Barracuda Cautions Against the Use of Outdated Backup Tapes

Barracuda Networks, Inc. (NYSE: CUDA), a leading provider of cloud-enabled security and data protection solutions, cautions corporations from relying on outdated technology such as tape backups to store sensitive customer data.

The caution comes in lieu of a recent announcement by a financial institution, that several of its magnetic tapes containing back-up data had been lost in transit during routine operations. The bank further stated that there was no evidence that the information had been compromised and was taking the necessary measures to protect its customers.

James Forbes-May, the Vice President of APAC Sales for Barracuda says, “We still see some organisations opting to use tapes for backup as they seem slightly cheaper. However, in the long run, the cost multiplies when we factor in the need for physical storage, rotation, transportation and the weakest link – human interaction. Worst of all, in the event of a loss, the company may lose its credibility and the trust of its customers.

“There is just too much room for human error in a tape-based backup strategy which requires human interaction at every step of the process.”

Magnetic tapes need to be changed out, transported offsite to a storage facility, rotated often. If the data needs to be recovered, the tapes need to be retrieved, loaded, and then the tedious restore process begins; and there’s no guarantee that the restore will even work.

“Organisations can significantly reduce the risk of data loss and avoid compromising customer privacy by implementing more current data protection methods such as – disk-based on premise backup that automatically replicates data to an offsite location – be it a remote office, public cloud infrastructures or private cloud solutions,” he adds.

“It is crucial that organisations with sensitive customer data use solutions that can enable backup and offsite data replication to be automated and encrypted in order to minimise human interaction and percentage of error while helping to ensure rapid recovery in the event of a ransomware attack,” asserts Forbes-May.

“Companies must make sure all steps are taken to ensure their customer’s privacy is never compromised. It is essential that consumers are able to rely on the credibility of an organisation especially in the financial sector,” he ends.

About Barracuda Backup

An all-in-one solution such as Barracuda Backup can seamlessly protect physical, virtual, and SaaS environments, and replicate the data offsite securely and efficiently with AES 256-bit encryption in flight and at rest in the cloud to significantly reduce the risk of data loss.

https://www.barracuda.com/products/backup

About Barracuda Networks, Inc. (NYSE: CUDA)

Barracuda (NYSE: CUDA) simplifies IT with cloud-enabled solutions that empower customers to protect their networks, applications and data, regardless of where they reside. These powerful, easy-to-use and affordable solutions are trusted by more than 150,000 organizations worldwide and are delivered in appliance, virtual appliance, cloud and hybrid deployment configurations. Barracuda’s customer-centric business model focuses on delivering high-value, subscription-based IT solutions that provide end-to-end network and data protection. For additional information, please visit barracuda.com.