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Why Financial Services Must Prioritize Cyber Recovery Strategies Cyber threats are no longer just a risk for financial services—they are an inevitability. Financial institutions face more cyberattacks than any other industry. Finance Most Breached Industry in 2023 – Markets Media Financial organizations manage some of the most sensitive and valuable data—customer accounts, transaction details, credit card numbers, and personal identification data—making them a high-value target for attackers seeking financial gain and leverage. To stay ahead of evolving threats, financial organizations are investing heavily in modern cyber recovery strategies to ensure business continuity, protect customer trust, and meet increasingly stringent regulatory requirements from bodies like the New York Department of Financial ServicesNew York Department of Financial Services(NYDFS) and the Digital Operational Resilience Act Digital Operational Resilience Act(DORA). This article explores why financial institutions must strengthen their cyber recovery posture, the core components of an effective strategy, how AWS and Elastio Platform together support these efforts, and why data integrity is the key to ensuring recovery success. Why Financial Institutions Are Prime Targets for Cyberattacks Financial services is the most breached industry because of the nature of the data it manages and the potential for financial gain. Attackers target financial institutions because of their operational sensitivity and the high value of the data involved. The stakes are enormous—not just in terms of financial loss but also in regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Several factors make financial institutions particularly vulnerable: High-Value Data: Financial institutions store sensitive customer data, including financial records, personal information, and transaction histories—making them prime targets for attackers seeking financial gain. Operational Sensitivity: Financial services rely on real-time transactions and continuous availability. Disruptions can cause cascading effects across markets, creating pressure to resolve attacks quickly—often by paying the ransom. Reputational Risk: A breach can severely damage customer trust and market confidence, motivating institutions to resolve attacks swiftly—even if it means compromising security protocols. Interconnected Systems: The global financial ecosystem is highly interconnected. A successful attack on one institution can ripple across the financial market, increasing the leverage of attackers. Lucrative Targets: The combination of high-stakes operations, valuable data, and operational pressure makes financial institutions a top target for ransomware attacks. The Need for a Cyber Recovery Strategy Preventing a cyberattack is no longer enough—financial institutions must have a strategy to recover quickly and confidently when (not if) an attack happens. An effective cyber recovery strategy that many financial services are investing in is a Cyber Vault: this is a secure, isolated environment for storing critical data, serving as a "last resort" for recovery in the event of cyberattacks, particularly ransomware. Cyber vaults create an "air gap" by isolating data from the primary IT infrastructure, providing enhanced protection against ransomware infections that could compromise main systems. This level of separation not only strengthens security but also ensures rapid and clean recovery of data and services in the event of an attack, supporting business continuity. Cyber vaults also help financial institutions meet regulatory requirements and secure cybersecurity insurance, which often mandate robust data protection measures. Many cyber vault solutions offer immutable storage, where data cannot be altered or deleted, further reinforcing recovery integrity. To learn more about Cyber Vaulting best practices, the Sheltered Harbor standards a great place to start, in particular the recently validated architecture with AWS. Building a Sheltered Harbor compliant data vault on AWS | AWS for Industries Cyber Vault Solutions on AWS Financial institutions typically adopt two main approaches when deploying a cyber vault solution on AWS Cloud: Production in AWS + Vault in a Separate AWS Region:The cyber vault is created in a different AWS region to ensure geographic and network-level separation.Production On-Premises + Vault in AWS:The cyber vault is hosted on AWS, allowing organizations to isolate recovery environments from on-premises infrastructure. Why AWS for Cyber Recovery? AWS provides three key benefits for financial services organizations building cyber vault solutions: Agility: Financial institutions can quickly respond to changing threat landscapes using AWS's secure and compliant cloud services.Speed: AWS enables faster deployment of cyber recovery solutions compared to on-premises setups.Cost-Effectiveness: With AWS’s pay-as-you-go model, financial institutions only pay for what they use and can scale as data volumes grow. Banking Trends 2022: Cyber vault and Ransomware | AWS for Industries How Elastio Platform Completes Cyber Vault Strategy A Cyber Vault Is Only as Effective as the Data Inside It Backing up corrupted, encrypted, or compromised data renders recovery efforts useless. That’s why data integrity validation is critical—it ensures that backups are not only accessible but also clean and recoverable. Without it, a backup is just a false sense of security. Threats to Data Integrity In today’s threat landscape, data integrity is under constant attack from increasingly sophisticated threats. Cybercriminals are evolving their tactics to compromise critical data, disrupt operations, and extort payments. Even the most secure cyber vault is vulnerable if the data inside it is compromised. The Most Dangerous Threats to Data Integrity: Zero-Day Ransomware Zero-day ransomware exploits previously unknown vulnerabilities before they are publicly disclosed or patched. These attacks are particularly dangerous because traditional signature-based detection methods fail to identify them. Once embedded, zero-day ransomware can bypass existing defenses and silently encrypt data. If compromised data is backed up, the recovery point itself becomes useless.Insider Threats Not all threats come from external attackers — sometimes the danger comes from within. Malicious insiders or compromised user accounts can execute unauthorized encryption activity on critical data that gets backed up. Because these threats often mimic legitimate user activity, they can bypass traditional security controls, making them difficult to detect and contain.Pre-Detonation Ransomware Malware binaries can hide undetected within backup data. Upon restoration, the malicious code activates, reinfecting the system and undoing recovery efforts. This type of ransomware turns recovery into a new infection event, making the problem even worse.File System Corruption Data corruption isn’t always the result of a cyberattack. Structural inconsistencies, file corruption, and metadata errors can prevent successful restoration, even if the backup itself is accessible. Without proper validation, backup data may be incomplete or unusable. The Growing Complexity of Data Integrity Threats Data integrity threats are not only increasing in volume but also growing in sophistication. Attackers are using automation, AI, and stealth tactics to evade detection and target the core of business operations: data. Without effective threat detection that specifically validates backup data, organizations face the risk of: Permanent data lossFinancial damageOperational downtimeReinfections after recovery Data Integrity Validation Is the Missing Link Investing in a cyber vault without data integrity validation is like installing a high-end security system to protect something worthless. It doesn’t matter how secure the vault is if the contents are already compromised. Elastio Platform proactively validates that the data is free of those hidden threats before it enters the vault to ensure that the data you’re relying on for recovery is actually clean, intact, and ready to restore. Elastio Integrates with AWS Backup for Secure Backups to Enhance Ransomware Defense | AWS Partner Network (APN) Blog Final Thoughts Cyber resilience is no longer optional for financial institutions—it’s a strategic imperative. Financial services organizations are not only facing growing cyber threats but also increased pressure from regulators and customers to ensure business continuity. AWS provides a powerful foundation for building secure, compliant cyber vaults—but the real key to recovery is ensuring the integrity of the data inside the vault. Elastio’s AI-driven data integrity validation closes the loop—giving financial institutions confidence that they can restore operations quickly and securely, no matter how sophisticated the attack. ➡️ Find out how Elastio and AWS can strengthen your cyber recovery strategy today.Find out how Elastio and AWS can strengthen your cyber recovery strategy today.

In today’s rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, businesses face a growing number of threats that require a multi-layered defense strategy. The challenge is navigating the vast array of security solutions available and understanding how they work together to provide comprehensive ransomware protection. With new security technologies emerging—EDR, XDR, CNAPPs, immutable backups—it can be challenging to determine the best approach for safeguarding critical data. Security leaders often struggle to create a cohesive strategy that balances prevention, detection, and recovery to ensure resilience against modern ransomware attacks. This blog series is designed to simplify the complexity of ransomware protection by exploring how different security solutions fit together and complement each other in today’s threat landscape. Rather than replacing existing tools, the Elastio Platform fills a crucial but often overlooked gap—ensuring that organizations can recover quickly and safely from validated clean data when an attack occurs. Each post in this series will examine how Elastio Platform works with key security technologies, providing end-to-end ransomware protection with continuous recovery assurance. Elastio Platform & Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs) Introduction CNAPPs and Elastio Platform work together by combining proactive security controls with continuous reliable recovery assurance—while CNAPPs help prevent and detect threats, Elastio ensures that businesses can recover safely and quickly by continuously validating data integrity and pre-scanning backups for ransomware, malicious encryption from insiders, corruption, and other hidden recoverability threats. What is a CNAPP? Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPPs) secure cloud applications and workloads by combining several security capabilities: Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) – Identifies cloud misconfigurations and compliance gaps.Cloud Workload Protection (CWPP) – Defends against malware, unauthorized access, and runtime threats.Identity & Access Security – Protects identity-based configurations from exploitation. Leading CNAPP vendors include Wiz, Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, and Lacework. CNAPPs proactively identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and exposed secrets in code, infrastructure, and cloud workloads. CNAPPs help businesses reduce risk by continuously scanning environments before attackers exploit weaknesses. Where CNAPPs Stop & the Elastio Platform Begins CNAPPs strengthen cloud security by identifying risks and preventing breaches, but they don’t ensure recoverability when an attack occurs. “Backup Breakdown: How Data Recovery Impacts the Outcome of Cyber AttacksBackup Breakdown: How Data Recovery Impacts the Outcome of Cyber Attacks”, one major finding reveals that of the 92% who invest in data backup solutions,less than two thirds (63%) successfully restore their data when they experience a ransomware attack, and more than one in four businesses(31%) see their backups fail. – At Bay, the InsurSec provider for the digital age The Elastio Platform fills this gap by proactively inspecting offline storage and backups for ransomware, unauthorized encryption, corruption, and other recoverability threats, ensuring recovery points remain clean. It also proactively detects post-breach threats, preventing organizations from restoring compromised data and reducing downtime. Without continuously scanning backups as they are created, businesses risk discovering too late that their backups are infected or unusable. The Elastio Platform removes this uncertainty, ensuring that recovery is always possible, safe, and disruption-free. Function CNAPP Elastio Platform Risk Reduction & Attack Prevention Identity & Access Security Yes No Cloud Workload Protection Yes No Cloud Security Posture Management Yes Some Identifies Storage Misconfigurations Post-Attack Recovery Assurance Scans storage and backups for ransomware encryption No Yes Scans storage and backups for ransomware payloads No Yes Scans storage and backups for unauthorized encryption by insider threats No Yes Scans storage and backups for unauthorized encryption for file-system corruption No Yes Case Study: When CNAPP Protection Wasn’t Enough – How Elastio Detected Qilin Ransomware in Backup Data A cloud-native enterprise relied on a leading CNAPP for security monitoring. Despite its strong preventive controls, the organization suffered a ransomware attack that evaded detection. When security teams identified the attack, their backups were already compromised with Qilin ransomware—a sophisticated strain that encrypts cloud storage and evades traditional defenses. However, before restoring data, the company ran Elastio Platform’s ransomware inspection on its backup storage. The Elastio Platform detected the Qilin infection hidden deep into their backups, preventing them from restoring recent data without risking reinfection. Had the organization integrated Elastio Platform’s proactive scanning earlier, the ransomware would have been detected in the backups early, before it could spread further, and they would have been automatically directed to a prevalidated clean recovery point. This case highlights a key takeaway: Even with a CNAPP, organizations need continuous data integrity validation to ensure their recovery points are clean. Conclusion: Prevention + Recovery = True Ransomware Resilience Cloud security isn’t just about stopping attacks—it’s also about ensuring businesses can recover when something inevitably gets through. CNAPPs offer robust preventive measures but do not provide post-attack recovery assurance. Elastio Platform fills this gap by ensuring recovery is safe, fast, and compromise-free.By proactively and continuously inspecting backups and storage across AWS and VMware, Elastio Platform assures that businesses always have clean, recoverable data points. For organizations investing in CNAPP solutions, the next question is: Are you confident your recovery points are clean and recoverable if ransomware strikes? Elastio ensures the answer is always YES.

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Elastio, a leader in ransomware recovery assurance, has partnered with Magna5 to enhance the security and resilience of business-critical data. This collaboration strengthens Magna5’s Backup-as-a-Service offering, empowering customers with advanced ransomware detection and rapid recovery capabilities. Ransomware attacks are increasing by 20% year-over-year, highlighting the urgent need for organizations to strengthen their defenses. Worse, many victims do not detect ransomware breaches for seven months, meaning that hidden ransomware can unknowingly be copied into backups, compromising recovery options.1 Ensuring the integrity of backup data is now more critical than ever. Through this partnership, Magna5 customers gain an additional layer of ransomware protection. Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform (Elastio Platform) continuously inspects backup data for hidden ransomware, allowing businesses to identify threats before they execute and ensuring they always have a clean, uncompromised recovery point. Elastio Platform's Unique Solution: Key Features Include: Zero-Trust Approach with Agentless Architecture: Elastio Platform inspects data at rest, including backups, without relying on potentially compromised workloads. Its agentless design ensures seamless protection with no production impact.Zero-Day Ransomware Detection: Elastio Platform employs machine learning to detect zero-day ransomware, going beyond traditional signature—or anomaly-based scanning to identify threats that other solutions miss.Always Ready for Recovery: Elastio Platform ensures a last-known clean copy of data is always available, giving businesses confidence in fast, reliable recovery when it matters most. Enhancing Magna5 Backup-as-a-Service: Magna5’s Backup and Recovery Service already provides a robust solution for safeguarding business-critical data. By integrating Elastio Platform’s advanced ransomware detection and recovery assurance, Magna5 ensures: Backups remain uncompromised by detecting hidden threats before they cause damage.Clients have peace of mind knowing their data is continuously validated and ready for recovery.The recovery process is streamlined, minimizing downtime and reducing operational disruptions. “At Magna5, we are committed to delivering industry-leading cybersecurity and backup solutions to our customers,” said Robert Farina, CEO at Magna5. “By integrating Elastio Platform’s cutting-edge ransomware detection and recovery assurance into our Backup-as-a-Service offering, we ensure our clients have the most resilient and secure recovery solutions. This partnership reinforces our dedication to protecting businesses from evolving cyber threats.” “Ransomware recovery depends on early threat detection and truly reliable backups,” said Najaf Husain, CEO at Elastio. “By partnering with Magna5, we provide businesses with the assurance that their backup data is clean, secure, and ready for fast recovery.” About Magna5 Magna5, a NewSpring Holdings platform, provides managed IT services, cybersecurity, private and public cloud hosting, backup and disaster recovery, and other advanced IT services to SMB, mid-market, and enterprise customers, including leaders in education, healthcare, government, financial services, manufacturing, and other industry segments. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, Magna5 has customers nationally. For more information, visit www.magna5.com About Elastio Elastio specializes in ransomware recovery assurance, providing businesses with advanced tools to validate and secure their data. By bridging the gap between traditional security measures and immutable backups, the Elastio Platform ensures clean recovery from zero-day ransomware attacks, giving organizations the confidence to restore operations quickly and securely. For more information, visit www.elastio.com 1Cost of a data breach 2024 | IBM

Date: April 29, 2025Location: Amazon Corporate Office,1 Principal Pl, London EC2A 2FA, UK Join AWS Backup, AWS Disaster Recovery Service (DRS), NetApp, and Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance for three sessions and an in-depth look at how financial institutions can build a cyber-resilient architecture that protects mission-critical applications, ensures regulatory compliance, and minimizes business downtime. Industry experts from Sheltered Harborwill also share key insights on cyber resilience planning in financial services. This event is designed for financial services executives, security and infrastructure leaders responsible for disaster recovery, cyber resilience, and regulatory compliance. Join for some or all sessions! Agenda 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM | Registration & NetworkingKick off the event with coffee and networking opportunities with industry peers and experts. 8:30 AM – 9:00 AM | Welcome & Opening RemarksIntroduction to the event’s key themes: ensuring high availability, mitigating ransomware risks, and strengthening cyber resilience in financial services. 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Session 1: Designing Resilient Architectures: Defending Financial Systems from Ransomware The imperative of high availability for core banking, trading, and payment systemsChallenges posed by ransomware and evolving cyber threatsImplementing a zero-trust approach for end-to-end resiliencePerspectives from NetApp and Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance 1:00 – 3:00 PM | Session 2: Building Ransomware-Resilient Disaster Recovery with AWS Best practices for ransomware recovery assuranceMinimizing downtime and ensuring operational continuityMeeting regulatory compliance requirements for financial institutionsInsights from AWS Backup and AWS Disaster Recovery Service (DRS) 4:00 – 6:00 PM | Session 3: Cyber Resilience Planning in Financial Services Industry trends and regulatory expectationsLessons learned and real-world case studiesSheltered Harbor standards for cyber recovery 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Closing Remarks & Q&AFinal thoughts from industry experts and an open Q&A session. Register Here

AWS Backup Bunker Vault and Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Summary: Bunker vaults provide secure, immutable storage, but they don’t guarantee backups are clean or recoverable from hidden ransomware or corruption. Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform (Elastio Platform) integrates directly with AWS Backup to proactively validate backup integrity before or after entering bunker vaults. Rising Need for Recovery Readiness Organizations today are expected to maintain continuous service availability, yet the risks of operational disruptions are escalating due to sophisticated cyber threats and system failures. To mitigate these risks, industries across sectors, including government, financial services, and healthcare are strengthening their disaster recovery strategies to prioritize cyber resilience. Many adopt a Minimum Viable Company (MVC) approach, which prioritizes what data is essential to the business and should be prioritized for maximum protection to enable rapid recovery after an incident. In a Zero-Trust security model, maximum protection means ensuring that backups remain immutable and isolated from potential threats. One of the effective strategies is using a centralized “Bunker Account”—a dedicated AWS account where immutable backups are stored in a secure vault outside production systems. The Logically Air-Gapped Vault is a recent AWS Backup feature which provides additional safeguards such as AWS-managed encryption keys and the ability to securely share vault access for flexible and rapid recovery across accounts. A Critical Risk in Bunker Vaults: What if the Data in the Backups is Compromised? The entire premise of an immutable backup vault strategy is that these critical backups will be used for disaster recovery. But this assumption comes with a critical risk factor: Do you know the backup data in your bunker vault is actually recoverable? Simply storing immutable backups in a vault does not guarantee they are clean and usable. Cybercriminals infiltrate environments stealthily, embedding ransomware that remains undetected and get copied into backups, creating “a hidden threat inside” the backup itself. Businesses often don’t realize their backups are compromised until they attempt to restore them after an attack—when it’s too late. Even non-cyber risks, such as file system corruption, can render backups useless. You do not want to invest in a highly secure, air-gapped backup vault strategy, only to discover after an attack that your backups were compromised upon creation. This is not hypothetical – it happens to businesses every day. Read this Elastio Platform customer case study to learn more about how a company spent a week searching for a clean backup after a cyber attack, only to discover that their most recent clean backup was a month old. This critical risk is why AWS Backup recommends Elastio Platform as a key component of a robust cyber recovery strategy. Elastio Platform assures that backups stored in AWS Bunker Vaults are recoverable by proactively validating data integrity at scale, like an automated recovery test. How Elastio Platform Validates AWS Bunker Vault Strategy Elastio integrates directly with AWS Backup, allowing organizations to validate backups either through: Proactive Validation Before Data Enters the Vault – Scan backups before they are stored in the bunker vault to verify they are free of threats and corruption.Recovery Testing Within the Vault – Validate backup integrity by scanning existing data backups within the air-gapped vault via AWS Restore Test. Elastio Platform supports AWS Backup Bunker Accounts and integrates with AWS Backup Logically Air-Gapped Vault. What Threats Are Hiding in Your Backups? Here’s What Elastio Platform Detects Elastio Platform performs agentless deep file-level inspection of every backup, detecting threats that could compromise recovery without performance overhead. Elastio Platform inspects for: Zero-Day Ransomware Encryption – Uses machine learning-driven statistical, deterministic, and behavioral models to detect unknown and evolving ransomware with 99.99% accuracy.Insider Threats – Identifies unauthorized encryption, which may indicate insider-driven attacks.Signatures – Detects pre-detonation ransomware before it escalates.File System Integrity Issues – Flags corrupt files and structural inconsistencies that could make restoration impossible. Conclusion: Make Data Integrity Validation a Core Part of Your Disaster Recovery Strategy Building a secure backup and disaster recovery strategy goes beyond simply storing backups in an immutable vault—it requires confidence that your backups are clean, uncorrupted, and fully recoverable. AWS recommends implementing Elastio Platform’s data integrity validation into backup workflows to ensure recoverability and resilience. (Learn more at the 2024 AWS re:Invent presentation on Building Resilience Against Ransomware Using AWS Backup here.) Elastio Platform makes this process seamless, providing proactive detection and validation so that organizations never have to question whether their backups will work when they need them most. If you're exploring a backup and disaster recovery project, make sure data integrity validation is part of the process. Additional Materials Learn more about AWS Backup and Elastio integration: Elastio Integrates with AWS Backup for Secure Backups to Enhance Ransomware Defense | AWS Partner Network (APN) Blog AWS re:Invent 2024: Building resilience against ransomware using AWS Backup (STG409) – YouTube See how Elastio Platform works with AWS Backup Logically Air-Gapped Vault:Building Ransomware Resilience with Elastio and AWS Backup Logically Air-Gapped Vault

Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform’s Intuitive User Interface When ransomware hits, security teams are under immense pressure to contain the damage quickly, find the source, and restore operations. With critical systems locked down and business grinding to a halt, every second counts. At the same time, leadership wants answers. How bad is it? What’s impacted? How soon can we recover? It’s a high-stakes, high-stress situation in which having the right tools can mean the difference between a rapid recovery and a prolonged crisis. That’s why we built the Elastio Platform to make ransomware recovery as effortless, intuitive, and stress-free as possible (or at least as stress-free as it can be in an attack). By removing complexity and streamlining recovery into just three clicks, Elastio helps teams regain control with confidence—without getting lost in complicated workflows. 1, 2, 3… Ransomware Recovery We designed the Elastio Platform around a "don’t make me think" approach. Our streamlined, three-tiered structure eliminates endless menus and confusing options, helping teams make fast, informed decisions in moments of crisis. After analyzing dozens of Security Operations Center (SOC) workflows, we distilled them into a simple, intuitive experience that puts everything teams need right at their fingertips. Click One: Centralized Dashboard – Your Mission Control The Elastio Platform dashboard acts as mission control, offering real-time visibility into system health, data integrity, and potential threats. Users can instantly see: Critical alertsLatest data inspection resultsRansomware Resilience Posture Summaries Click Two: Data-Rich Asset Tables – Find What You Need Fast Time is critical in ransomware recovery. Elastio’s intelligent search and filtering allows users to quickly locate affected files, backups, or workloads, pinpointing clean restore points without manually sifting through endless copies. Click Three: Recovery – Get Back to Business At the end of the workflow, users are fully equipped to mitigate the attack and restore operations instantly. On the Elastio Platform recovery page, teams can: Confirm critical details about the infected instanceDrill down to specific files flagged for infectionExtract forensic copies for investigationExecute a clean recovery—restoring data instantly from the last validated, ransomware-free restore point. Whether conducting forensic analysis or executing a full recovery, Elastio provides clarity, speed, and confidence—ensuring a seamless return to normal operations. Beyond Recovery: Supporting Features That Reduce Operational Overhead Incident Tracking: Visibility for Every Stakeholder When ransomware is detected, Elastio Platform instantly notifies the organization and automatically tracks the incident from detection to recovery. Through an intuitive Kanban-style interface, teams can: Monitor the entire history of an incident, from initial detection to resolutionView required actions and track progress toward full remediationEnsure all stakeholders—security teams, IT, and leadership—stay informed with real-time status updates Context-Aware Alerts & Notifications: Prioritize What Matters Elastio Platform’s highly configurable alerting system ensures that the right people get the correct information—at the right time. The system allows users to: Customize alerts based on priority, event type, or user roleControl visibility so teams only see relevant notifications, reducing noiseStay informed on threats, backup health, and recovery progress—without alert fatigue With Elastio, organizations can tailor their alerting strategy to prioritize critical threats, streamline response efforts, and ensure the right stakeholders stay informed. Real-Time System Status: Instant Visibility & Proactive Monitoring Elastio Platform continuously monitors its own operations, ensuring teams have a clear, real-time view of deployment health, job execution, and system performance.● Monitor platform activity, including deployment status and job processing● Proactively identify and surface issues that require attention● Troubleshoot and resolve confi guration or performance concerns● Set up custom alerts for anomalies, such as delayed jobs or unexpected system behaviors Role-Based Access Control: Security Without Complexity Security teams need complete control over access and permissions to ensure the right people can take action—without unnecessary risk. Elastio Platform’s role-based access control (RBAC) enables administrators to: Define granular permissions for different roles and responsibilitiesEnsure only authorized users can initiate restores or modify settingsProtect critical features while maintaining operational efficiency With fine-tuned access management, Elastio Platform ensures that security and IT teams can confidently operate, enforcing the principle of least privilege. Effortless Deployment, Instant Value: Elastio Works Where You Work Elastio Platform is built for IT teams, not extra work—meaning it integrates directly into your existing infrastructure without disruption or steep learning curves. Natively supports AWS, hybrid, and on-premises environmentsAdapts to your existing security and backup workflows—no rip-and-replace requiredWorks out of the box so teams can immediately enhance ransomware resilience without extensive retraining With Elastio Platform, there's no reconfiguring, no downtime, and no operational headaches—just smarter recovery embedded into the workflows you already rely on. Conclusion: Recovery, Simplified. Confidence, Restored. Ransomware attacks are chaotic, high-pressure events—but recovery doesn’t have to be. The Elastio Platform is designed to eliminate complexity, minimize downtime, and give security teams the confidence to act quickly and decisively. With a three-click recovery workflow, Elastio ensures that teams can instantly identify the most recent clean restore point—without having to sift through endless backups. Instead of forcing users to guess, the platform provides clear, intelligent recovery recommendations so organizations can confidently restore systems to a pre-attack state. Instant insights from a centralized dashboardRapid search and drill-down to pinpoint uninfected recovery pointsOne-click to restore operations in minutes From near real-time ransomware detection to a recovery process designed for speed and simplicity, the Elastio Platform is built to make one of IT's worst days easier. Fast. Simple. Resilient. Three clicks, and you’re back in control.

What The New Proposed HIPAA Security Rules Mean For Your Organization The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed significant updates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule in response to escalating cyber threats. These proposed changes aim to enhance the protection of electronic protected health information (ePHI) and ensure healthcare organizations are better equipped to handle modern cybersecurity challenges. Elastio, with its advanced ransomware protection solutions, is well-positioned to support healthcare entities in aligning with these new recommendations. Understanding the Proposed HIPAA Security Rule Changes On December 27, 2024, the HHS's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the HIPAA Security Rule. This proposal marks the first significant update since 2013 and reflects the need to address the evolving landscape of cyber threats targeting the healthcare sector. hhs.gov The proposed modifications include: Contingency Planning:The proposed regulation requires that healthcare organizations implement a contingency plan with robust data backup procedures and written processes that enable the restoration of crucial data within 72 hours of the loss.OCR Proposes Changes to the HIPAA Security Rule | Publications | Kirkland & Ellis LLPRegular Risk Assessments and Audits: Covered entities and business associates must conduct periodic risk analyses and maintain compliance documentation to identify and mitigate risks proactively.Enhanced Incident Response Protocols: Organizations must establish robust procedures to effectively detect, respond to, and recover from security incidents. These proposed changes aim to fortify the healthcare sector's defenses against increasingly sophisticated and damaging cyberattacks. The Imperative for Strengthened Cybersecurity in Healthcare High-profile data breaches in recent years underscored the urgency for these updates. In 2024 alone, there were 13 data breaches, each affecting over 1 million healthcare records, culminating in the exposure of approximately 146 million individuals' data. Notably, a ransomware attack on UnitedHealth Group compromised the personal information of over 100 million individuals, marking the most significant healthcare data breach. hipaajournal.com theverge.com These incidents jeopardize patient privacy and disrupt healthcare services, leading to delayed treatments and increased operational costs. The proposed HIPAA Security Rule changes are designed to mitigate such risks by enforcing stricter security protocols. How Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform Can Support Compliance with the New HIPAA Recommendations Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform (Elastio Platform) offers comprehensive ransomware protection solutions that align seamlessly with the proposed HIPAA Security Rule enhancements: Continuous Validation of Contingency Plan:The new proposed regulations demand that organizations have written procedures to restore crucial data within seventy-two hours. Elastio Platform inspects data backups upon creation to verify they are clean and recoverable, giving organizations critical visibility into the effectiveness of their recovery plans.Automated Risk Assessments: Elastio Platform conducts continuous discovery and risk analyses of your environment. It identifies storage misconfigurations that leave companies vulnerable to ransomware attacks and provides actionable insights to mitigate them.Robust Incident Response Capabilities: In the event of a security incident, Elastio Platform offers rapid detection and response tools, enabling organizations to contain and remediate threats and minimize potential damage quickly.Comprehensive Compliance Reporting: Elastio Platform provides detailed compliance documentation and audit trails, assisting healthcare organizations in demonstrating adherence to HIPAA requirements during audits. Conclusion The proposed updates to the HIPAA Security Rule represent a critical step toward strengthening cybersecurity in the healthcare sector. As cyber threats evolve, healthcare organizations must adopt advanced security measures to protect ePHI and maintain patient trust. Elastio Platform's suite of ransomware protection solutions offers the necessary tools to achieve compliance with the new HIPAA recommendations and enhance the overall cybersecurity posture. By proactively implementing these measures, healthcare providers can comply with regulatory requirements and ensure patient information's confidentiality, integrity, and availability in an increasingly digital healthcare environment. HIPPA proposal:HIPAA Security Rule Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Strengthen Cybersecurity for Electronic Protected Health Information | HHS.gov

Data-Level Detection: Anomaly or Encryption Ransomware attacks continue to bypass traditional security layers, including endpoint detection and server-based defenses. Businesses are adding data-layer detection as an extra safeguard against ransomware. However, a problem exists: most of these solutions do not work. Most solutions rely on anomaly detection, which is no longer an effective approach. Today, instead of accurately detecting ransomware, this method: Floods security teams with false positivesMisses modern ransomware techniques that bypass anomaly-based detection.Fails to provide actionable intelligence past anomaly alerts. To detect ransomware, you must recognize actual encryption activity in data—not just alert on statistical anomalies. In this blog, we break down: Why anomaly detection fails to stop ransomwareWeaknesses of anomaly-based detectionWhy encryption detection is the reliable solution 1. What is Anomaly Detection? Anomaly detection identifies unusual behavior in data patterns to detect potential ransomware activity. It is commonly implemented in backup solutions using: Change Rate Analysis – Detects unusual spikes in modified data.Backup Size Monitoring – Flags abnormal increases in backup size.Metadata Analysis – Looks for mass renaming or restructuring of files.Entropy Detection – Identifies high randomness in file contents (potential encryption). While these techniques seem logical, they do not stop ransomware in practice. 2. Where Anomaly Detection Falls Short (A) Many False Positives Anomaly detection is inherently noisy because it cannot distinguish between a real threat and normal data fluctuations. SOC teams receive an average of 4,484 security alerts daily—67% are ignored due to alert fatigue.[The Silent Threat of Alert Fatigue]When false positives are constant, teams either turn off or ignore them Key takeaway: A detection system that creates too many alerts can be as bad as having no detection. (B) Lack of Precision: No Actionable Insights Anomaly detection does not tell you what’s happening—only that something "looks unusual." Security teams are left investigating vague alerts instead of getting concrete, actionable insights.When ransomware is actively spreading, you don’t have time to analyze anomalies—you need to know precisely what is encrypting your data. Key takeaway: A detection system that only says “something might be wrong” can create more work than solving the problem. (C) Arbitrary Sensitivity Settings Undermine Effectiveness Security teams are responsible for tuning sensitivity levels to deal with alerts, which is an unreliable process. Set sensitivity too high? Teams are flooded with false positives.Set sensitivity too low? Ransomware slips through undetected.Since every environment is different, there’s no universal threshold, leaving teams guessing and making detection inconsistent and useless at best. Key takeaway: A detection system that requires constant manual tuning is fundamentally flawed. (D) False Negatives: How Ransomware Evades Anomaly Detection Many modern ransomware families are designed to evade anomaly detection. Several top ten ransomware variants use intermittent encryption—encrypting parts of files instead of the entire file—so entropy remains unchanged.Attackers test their ransomware against anomaly detection tools before deploying it, ensuring their malware remains undetected.Examples of Ransomware That Evade Anomaly Detection:LockFileLockFile – Uses partial encryption, modifying only parts of files to avoid detection.XoristXorist – Does not change metadatato bypass statistical anomaly-based defenses.Alcatraz LockerAlcatraz Locker – Base64 encoding, ensuring minimal entropy changes. Sources:LockFile ransomware’s box of tricks: intermittent encryption and evasion – Sophos News Key takeaway:If attackers can trivially bypass your anomaly detection method, it’s not a real ransomware defense. (E) Anomaly Detection Doesn’t Look for Malware Anomaly detection does not detect actual ransomware executables—it only flags suspicious behavior. Gartner confirms this: “It’s important to note that anomaly scanning does not detect malware executables and cannot prevent those executables from becoming part of the backup of a system.”“It’s important to note that anomaly scanning does not detect malware executables and cannot prevent those executables from becoming part of the backup of a system.” Secure Your Backup Platforms and Data From Ransomware Attacks, 2024 This means ransomware can still be backed up, spread, and restored—even if anomaly detection exists. Key takeaway:A system that cannot detect actual ransomware encryption is broken, and their data is at risk. 3. The Solution: Ransomware Encryption Detection Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform is DifferentInstead of relying on anomaly detection, Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform (Elastio Platform) uses encryption-based detection to recognize actual ransomware activity inside storage and backups. Elastio Platform leverages a proprietary Machine Learning (ML) model built on a dataset of all known ransomware since 2014. Elastio Platform can identify ransomware encryption in data, even for zero-day threats that have not yet been identified. Key Differentiators of Elastio Platform’s Approach: Detects the specific ransomware variant encrypting at the file levelIdentifies zero-day ransomware that has never been seen before with 99.99% accuracyProvides forensic insights on the attacker’s tacticsEliminates false positives by focusing on real encryption activity With Elastio Platform, security teams don’t have to guess. When ransomware is detected, Elastio Platform knows what’s happening, which files are affected, and how to respond. Conclusion: The Need for Ransomware Detection Anomaly detection was never designed to stop ransomware. The only way to reliably detect ransomware is by recognizing how and when ransomware has encrypted data Elastio Platform detects actual ransomware encryption, providing precise and actionable intelligence Eliminate noise. Gain intelligence with Elastio Platform to be proactive and defend against ransomware

Elastio Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform is excited to unveil its new Elastio Platform 360 Ransomware Resilience User Interface (UI), an innovation that empowers businesses with unprecedented visibility into their ransomware resilience posture. This comprehensive interface provides actionable intelligence to identify threats, enhance defenses, and ensure clean, reliable recovery from one unified platform. Bringing Hidden Risks into Clear View Ransomware recovery is only as strong as your weakest link; without visibility, those weaknesses remain hidden until it’s too late. Elastio Platform 360 Ransomware Resilience UI is designed to illuminate key dimensions of your data security and recovery environment, transforming resilience from an abstract concept into a measurable, actionable framework. The intuitive interface delivers a real-time view of ransomware resilience, enabling organizations to: Uncover critical vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them.Prioritize areas of improvement that strengthen ransomware defenses.Take proactive steps to secure clean recovery points and prevent future breaches. Five Dimensions of Visibility for Proactive Cybersecurity The Elastio Platform 360 Ransomware Resilience UIvisualizes resilience across five essential cybersecurity dimensions: Recovery Assurance: Instantly verifies clean, ready-to-restore recovery points within defined SLAs, eliminating guesswork when disaster strikes.Asset Coverage: Confirms all critical assets are scanned for reducing blindspots and protecting against perimeter breaches.Ransomware Safety: Tracks data integrity to detect threats before and after detonation, ensuring quick remediation and recovery.Encryption Activity: Identifies malicious encryption and insider threats, a growing risk for organizations of all sizes.Storage Health: Pinpoints storage misconfigurations and potential exploits, safeguarding data from hidden weaknesses. This enhanced visibility allows businesses to confidently align their defenses and recovery strategies to current and emerging threats. Actionable Insights with Every View Built on advanced analytics and machine learning, the Elastio Platform360 Ransomware Resilience UIequips cybersecurity leaders with a clear roadmap for resilience improvement. Designed with industry experts, it simplifies complex data, providing intuitive metrics highlighting risk areas and real-time resilience progress. Confidence in Clean Data, Ready for Recovery Traditional solutions leave gaps in ransomware detection and recovery readiness. The Elastio Platform fills those gaps by continuously monitoring data integrity, alerting organizations to hidden threats, and validating every recovery point. Elastio Platform 360 Ransomware Resilience UI turns those capabilities into actionable insights, empowering teams to detect risks early and restore operations without hesitation. Step into the Future of Ransomware Recovery Assurance The Elastio Platform 360 Ransomware Resilience UI redefines how organizations understand and enhance their ransomware resilience posture. Ready to see it in action? Explore Elastio today and gain confidence in your ability to recover clean, secure data quickly and precisely.

Introduction A recent ransomware campaign has emerged, targeting Amazon Web Services (AWS) Simple Storage Service (S3) buckets. This attack encrypts existing S3 objects using new encryption keys, rendering them inaccessible without payment. Forbes Understanding how this attack operates and implementing effective security measures are crucial steps to safeguard your data against such threats. What Happened? This ransomware campaign exploits AWS's Server-Side Encryption with Customer-Provided Keys (SSE-C). Attackers use compromised AWS credentials to encrypt S3 objects with keys known only to them. Since AWS does not store these keys, the data becomes unrecoverable without the attacker's cooperation. BleepingComputer The attack involves: Unauthorized Access: Attackers gain access to AWS accounts with permission to read and write S3 objects.Encryption with SSE-C: They encrypt existing S3 objects using SSE-C with keys they control.Data Inaccessibility: Without the specific encryption keys, legitimate users cannot decrypt and access their data.Ransom Demand: Attackers demand payment in exchange for the decryption keys. This method effectively locks users out of their data, with recovery being impossible without the attacker's key. How Could This Impact You? For businesses relying on AWS S3 to store critical data, this attack poses a significant threat. If your data becomes encrypted by an unauthorized party, it can lead to operational disruptions, financial losses, and reputational damage. The claim that recovery is impossible without payment underscores the importance of robust security measures and proactive monitoring to detect and prevent such unauthorized activities. Best Practices for Recovery and Prevention Strengthen Access Controls Implement Least Privilege Access: Ensure that users and applications have only the permissions necessary to perform their tasks. Regularly audit permissions to prevent privilege creep.Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Require MFA for all accounts, especially those with access to sensitive data. Utilize Ransomware Scanning Deploy Advanced Tools: Utilize advanced ransomware detection and recovery solutions to automatically identify and mitigate threats in buckets.Enhance Scanning Tools: Upgrade your ransomware scanning tools to detect specific errors associated with SSE-C encryption misuse.Implement Proactive Monitoring: Set up systems to trigger alerts whenever read errors occur, signaling potential ransomware activity. Monitor and Detect Anomalous Activities Enable Logging and Monitoring: Activate AWS CloudTrail and Amazon S3 server access logging to monitor access and changes to your S3 buckets.Set Up Alerts: Configure alerts for unusual activities, such as sudden changes in encryption settings or large data transfers. Utilize S3 Object Lock and Versioning Enable S3 Object Lock: Implement Object Lock in compliance mode to prevent object deletion or modification within a specified retention period, protecting data from unauthorized changes. Amazon Web Services, Inc.Activate Versioning: Keep previous versions of objects to recover from unintended overwrites or deletions. Regular Backups and Replication Perform Regular Backups: Regularly back up your data to separate, secure locations to ensure availability in case of an attack.Implement Cross-Region Replication: Replicate data across different AWS regions to enhance durability and availability.Validate Backup Integrity: Use these tools to ensure your s3 backups are secure and identify the last known clean version for swift recovery. Educate and Train Your Team Conduct Security Training: Regularly train employees on security best practices and how to recognize phishing attempts and other common attack vectors.Develop an Incident Response Plan: Establish and rehearse a response plan for potential security incidents, including ransomware attacks. Conclusion The emergence of this S3-targeted ransomware campaign highlights cyber adversaries' evolving tactics. By implementing robust security measures, maintaining vigilant monitoring, and fostering a culture of security awareness, you can protect your data and ensure business continuity. Remember, preparation and proactive defense are your best strategies against ransomware threats. At Elastio, we offer advanced ransomware detection and recovery solutions tailored to safeguard your cloud storage environments, helping you stay resilient against emerging threats. Stay vigilant. Stay protected.

Ransomware recovery shouldn’t be a guessing game. For an auto insurance firm dedicated to protecting its clients' futures, safeguarding critical backup data from hidden threats was non-negotiable. With ElastioElastio, this firm’s ransomware recovery strategy has transformed from reactive to proactive. Bob Craven, Technical Services Manager, recognized the growing sophistication of ransomware tactics — specifically, their ability to infiltrate backups by silently infecting data and lying dormant until recovery. Tasked with ensuring data integrity and business continuity, Bob turned to Elastio's Ransomware Recovery Assurance PlatformElastio's Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platformto fill the critical gap traditional solutions couldn’t address. Daily automated scans and precise ransomware detection give users confidence in detecting data compromise early and instantly identifying a clean backup to restore. Bob refers to the Elastio Platform as a cornerstone of the company’s data integrity and protection strategy. Discover how Elastio helps protect data integrity, streamline compliance, and prevent disaster before it strikes.

"Elastio platform returns ransomware recovery into a fast, reliable process—we finally know exactly where to start." From Weeks of Guesswork to Instant Recovery: How AI Engineers Transformed Ransomware Resilience with Elastio When ransomware strikes, every second counts. Finding a clean backup quickly is critical to reducing downtime and minimizing data loss. For AI Engineers, a leader in bridge design and commercial construction, confidence in backup integrity and recovery speed has been a game-changer. Derrick Woolford, now Director of IT at AI Engineers, knows the cost of uncertainty all too well. In his previous role as an MSP supporting hundreds of businesses, he saw how traditional backup solutions left companies guessing. One client spent an entire week restoring backups one by one—only to discover the last clean copy was a month old. That experience shaped Woolford’s proactive approach to data protection and ultimately led him to Elastio. With Elastio’s Ransomware Recovery Assurance Platform, Woolford’s team now benefits from: Proactive ransomware threat detectionAutomated backup integrity validationInstant access to the last safe recovery point Best of all, Elastio integrates seamlessly with their existing Veeam environment, delivering confidence without adding complexity.