New offering aims to synchronize disaster recovery and business continuity with cybersecurity. Credit: MJFelt / Getty Images A new system recovery offering from former IBM division and current managed infrastructure service provider Kyndryl incorporates air-gapped data vaulting technology from Dell for faster recovery from major cybersecurity incidents like ransomware attacks. The Cyber Incident Recovery service is a four-part system, says Kyndryl global security and resiliency practice leader Kris Lovejoy. Kyndryl provides an orchestration tool that offers users a way to respond programmatically and immediately to a cybersecurity event, an analytics tool that uses machine learning to do regular integrity checking on system configuration data (ensuring that it hasn’t been compromised by bad actors), and the company’s own in-house expertise in deployment and configuration of large-scale, enterprise systems. The fourth part is the newly added Dell cybervaulting capability, which provides an air-gapped repository of known-good configuration and backup data for speedy recovery in the event of a major system compromise. Lovejoy says that the idea behind the newly buttressed partnership is to address a logical gap between cybersecurity and disaster recovery/business continuity, particularly where ransomware is concerned. “This is a practical problem that the market faces, that we’ve been focused on for a long time,” she said. “Ransomware is creating a new recognition that there are gaps in our organizational structures.” That gap creates a serious issue in cases where a business has to recover from a ransomware attack — recovering newly wiped systems requires clean backups and configuration data, neither of which is a given in the wake of ransomware. “Imagine your entire infrastructure has been locked up — an incident response provider helps you contain the event and then the question is ‘how do you bring it back?'” Lovejoy says. “You have to assume you have [usable] storage, you have to assume you have a [usable] system configuration, and that’s frequently not accurate.” Moreover, the process of recreating clean configurations and recovering backup data from deep storage is often sufficiently time-consuming that it can be more cost-efficient to simply pay the ransom, instead. By integrating Dell’s cybervaulting capability, then, Kyndryl is hoping to eliminate a key variable that can cost valuable backup time and effort, and — ideally — make it much more attractive to recover organically, instead of paying off cybercriminals. “This kind of technology ensures that, if there’s been a ransomware event, that the company has a backup that can be activated in an automated fashion,” Lovejoy said. Related content news F5 patches BIG-IP Next Central Manager flaws that could lead to device takeover Two high-risk vulnerabilities could allow attackers to gain full administrative control on devices via leaked password hashes. By Lucian Constantin May 08, 2024 5 mins Threat and Vulnerability Management Cloud Security Vulnerabilities news Suspected Chinese hack of Britain’s Ministry of Defence linked to contractor, minister confirms The UK’s defence minister would not confirm that the attack was conducted by an element of the Chinese state, rather blaming the “potential failings” of a partner. By John Dunn May 08, 2024 4 mins Aerospace and Defense Industry Data Breach Government news analysis Massive security hole in VPNs shows their shortcomings as a defensive measure Researchers found a deep, unpatchable flaw in virtual private networks dubbed Tunnelvision can allow attackers to siphon off data without any indication that they are there. By Evan Schuman May 08, 2024 8 mins Threat and Vulnerability Management Data and Information Security Network Security news DocGo says hackers stole patient data in a recent cyberattack The attack compromised some healthcare data with no material or financial losses, the company said. By Shweta Sharma May 08, 2024 3 mins Data Breach Hacking PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe