Preparing for the Unexpected

The recent CrowdStrike incident has taught industries worldwide one crucial lesson: disruptions can erode public trust. Despite this, organisations must prioritise a swift return to normalcy. Matthew Hardman, Chief Technology Officer for Hitachi Vantara’s Asia-Pacific hybrid cloud infrastructure division, discusses this issue further and offers tips on how to ensure systems are prepared for the unexpected.

Strengthening cyber resilience within organisations

The recent global IT outage triggered by a faulty software update from CrowdStrike has caused a stir worldwide. The defective update led to machines around the world experiencing blue screens of death and reboot loops.

The outage created a storm of effects, impacting businesses, institutions, and critical services. Although the cause was not a cyberattack, this incident serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of our interconnected digital world.

In light of this, Matthew Hardman, Chief Technology Officer for Hitachi Vantara’s Asia-Pacific hybrid cloud infrastructure division, discusses the incident and provides valuable insights on data protection and business continuity. Emphasising the importance of building resilient data infrastructures, he offers strategic advice for businesses to enhance their cyber resilience in an increasingly digital and vulnerable landscape.

“This incident serves as a valuable reminder of the severe consequences of an outage when core business processes are affected. If your business goes offline because you can’t access your data, what does that do to your bottom line? What will you owe in regulatory fines? How will this impact customer trust?”

In explaining this, Hardman emphasises the need for businesses to build resilience into their data infrastructure. He cites a report from Hitachi Vantara’s Modern Data Infrastructure Dynamics, which reveals that 60 per cent of companies in Asia are overwhelmed by the data deluge, and nearly 75 per cent are concerned about infrastructure scalability.

At the same time, the threat landscape continues to expand. According to Hardman, organisations today face unprecedented challenges as they work to maintain their data’s integrity, availability, and security while also ensuring compliance with complex local data protection laws.

Hitachi Vantara

Long-term impacts of IT disruptions

IT disruptions are rare, but when they occur, they can erode public trust in several ways. When essential services are impacted, people start to question the organisation’s reliability and ability to deliver.

Hardman adds that the outage might also raise concerns about data security, especially if there is a chance that sensitive information was compromised.

“To make matters worse, poor communication during or after the outage can breed suspicion. The public may feel like they are being kept in the dark, further damaging trust.”

Mitigating these effects

Advising on how to rebuild trust, Hardman said that organisations should communicate openly and honestly about what happened.

“This includes explaining the cause of the outage, the steps taken to fix it, and what is being done to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Hardman

“Prioritising customer service during and after the outage is also crucial. Being available to answer questions, address concerns, and offer assistance shows that the organisation cares about its customers.”

Organisations can also consider offering gestures of goodwill, such as extended service periods, to those affected. Hardman added that while rebuilding trust takes time and consistent effort, open communication, taking responsibility, and prioritising customer needs are essential first steps on the road to recovery.

While many organisations are not fully prepared for the real risks posed by cyberattacks and outages, Hardman notes that the key to prevention and business continuity lies in having a well-defined data resiliency strategy.

“Data resiliency is an organisation’s ability to recover from data breaches and other losses, quickly enact business continuity plans, and implement stronger data protection measures moving forward. It is critical to prioritise data resiliency by adopting best practices in this area,” he shared.

Fortifying their defences

Sharing ways businesses can fortify their defences and ensure service stability, Hardman outlines several key strategies to consider:

• Assess your current resilience: Before taking action, organisations should assess their current level of cyber resilience, data protection, and overall operational resilience. This may involve working with internal experts or a trusted partner to evaluate their on-premises, hybrid cloud, or fully cloud-based environments.
• Embrace automation for faster response: Frequent and sophisticated cyberattacks necessitate a proactive and swift response. Automation can play a key role, whether in notifying administrators of suspicious activity or isolating compromised systems.
• Implement a secure and immutable infrastructure: Having a backup and recovery plan with security measures in place is a good start, but it is not sufficient for data resiliency. A truly resilient infrastructure requires data immutability, consistent deployment processes, and the ability to withstand unexpected system failures.
• Partner with a trusted expert: Organisations need a data resiliency plan that encompasses their entire environment, both on-premises and in the cloud. Collaboration across the organisation, including addressing shadow IT, is essential. While there’s much to consider, a trusted data infrastructure expert like Hitachi Vantara can help implement strategic solutions to enhance your data resiliency posture at any stage. Regularly refreshing and rehearsing IT outage response plans is crucial in the digital age. Partnering with such an expert enables you to identify vulnerabilities and determine the necessary steps to ensure proper data protection, security, compliance, and cyber resilience.

With that said, implementing a robust infrastructure that includes data immutability, consistent deployment processes, and resilience against unexpected failures is crucial. Partnering with a hybrid cloud infrastructure company like Hitachi Vantara can significantly aid in building a comprehensive data resiliency strategy.