WHAT'S NEXT?
Looking to the future, we see an increasingly important role for the Cloud. Partly due to the pandemic that has gripped the world for nearly two years, digitalization has taken a significant leap forward and passed this true trial by fire with reasonable success. Workplaces have become much more digital, and all kinds of applications and services can be accessed anytime, anywhere. However, this is not without risk. The ability to access everything online also expands the attack vectors. Protecting data is a hot topic more than ever.
DATA PROTECTION AT THREE LEVELS
Two years ago, no one would have thought we would all be working from home for such a long period. And what do we see? The popularity of digital applications has skyrocketed. Even now that the pandemic is gradually fading into the background, the success of the digital workplace continues. But does this mean we are done? No, certainly not. It is of great importance that these workplaces and the applications used are properly secured. Previously, the locations where applications and business data were used and stored were often limited to office premises within a closed network. Now, these are extensively exposed outside office locations and, in theory, accessible to outsiders.
It is therefore essential to protect data to the maximum, and at Fundaments, we enjoy working on future-proof solutions. We approach data protection from three different angles.
- Data path - architecture
The first level of protection consists of Security by Architecture. It is important that an application is preferably not accessible via the Internet, but through smart alternatives such as private line connections or network platforms like NDIX or NLIX. In addition, we provide smart checkpoints in the data path: next-gen firewalls like those from Fortinet. These are firewalls that do more than just act as a gate or door by closing or opening a path; they are much smarter. These so-called next-gen firewalls are capable of recognizing patterns and closing access based on data behavior within a path. To do this, they use central databases containing a vast number of attack patterns to recognize and act upon attacks very quickly. At a higher level, this also happens with internet traffic; the Fundaments DDoS scrubbing center filters out malicious traffic while ensuring legitimate traffic can still traverse the data path. Through these smart steps, we can protect a great deal of data traffic and ensure the path remains 'clean'. - Data protector - Backup and Disaster Recovery
The second layer of protection focuses on continuity: Backup and Disaster Recovery services. A backup is a copy of your data in another location, protecting it against human error, theft, or technical issues. Disaster Recovery takes this a step further. It is not just a copy of the data, but a completely mirrored environment. This ensures minimal data loss and downtime. Fundaments advocates for combining these services: Backup for long-term archiving and ensuring a second copy of important data exists in another location; and Disaster Recovery to provide a mirrored environment that allows for the rapid restoration of a production environment when problems arise. This doesn't even have to involve major 'disasters'. Due to digitalization, we see that deleting a small file or a failed application update can have major consequences. Protecting the data and the applications that house it is therefore crucial. - Data flow - monitoring
A rapidly developing world is one where solutions are offered for analyzing data flows. This concerns data flows running across paths; similar to next-gen firewalls, other parts of the cloud, applications, operating systems, and the virtualization layer are scanned for anomalous behavior. Within our Cloud, we constantly monitor data flows, assisted by smart solutions that integrate with our infrastructure. For example, we tap into the data flows of VMware virtualization. With VMware NSX network integrations, we can look at data exchange at a much more specific level. But things like setting up a honeypot can also be a solution. This involves mimicking an easily accessible service that a hacker would find interesting; contact with the honeypot is reported, allowing for early detection of suspicious behavior. By coupling this with 24/7 monitoring and automatic follow-up, a powerful combination of monitoring solutions is created, capable of detecting and mitigating any form of attack.
