Skip to content

Survey highlights growing concerns over SaaS data protection amid regulatory complexities

Executives express lack of confidence in protective measures and are unclear on where responsibilities for data protection lie

Copenhagen, Denmark – October 10, 2024 – Keepit, the world’s only vendor-independent cloud-native data protection platform, today released results from a recent survey. As SaaS applications become critical components of modern business operations the survey, conducted by Gatepoint Research for Keepit, reveals a troubling gap in confidence among executives regarding the protection of their SaaS data. The “SaaS data protection confidence survey”, which gathered responses from 100 senior decision-makers across industries such as finance, healthcare, technology, and manufacturing, shows that while businesses increasingly rely on SaaS tools, many leaders are not fully confident in their ability to safeguard their data.

The survey will be a key focus of an upcoming webinar titled “Protecting your SaaS data – pitfalls and challenges to overcome”, scheduled for October 17, 2024. This event will provide industry professionals with actionable insights on how to bolster their SaaS data protection strategies and ensure compliance with evolving global regulations.

SaaS data protection confidence is low 

According to the survey, while 28% of respondents expressed high confidence in their data protection measures, a significant 31% reported moderate to severe lapses in their data protection. This lack of confidence is alarming as the use of SaaS applications continues to grow, with critical data stored in applications like Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Power BI.

“Moderate confidence in SaaS data protection is not enough in today’s threat landscape,” said Paul Robichaux, Senior Product Director of Keepit and Microsoft MVP. “Organizations must ensure their data recovery processes are robust and regularly tested. Otherwise, they risk discovering weaknesses too late, when a disaster has already struck and they’re trying to recover.”

 

Compliance and data growth are major challenges

The survey reveals that 50% of respondents cite increased compliance requirements as their top challenge, with growing data volumes and the complexities of managing SaaS data also ranking high. As global regulations like NIS2 and DORA become more stringent, organizations are under pressure to ensure their SaaS data is adequately protected and compliant with these evolving mandates.

“In the financial industry, for example, DORA requires that backup environments be segregated from production environments to reduce risk.  And we know that many organizations aren’t well-prepared to meet these requirements,” noted Robichaux. “The rising volume of data, combined with increasingly complex regulations, presents a significant challenge for many organizations.”

Financial and reputational risks drive data protection priorities

The survey also highlights the financial and reputational risks associated with data loss. 57% of respondents identified brand and reputation damage as the most significant business impact of data loss, followed closely by financial consequences and regulatory compliance violations.

“Customer data is among the most valuable assets an organization holds,” said Robichaux. “Losing access to that data, whether through ransomware or accidental deletion, can have devastating financial and reputational consequences. Organizations need to take a proactive approach to ensure their SaaS data is protected.”

The big SaaS data backup disconnect

While 58% of respondents reported using Microsoft to back up their SaaS data, there is a disconnect between perception and reality. Many executives mistakenly believe their data is fully protected by native SaaS backup features. However, shared responsibility models mean that SaaS providers are not accountable for customers’ data backup, leaving a critical gap in protection.

“Only 15% of respondents consider backing up directory and identity services like Entra ID to be crucial, even though losing access to these services could cripple business operations,” Robichaux added. “This shows a need for better education around SaaS data protection.”

Budget and expertise are key roadblocks

When asked about the roadblocks to improving their data protection strategies, 56% of respondents cited budget constraints, while 33% noted a lack of expertise and resources. Many organizations also face the challenge of managing multiple data backup vendors, further complicating their efforts.

To help organizations navigate these challenges, Keepit will host a free webinar titled “Protecting Your SaaS Data – Pitfalls and Challenges to Overcome” on October 17, 2024, at 4:00 pm CEST. The webinar will delve deeper into the survey results and provide actionable insights into:

  • Managing compliance with evolving global regulations
  • Testing recovery procedures to ensure preparedness
  • Mitigating financial and reputational risks associated with data loss

Attendees can also participate in a live Q&A session with industry experts and take a benchmark test to see how their organization stacks up.

Register for the webinar here.

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Keepit
At Keepit, we believe in a digital future where all software is delivered as a service. Keepit’s mission is to protect data in the cloud Keepit is a software company specializing in Cloud-to-Cloud data backup and recovery. Deriving from +20 year experience in building best-in-class data protection and hosting services, Keepit is pioneering the way to secure and protect cloud data at scale.

Backup and Recovery for Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization

In the dynamic landscape of containerized virtualization, robust data protection is paramount. Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization provides a powerful solution for running virtualized workloads within Kubernetes environments. To complement this technology, Storware Backup and Recovery offers a comprehensive data protection solution tailored specifically for OpenShift Virtualization. This blog post explores how Storware simplifies backup and recovery operations, enhances data security, and ensures business continuity in containerized virtualization environments.

What is Red Hat’s OpenShift Virtualization?

OpenShift Virtualization stands as an enterprise-grade solution for virtualization, enabling users to run VMs on the Red Hat OpenShift Kubernetes platform. This solution builds upon Kubevirt, an open-source virtualization solution facilitating VM management within Kubernetes clusters. Storware Backup and Recovery emerges as the backup and recovery solution for Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization equipped with all the exceptional features.

Why is Backup for Containers Important?

Backup for virtual machines running on OpenShift Virtualization is crucial for businesses relying on virtualization technology to maintain their IT infrastructure. It mitigates risks such as data loss, hardware failures, and cyberattacks, safeguarding critical data and applications. Storware’s comprehensive backup solution empowers organizations to swiftly recover from unforeseen outages or disruptions, minimizing downtime and ensuring uninterrupted business operations. Additionally, backups are valuable for testing and development purposes, allowing organizations to duplicate VMs and experiment with new configurations without impacting production environments.

Understanding Storware Backup and Recovery

Storware Backup and Recovery is a robust data protection solution designed specifically for modern virtualized environments. It offers a comprehensive set of features to streamline backup and recovery operations while ensuring data security and business continuity. For containerized virtualization, Storware seamlessly integrates with Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, providing a tailored solution for protecting virtual machines and their data within Kubernetes environments:

  • Agentless backup: Simplifies deployment and management.
  • Full and incremental backup: Offers flexibility and efficiency.
  • CBT Support: Optimizes backup performance by capturing only changed data.
  • File-level restore: Enables granular recovery of specific files.
  • Full VM restore: Allows for quick recovery of entire virtual machines.
  • Disk-attachment backup strategy: Supports various storage configurations.
  • VM disk exclusion: Provides granular control over backup scope.
  • Quiescent snapshot: Ensures consistent backups by freezing VM activity.
  • Pre/Post snapshot command/script execution: Allows for customization and automation.
  • Disk backups can be shared over iSCSI: Facilitates efficient storage management.
  • Name-based auto-assignment: Simplifies backup management.
  • Tag-based auto-assignment: Enables flexible backup organization.
  • Power-on VM after restore: Streamlines recovery process.

Learn more – Documentation

Storware Backup and Recovery leverages the underlying infrastructure and APIs of Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization to provide efficient and reliable backup and recovery capabilities. It understands the nuances of these containerized virtualization platforms and offers specialized functionalities to address their unique requirements.

By integrating directly with Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, Storware provides deep visibility into the virtual machine and containerized application landscape. It enables administrators to easily manage backup policies, schedule automated backups, and monitor the overall data protection status from a centralized interface.

Additionally, Storware ensures compatibility with the wider backup ecosystem. It allows seamless integration with existing backup infrastructure, such as enterprise backup software or cloud-based backup solutions. This integration ensures a cohesive backup and recovery strategy, leveraging the strengths of Storware in conjunction with established data protection practices.

Simplifying Backup Operations

Storware Backup and Recovery streamlines backup operations for virtual machines running on Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, offering a range of features that enhance efficiency and ease of use.

  • Automated and Scheduled Backups: Define automated backup policies to ensure regular and consistent backups.
  • Incremental Backups and Deduplication: Optimize backup efficiency and storage utilization.
  • Granular Recovery Options: Restore specific files or entire virtual machines as needed.
  • Recovery Plans and Backups Verification: Validate backups to ensure data integrity.
  • Role-Based Access Control: Enhance data security by limiting access to authorized personnel.
  • Audit Trails and Compliance: Maintain a record of backup and recovery activities for compliance purposes.
  • Integration with Existing Backup Infrastructure: Seamlessly integrate with existing backup systems.
  • Policy-Driven Backup and Recovery: Define and enforce backup policies to streamline operations and ensure compliance.
  • 3-2-1 Backup Strategy: Implement a robust data protection strategy for added security.

Learn more – Backup Process 

Conclusion

Storware Backup and Recovery ensures secure and compliant data protection within Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization environments. By supporting encryption, maintaining audit trails, enabling compliance with data retention requirements, and emphasizing data integrity and verification, Storware empowers organizations to protect their virtual machine backups in a secure and compliant manner. This helps organizations meet regulatory obligations, maintain data privacy, and uphold high standards of data protection.

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Storware
Storware is a backup software producer with over 10 years of experience in the backup world. Storware Backup and Recovery is an enterprise-grade, agent-less solution that caters to various data environments. It supports virtual machines, containers, storage providers, Microsoft 365, and applications running on-premises or in the cloud. Thanks to its small footprint, seamless integration into your existing IT infrastructure, storage, or enterprise backup providers is effortless.

Optimized Malware Detection from ESET & Intel


ESET has been collaborating with Intel for several years to deliver endpoint security software that can take advantage of hardware-based security and performance features—a major advantage in the battle to detect advanced ransomware and other constantly evolving threats. 

Why businesses need hardware layer security on their endpoints

Despite all efforts, ransomware attacks continue to escalate in frequency and severity, with cybercriminals’ extortion tactics becoming progressively more brutal. Ransomware and malware in general are also becoming more sophisticated and better able to avoid detection by conventional means.

For example, recent ransomware variants can rewrite themselves once they infiltrate a victim’s environment, thus dodging traditional signature-based detection tools. Another emerging ransomware capability is hiding inside virtual machines.

These advanced obfuscation techniques are creating gaps in cybersecurity coverage. This is where hardware-based malware detection comes into play—detecting both known and novel malware to keep companies safer. While malware software always leaves a “fingerprint” when it executes, hardware-based monitoring of CPU telemetry can flush out even the most sophisticated ransomware, providing elevated immunity to many detection bypasses.

Mutual customers have benefitted from ESET’s collaboration with Intel since March 2022, when ESET rolled out its ESET PROTECT multilayered cybersecurity suite integrated and automatically configured with Intel® Threat Detection Technology (Intel® TDT).  Today, approximately 90% of ESET end users are running on Intel-based systems. Residing  on the Intel CPU, the combined solutions use AI to analyze CPU telemetry to provide advanced detection against new and existing strains of malware—especially ransomware.

The latest from ESET and Intel: Leveraging hybrid processors to optimize performance

While the need for advanced, AI-driven threat detection grows by the day, cybersecurity and IT leaders look to balance new technology deployments against the performance and productivity challenges brought on by remote and hybrid work scenarios. Endpoint security tools must keep a low profile to avoid slowing down other tasks and/or draining users’ batteries.

This is why ESET and Intel have expanded their work together, now offering advanced endpoint solutions that take advantage of Intel’s latest hybrid processor architecture. The newer generations of Intel® Core™ and Intel® Core™ Ultra processors have two kinds of cores:

  1. Performance cores, which compute at the highest speeds
  2. Efficient cores, which compute relatively fast but with much lower energy consumption

How is hybrid chip architecture relevant to cybersecurity incident detection and response? If you are trying to detect the presence of malware, you probably want that operation to run as fast as possible. So, you would run it on performance cores. But some other cybersecurity processes, such as updates and background scans, can run on efficient cores to save device power and optimize the performance of priority tasks.

By taking advantage of Intel’s hybrid processor architecture to intelligently schedule background workloads on efficient cores when available, ESET endpoint protection solutions can better meet the demands of remote and hybrid work scenarios. Another key benefit discovered in initial testing: battery power savings on laptops running the hybrid aware software have been on the order of 5% to 8%.

According to Előd Kironský, Vice President of Endpoint Solutions and Security Technologies at ESET, “Our endpoint protection product is aware that it is running on a hybrid processor, and it is able to direct different workloads to use either efficient cores or performance cores. Assigning workloads to efficient cores has no negative impact on product performance. In a number of scenarios, performance increases were documented and processes completed faster.”

This new “hybrid aware” capability is slated to be released to ESET customers in early December.

Compound benefits for ESET customers running on Intel

Low impact to system performance is an area that ESET has always prioritized within its multilayered software architecture and is a key selling point for many of our clients. Leveraging technology that can help with prevention and protection while also preserving performance is a win-win choice.

Likewise, ESET has always advocated a multilayered approach to security. By adding the silicon layer to our security stack, ESET and Intel have reached a new milestone in combatting cyberthreats.

By taking advantage of newly expanded capabilities in the Intel relationship, our customers witness multiple benefits from the joint solution.

  • Intel TDT’s hardware-level malware detection coupled with its ongoing machine learning improvements are a powerful weapon in the fight against ransomware and other cyberattacks.
  • The added compute demands from this new hardware-level detection capability are largely being offloaded onto the GPU or efficiency cores, minimizing impacts on system performance and end user productivity.
  • Because the joint solution activates and operates automatically, it delivers an immediate boost to ransomware protection with no increase in IT complexity or administrative workload.

Customers looking to take advantage of next-gen cybersecurity won’t have to wait long for continued innovation from ESET and Intel. We are currently working together to develop new functionalities and tools that take advantage of the neural processing unit (NPU) in Intel Core Ultra processors and expand on ESET’s leadership in AI-native security for AI PCs.

It’s important that we continue to maximize innovation and address tomorrow’s unknown threats through our work with innovation partners, like Intel. It’s these types of collaborations that will empower a safer tomorrow for businesses of all sizes, and we are proud to include them in the ESET technology ecosystem.

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About ESET
For 30 years, ESET® has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint security to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET’s high-performing, easy-to-use products give individuals and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D facilities worldwide, ESET became the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single “in-the-wild” malware without interruption since 2003.

How UEM Boosts IAM: A First-class Strategy for Operational Efficiency

ProMobi Technologies today announced that Scalefusion- its leading unified endpoint management solution (UEM), has now launched support for ChromeOS device management. This addition reinforces Scalefusion’s commitment to offering a versatile multi-OS management platform that caters to the diverse needs of modern businesses. 

With the integration of ChromeOS, Scalefusion enables IT administrators to streamline the management of ChromeOS devices alongside Windows, macOS, Android, and Linux, simplifying the complexities of multi-OS environments.

ChromeOS has seen significant adoption across industries, from education to enterprise, thanks to its balance of affordability, speed, and security. Recognizing this growing trend, Scalefusion’s new ChromeOS device management provides organizations with the ability to provision, secure, and monitor ChromeOS devices seamlessly through the same intuitive platform used for their existing device ecosystems.

Scalefusion’s ChromeOS management empowers businesses to streamline device management by integrating ChromeOS into their existing device strategy. With Scalefusion’s unified platform, IT administrators can boost productivity by providing a consistent, unified experience for users across all platforms. Whether organizations are deploying Chromebooks in educational settings or managing ChromeOS devices for remote workforces, Scalefusion makes it simple to provision, secure, and monitor these devices—all from a single dashboard. With the addition of ChromeFlex, businesses can repurpose existing PCs and Macs by converting them to ChromeOS devices, further extending the life of their hardware while maintaining seamless management through Scalefusion’s unified platform.

Sriram Kakarala, Chief Product Officer at Scalefusion, highlighted the importance of this new addition: “With the rise of ChromeOS in diverse sectors, we saw a clear opportunity to enhance the Scalefusion platform. By adding ChromeOS support, we are delivering on our promise to simplify device management for our customers, regardless of which operating systems they choose to deploy.”

Scalefusion’s integration aims to provide organizations with a straightforward approach to managing their multi-OS device ecosystems. Request a free trial of this release by setting up a demo of Scalefusion for ChromeOS here.

About Scalefusion

ProMobi Technologies provides a leading Unified Endpoint Management solution under the brand Scalefusion. Scalefusion UEM allows organizations to secure and manage endpoints, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, rugged devices, POS and digital signage, and apps and content. It supports the management of Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS devices and ensures streamlined device management operations with Scalefusion Remote Troubleshooting.

More than 8000 companies worldwide are unlocking their true potential using Scalefusion, which is used across various industries, such as Transportation & Logistics, Retail, Education, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Construction & Real Estate, Hospitality, Software & Telecom, Financial Services, and others.

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About Scalefusion
Scalefusion’s company DNA is built on the foundation of providing world-class customer service and making endpoint management simple and effortless for businesses globally. We prioritize the needs and feedback of our customers, making sure that they are at the forefront of all decision-making processes. We are dedicated to providing comprehensive customer support services, and place emphasis on customer-centric thinking throughout the organization.

Need help? Our team is just a message away