How a technology firm uses offline data backups to protect customers’ information in worst-case scenarios
McDonagh Bros. is a technology firm specializing in cybersecurity, mobile web and app development, e-commerce, content management, intranets, extranets, data applications and backup.
Cyberattacks are increasing and becoming more sophisticated.
In addition to cyber crimes, natural disasters can destroy data.
Without the right tools, recovering from data disasters can be challenging—or impossible.
Companies should protect and secure their backups.
Preserving the active directory is of paramount importance.
McDonagh uses Rimage’s offline, immutable Write Once, Read Many (WORM) technology as a key component of the security solutions they offer to their clients.
In a worst-case scenario, companies have one last chance to restore data.
Cyber liability insurance is more budget-friendly and more accessible.
Organizations will now have a business continuity & disaster recovery (BCDR) plan in place in case of cyberattack or natural disaster.
“It’s the little things that get you.”
(Approximate read time: 4 minutes)
The Challenge
Located in Minneapolis, McDonagh Brothers Inc. is a technology firm whose mission is simple: make sure your computers work so you can work. In addition to a comprehensive list of technology services, McDonagh Brothers is increasingly tasked with data security and disaster recovery for its business clients. The firm uses Rimage’s immutable, offline data management solutions to provide a final backup option for companies that suffer a data disaster.
McDonagh Brothers has been working on technology projects since 1987, so they’ve seen a lot of change in IT over the decades. In the last five years, one of the biggest challenges is how data security has become a huge moving target for the industry and for organizations.
Like most of the industry, McDonagh Brothers takes the approach that it’s nearly impossible to prevent all cyberattacks. Not only are criminals becoming more sophisticated with their technology, but social engineering focusing on employees’ accidental or willful data breaches creates vulnerabilities that are impossible to completely prevent.
With most of the industry’s attention focused on cyberattacks, the dangers associated with natural disasters are often overlooked. Fire and water can be just as or even more destructive to data stores than cyberattack. Usually cyberattacks don’t destroy everything, but a server submerged in water can.
When organizations don’t have the right tools in place during a data disaster, the most rudimentary questions can be impossible to answer.
“It’s the little things that get you,” says Jonathan McDonagh, founder. “What were all the passwords? What were all the IP addresses? What were the names of all these devices? What were the names of all the users? Who were all the users? Where are they? These are the kinds of things you need to know to get back up and running.”
The Solution
Since it’s not possible to prevent data disaster, McDonagh Brothers focuses on making sure that, no matter what happens, clients can recover and maintain business continuity. That means companies must essentially back up their backup systems. In order to do that, McDonagh Brothers recommends layering different security tools over their clients’ data to ensure that if one backup system fails, another is there, and if that one fails, yet another one is in place.
Most companies keep at least some of their data in the cloud, andmany of those organizations use cloud-based backups. That can work, and McDonagh Brothers encourages and helps clients migrate data to the cloud. However, cloud-based backups can be vulnerable to cyberattacks, so it’s critical to have copies of important data in locations other than the cloud.
After guiding several clients through ransomware attacks, McDonagh realized that keeping the active directory safe is key to disaster recovery. They created a structure that included two new components:
1. Immutable, offline WORM technology, which they get through security partner Rimage -AND-
2. Software that allows companies to make their infrastructures into code, which they get through Terraform, an open-source program
“With Rimage, we can write data on a DVD and the DVD is not hooked up to anything, it’s air-gapped. It’s going to be there no matter what,” says McDonagh, adding, “When there’s a disaster, we can create an active directory with your information that’s all ready to go within about 35 to 40 minutes.”
The Results
A major benefit to taking this multi-layered approach to backups is that companies have a last chance to save their data in the worst-case scenario. In the event of a system-wide outage, IT departments can assure upper management with confidence that they’ll be able to recover simply and quickly.
Another benefit is that companies with a multi-layered data recovery plan could pay lower cyber liability insurance premiums. With standard liability premiums soaring, fully prepared organizations could incur less expensive rates than other companies that do not have several layers of backup in place.
And most importantly, companies that experience a wholesale data disaster can quickly and easily regain business continuity, allowing them to fulfill their brand promise to their clients and maintain their hard-won reputations.
“I can count on the fact that we have this last bastion that’ll get us back up and running,” says McDonagh. “Hopefully it won’t be necessary. But it’s the kind of thing where, if you need it, you really, really need it.”
“Hopefully it won’t be necessary. But it’s the kind of thing where, if you need it, you really, really need it.”