Clumio Launches RansomProtect, the Industry’s First Air-Gapped Ransomware Protection

Clumio has announced Clumio RansomProtect, the industry’s first air-gapped ransomware protection, with 30-day retention for VMware / VMware Cloud on AWS, Amazon Web Services (EC2/RDS/EBS), and Microsoft M365 data, with rapid granular recovery from anywhere.

Clumio RansomProtect provides the industry’s fastest time to protection by eliminating the need for businesses to locate a second air gap site, buy more hardware, manage a separate backup network or manage air gap network security. Offered as a service, Clumio RansomProtect can be set up in 15 minutes or less. Platform security features include: Immutable storage, end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication and a “bring your own key” option. Clumio RansomProtect also meets ISO 27001, PCI, AICPA SOC, and HIPAA certification and compliance designations.

Ransomware fears escalated earlier this year when bad actors targeted the healthcare sector. The increased threat to healthcare organizations prompted the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to issue an advisory that urged healthcare providers to take immediate action to prevent an attack. Although healthcare is the recent target, no organization is immune to ransomware attacks. Security researchers have tracked a growing ransomware threat during Q3 2020, including a massive spike in September of this year. During that time, the U.S. has seen a staggering 145.2 million ransomware hits – a 139 percent YoY increase.

“Our research shows that there has been an increase in ransomware issues amidst COVID-19. It should be a call to action for businesses in all sectors to examine vulnerable endpoints within enterprise networks. Proactive prevention and planning are key,” said Christophe Bertrand, senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. “Companies should evaluate SaaS-based solutions like Clumio RansomProtect that help protect the data in their private and public cloud infrastructures and SaaS applications. ‘True’ air-gapped protection accounts for all data locations and sources, including data in transit. Bad actors are not going to stop, meaning enterprises must take action now to resolve vulnerabilities created by these gaps – it’s a matter of business survival.”

“Traditional approaches to ransomware protection are way too complex, requiring additional hardware on-premises or the need to replicate snapshots in the public cloud,” added Chadd Kenney, vice president and chief technologist, Clumio. “The end result is weeks or months of implementation, high costs, and heavy management, all while ultimately not providing the level of protection organizations require. Enterprises demand a greater level of protection. Clumio RansomProtect delivers the fastest time to protection, even if you have an existing backup solution, and no matter where your data resides.”

The ever-growing threat of ransomware has prompted organizations to explore air-gapped protection for their data. However, cost remains a major barrier for these companies. Companies seeking a native air gap backup solution for their VMware Cloud or AWS EC2 workloads could ultimately pay more than two times what they are currently paying with no air gap backup protection, when local snapshots, remote snapshots and replication costs are factored in. In comparison, customers that complement their existing native non-air gap protected backup solution with Clumio RansomProtect can save more than 20 percent. Meanwhile, customers that completely replace their native backup solution with Clumio achieve an air-gapped backup while boosting their cost savings by as much as 67 percent.

Renowned for the quality and breadth of its more than 61,000 objects that span 6,000 years of achievement in the arts, The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) recently deployed Clumio for data protection. Tom Hood, director of technology operations, The Cleveland Museum of Art, added, “As ransomware evolved and hackers began targeting not only businesses’ primary storage but also backups, I found myself having sleepless nights. Clumio RansomProtect provides CMA with a secure way to protect our growing hybrid cloud infrastructure. The fact that we can unify our backup and retention policies across all of the various technologies that we use is a good solution.”