backblaze takes aim at ‘costly and complex’ AWS cloud storage

Backblaze offers free transfer to its S3-based cloud storage – which it claims costs a fraction of AWS et al – as long as it’s more than 50TB and you commit to at least 12 months Continue Reading

A question of trust: University and supplier on the hook for data breach

Data on students at the University of York was stolen in a ransomware attack on a supplier two months ago, and the response of both parties raises serious questions Continue Reading

Commvault refreshes HyperScale backup appliances with Hedvig

Backup player set to replace Fujitsu/Red Hat-based backup appliances with new hardware and storage software from Hedvig, which it bought late last year Continue Reading

Enterprises need to rethink how end-of-life equipment is dealt with

Electronic waste is a massive and growing problem, but many companies are not recycling or reusing IT equipment, instead opting for physical destruction of the assets Continue Reading

Clearview AI faces ICO investigation over facial recognition

Controversial company that scraped data from the public internet to build its facial recognition algorithm faces a joint UK-Australian investigation into its practices Continue Reading

Fujifilm software allows S3 access to LTO tape libraries

Fujifilm Software Defined Tape allows tape libraries to act as an S3-based object storage archive accessible as a tier of storage on-premise or in the cloud Continue Reading

Veeam bullish on growth in APAC

Veeam’s top executive in Asia-Pacific expects the company’s growth momentum in the region to continue despite the Covid-19 pandemic, and is setting sights on growth areas such as container backups Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Securing containers needn’t be taxing

Adopting containers promises great organisational efficiency advantages, but the fast-evolving technology can be problematic for security teams. What do CISOs need to know to safeguard containers? Continue Reading

EU judges GDPR an overall success, but changes still needed

Two years after its implementation, an EU report says that the GDPR is achieving what it set out to do, with a few reservations Continue Reading

Malaysia’s data protection practices still have some way to go

Some Malaysian firms are not using data protection tools to the fullest potential, while others only think about data protection after a breach. Continue Reading

US buildings firm saves big on HDDs with Nasuni cloud NAS

APi Group dumps first-generation file sharing for Nasuni, which allowed it to save ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’ with standard hardware deployments and cutting local storage Continue Reading

Cloud storage on-site hardware: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud

We look at the big three cloud vendors’ on-site offerings: AWS’s Outposts, Gateway and Snow hardware, Azure’s Stack and Arc appliances, and Google Cloud’s software-defined Anthos Continue Reading

Unsecured Elasticsearch server breached in eight hours flat

Comparitech’s Bob Diachenko wanted to find out how long it would take for hackers to find and attack an unsecured, public internet-facing database, so he set up a honeypot Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Container security is evolving, so must CISOs

Adopting containers promises great organisational efficiency advantages, but the fast-evolving technology can be problematic for security teams. What do CISOs need to know to safeguard containers? Continue Reading

Churchill gets Ctera hybrid cloud NAS and dodges 3PAR disk spend

Potteries-based ceramics maker faced the choice between expanding its HPE SAN at great cost or deploying Ctera hybrid cloud NAS. It saved thousands by heading for hybrid cloud Continue Reading

AS Roma to develop video tracking with Acronis AI expertise

Italian football club will get variable-price ticketing using artificial intelligence expertise to develop systems. It has also deployed Acronis cloud backup Continue Reading

Poorly-secured AWS buckets used to launch Magecart attacks

Cyber criminals are exploiting misconfigured AWS S3 buckets to run credit card fraud and malvertising campaigns, according to new data Continue Reading

Digital transformation held back by lack of skilled people

Veeam survey finds digital transformation a hot topic, but 44% of firms are held back by skills shortages. Meanwhile, the cost of downtime is found to be $67,651 per hour for the most important apps Continue Reading

Singapore’s contact-tracing app tops privacy study

Singapore’s TraceTogether is least intrusive in terms of privacy communications compared with similar apps in the region, study finds Continue Reading

Cloud storage 101: File, block and object storage in the cloud

We run the rule over file, block and object storage from the big three public cloud providers: AWS, Azure and GCP. We look at what’s on offer and the use cases they are aimed at Continue Reading

Portworx to add application profiles to persistent container storage

Kubernetes persistent container storage that runs from inside the cluster will add application storage profiles for applications such as Apache Kafka, Elasticsearch and Postgres Continue Reading

Storj app builds QNAP NAS into its Uber-like cloud storage network

QNAP NAS users can use the Storj app to configure spare capacity as part of the Tardigrade S3 cloud, which offers storage at half the cost of the main providers Continue Reading

Malaysia’s data protection practices still have some way to go

Some Malaysian firms are not using data protection tools to the fullest potential, while others only think about data protection after a breach Continue Reading

CW APAC: Trend Watch – business response to coronavirus

With countries the world over reeling from the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, which has meant sweeping changes both economically and socially, Computer Weekly looks at how firms in the Asia-Pacific region have adapted to what has so quickly become the new normal. Continue Reading

Podcast: UK SME planning and compliance for ‘the new normal’

We look at how UK SMEs face a “new normal” following the coronavirus lockdowns and how they can plan for compliance with more remote working and a new data landscape Continue Reading

APAC firms still coming to grips with data protection

More governments in Asia are implementing data protection regimes, but challenges such as checkbox compliance and the lack of effective staff training remain Continue Reading

How Australian firms can plug data protection gaps

Australian organisations can address data protection challenges by creating roles such as a data governance lead, classifying data and improving employee awareness of cyber hygiene Continue Reading

What are the security priorities for the post-coronavirus world?

The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing massive change across the business world and things may never go back to normal. What does security look like in this new world, and what will buyers be prioritising? Continue Reading

Storage 101: Replication vs backup, and synchronous vs asynchronous

Storage 101: Can replication replace backup? What are the pros and cons of synchronous and asynchronous backup? What’s the best way to mix backup and replication? Continue Reading

Pure Storage FlashBlade OS v3.0 brings protected snapshots

Pure also adds remote replication and aims at storage use cases for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads in its all-flash NAS and object nodes Continue Reading

Contact tracing: The privacy vs protection debate

The Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated extreme measures not seen in peacetime for over 100 years. Contact-tracing apps are being developed as a tool for managing the pandemic, but are they a step too far? Continue Reading

Storage 101: Crash-consistent vs application-consistent snapshots

We look at crash-consistent and application-consistent snapshots and backup, how they are defined, the pros and cons of each and the benefits and limits of Windows VSS Continue Reading

NHSX contact-tracing app needs legislative oversight

Legal experts have told Parliament’s Human Rights Committee that legislation is desirable to ensure public trust in the data security of the Covid-19 coronavirus contact-tracing app Continue Reading

Podcast: How to get cyber accountability on the board agenda

We look at how boards should carry out strategic and operational risk profile assessments and plan for compliance on an ongoing basis to avoid fines and damage to the business Continue Reading

Snapshots 101: Array vs backup software

We run the rule over snapshots in storage arrays and backup software and find a range of capabilities that go from mere support to fully snapshot-centric approaches Continue Reading

Dark data is contributing to carbon emissions

Almost six million tonnes of carbon dioxide will be pumped into the atmosphere this year as a result of dark data, Veritas research finds Continue Reading

A carrot-and-stick approach to fixing cyber security complacency

With a majority of IT decision-makers holding the opinion that their employers are complacent when it comes to data protection, we look at what needs to be fixed, and how to fix it Continue Reading

Storage 101: Snapshots vs backup

We go over the basics of snapshots. They are a quick and accessible way of protecting data, but they are not a substitute for backup. So how do you combine the two? Continue Reading

Podcast: Remote compliance assessments and how they are done

Remote working adds to IT compliance risks, but doesn’t remove the need to assess compliance. How are remote compliance assessments carried out and how can you prepare for them? Continue Reading

When data protection is not enough

Organisations should take a holistic approach to data protection and cyber security in what the CEO of Acronis deems a “cyber protection” strategy Continue Reading

Check Point sounds alarm over double extortion ransomware threat

Researchers say double extortion ransomware attacks are likely to increase in frequency, and warn organisations to be on guard Continue Reading

Podcast: Ruthlessly prioritise applications during Covid-19

We talk to Alex McMullan, CTO international at Pure Storage, about scaling up storage and compute for remote working and why that means prioritising applications Continue Reading

NAS backup: Which suppliers have gone post-NDMP?

NAS backup with NDMP has many drawbacks so some vendors have moved to a data management approach that tracks changes and allows for incremental forever protection Continue Reading

Podcast: Covid-19, compliance risk, remote assessment and training

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, about why organisations cannot drop their guard on compliance during the increased risks faced as a result of the coronavirus crisis Continue Reading

Top five compliance concerns for UK business in 2020

We look at the top five legal and regulatory compliance concerns for UK businesses in 2020. It’s a list that includes GDPR, the DPA, PECR, PCI-DSS and the CCPA Continue Reading

Coronavirus: What are the latest free cyber security offers?

We round up the latest free offers on cyber security products and services being made available during the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis Continue Reading

Podcast: Covid-19, remote access, storage and compliance

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, about ensuring access and compliance for organisations that need to massively ramp up remote working during coronavirus social distancing Continue Reading

What’s the problem with NAS backup?

NAS backup has always been problematic, but what exactly are the issues with NDMP, and what are backup suppliers doing to make a decades-old storage staple easier to protect? Continue Reading

Unpatched Zyxel storage devices co-opted into IoT botnet

Owners of Zyxel network-attached storage devices are in danger of being hijacked by Mukashi, a descendant of the infamous Mirai botnet, if they don’t patch a critical vulnerability Continue Reading

Prudential turns to AI to secure computer networks against cyber attacks

Prudential, the UK’s largest listed insurer, is turning to artificial intelligence to protect its computer networks in the US, Asia and Africa from malware hackers and internal threats Continue Reading

UK makes its case for post-Brexit data adequacy decision

Government sets out an explanatory framework as it seeks adequacy decisions from the European Commission to maintain the free flow of personal data between the European Union, the UK and Gibraltar Continue Reading

Podcast: ‘The human element’ in compliance at RSA 2020

We review RSA 2020 and discuss the human element in compliance, plus network and data management, trust, Covid-19 and its implications for organisations, and GDPR and CCPA Continue Reading

NCSC makes ransomware attack guidance more accessible

Following a swathe of high-profile ransomware attacks, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has made changes to its guidance, emphasising the importance of offline backups Continue Reading

Clearview hack fuels debate over facial recognition

Customers of Clearview AI, a controversial startup that scrapes and sells billions of photos of people from social media to police forces, have found themselves at the centre of a major data breach Continue Reading

IT Priorities 2020: Cloud storage key but SAN/NAS alive and well

In the Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities survey cloud dominates storage spending priorities for 2020, but on-premise technologies such as SAN and NAS are still key to IT Continue Reading

Thai university to roll out data protection certification

Thailand’s National Institute of Development Administration is offering a certification programme to get organisations ready for the country’s data protection regime Continue Reading

How container applications are shaping storage management

Persistent storage, backup and recovery were not on the minds of those behind container applications, but that is starting to change Continue Reading

Cost of cloud misconfigurations set at $5tn

Cloud security outfit DivvyCloud says more than 33 billion records have been exposed in cloud misconfiguration incidents in the past 24 months Continue Reading

Veeam readies Availability Suite V10, offers universal licensing

Veeam has taken the wraps off the latest iteration of its software to speed up backup and recovery, along with other features to help enterprises better manage their data in a hybrid cloud ... Continue Reading