Data storage and management company Quantum Corporation has released a new feature developed to help protect data stored on tape systems against network threats such as ransomware. This feature, called the Scalar Ransom Block, is touted as an industry first and is developed to protect Quantum's scalar band systems from the danger of unauthorized data access over the Internet. “Tape storage systems are an essential part of building cyber-resilient infrastructures, both for large files and as part of an overall data protection strategy. However, even data stored on tapes can be compromised if the tape library itself is hacked, so we've developed these new features in partnership with a major cloud vendor,” said Jamie Lerner, director of Quantum. According to the company, the new solution safeguards data by literally creating a hardware "block" between the data stored on the tapes and every device connected to the network, including the robotic tape system.
Block attacks
Although cloud storage, cloud backup, and large capacity drives are convenient for short-term data storage, when it comes to file storage, magnetic tapes are second to none. In addition to this, Quantum maintains that tape systems are inherently more secure than storage systems based on hard drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs), as data stored on tape is not connected to network. However, tape systems are still prone to stealth attacks because the tape library itself is a network-attached device. Because tapes stored in a library are in a magazine, Quantum's Scalar Ransom Block feature partially ejects the magazine, making the tapes unreachable until such time as an operator physically reinserts the magazine. The feature can be activated remotely with a single click and helps ensure that data stored on tape is absolutely offline. According to Quantum, the new functionality is expected to be available on its Scalar i6 and Scalar i3 tape libraries in the last month of XNUMX.