How Do IREs Compare With Traditional Backups?
Traditional backups worked in a world where the physical location of a school may have been in danger, but the actual data was fine. If the disaster was a power outage, a flood or a dead server, there was a running copy of the system somewhere else that the district could switch over to. The underlying assumption was that the data was still in good shape, says Jared Ruckle, senior director of solutions marketing at Cohesity.
“Ransomware breaks that assumption. Attackers don’t take your building down. They poison your data,” he says. “An IRE improves your odds because it starts from the opposite assumption that your data has already been compromised. It keeps a copy that’s isolated from your network, locked so it can’t be altered or deleted. You can take steps to verify the data’s integrity before you restore it. That gives you something traditional disaster recovery often can’t — a known-good starting point after an attack, not just a fast one.”
A distinct separation to daily operations is key to making IREs useful for K–12 districts. “Because recovery is done in a completely different environment using immutable snapshots, which are copies of data that cannot be overwritten or deleted, there are trusted recovery points. The system can be checked for malware and can be kept disconnected from the network until everything is clear,” Narang says.
UP NEXT: Here’s what minimum viable security looks like for K–12 districts.
How Accessible Are IREs for K–12 Schools?
While it may seem as though IREs might be accessible only to large school districts, small to medium-sized districts today can access the same protection as a service, similar to their other IT systems. A decade ago, IREs may have needed more infrastructure and staff to run, and would have been out of reach for most districts, but things are different now.
“A minimum viable setup needs five things: a copy of your critical data, kept separate from your main network, locked so it can’t be altered or deleted, scanned for infection before you restore, and tested at least once. No second building, no new servers and no dedicated staff,” Ruckle says. “All of this is great news, because an IRE isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have.”
Managed services and cloud solutions can help smaller districts elevate their cyber strategy with dedicated recovery environments similar to those that larger organizations use. Narang recommends these first steps:
- Provide immutable backups or snapshots for critical functions.
- Isolate recovery environments from production.
- Automate recovery processes wherever possible.
- Routinely validate the recoverability of applications and data.
The ability to restore data to minimize risk and keep the business running is within reach for districts and schools of all sizes.
Make Cyber Resilience an Active Part of Your District IT Strategy
“The organizations that have the best cyber resilience integrated into their data strategies will have the fastest recovery capabilities,” Narang says, adding that just having security tools doesn’t necessarily lead to the fastest recovery. Those tools must come together with regular training, automated controls and a maturing data strategy.
“Treat the IRE as your last line of defense, not your only line. You must have strong logins, patching and identity security,” Ruckle says. “An IRE works best within a continuous cyber resilience program. You need to prioritize protecting the data that matters, hardening your systems, scanning for threats, practicing your plan and then, repeat. Resilience isn’t a product you own. It’s a habit you build.”
