The global IT outage that occurred recently with the root cause in a problem with the Falcon Sensor software from CrowdStrike has averagely shown how even the best disaster recovery systems can be. A security measure for guard against system failures became a perplexing global disaster pointing out the key weaknesses in many organizations’ data protection.
A typical daily update from CrowdStrike on Microsoft Windows devices on July 19, 2024, would prove catastrophic as it affected millions of devices. This incident affected the fundamental operations, including flying, healthcare, payments, and corporate technology. The irony that a cybersecurity firm’s update could cripple global infrastructure underscores a crucial lesson for businesses: even the strongest systems which are backed by enormous preparation and contingency planning fail at the rate of their incapability to overcome unexpected complications.
What Happened with CrowdStrike?
An incident that recently made headline is the conflict initiated by CrowdStrike, a reputable cloud security company that focuses on computer protection services, with a new launch of update on Falcon Sensor. Though designed to increase system security, the update rendered critical function lose and caused numerous operational disturbances. The company's oversight in this instance reveals a fundamental truth about disaster recovery: It has to be pointed out that the tools aimed at mitigating the crises must be as strong as the systems they anticipate.
The paper aims to inquire about the contribution of Zerto as well as summarize Lessons Learned.
This CrowdStrike outage shows the existing DR issues and the significance of developing an innovative DR strategy. As a result of having complicated IT environments, these facilities posed some of the hardest trials that Zerto’s advanced technology aimed at providing solutions for improving data protection. Here’s an in-depth look at how Zerto can help organizations strengthen their disaster recovery and business continuity frameworks:Here’s an in-depth look at how Zerto can help organizations strengthen their disaster recovery and business continuity frameworks:
1. Continuous Data Protection
The CrowdStrike incident showed the shortcomings of poor protection of information. It was reported that many organizations were unable to restore some of the important data it lost in the outage hence extended times of business interruption. Zerto eliminates these risks with its agentless continuous data protection. It guarantees that data is mirrored in nearly real-time, this makes it capture changes as they happen and thus minimize data loss. In essence, because of Zerto, companies can restore a system to a state right before an attack, cutting down on the damage that can be caused considerably. Such capability is claimed to be very essential since operational continuity has to be maintained, and more importantly, data consistency has to be maintained regardless of system failure incidences.
The CrowdStrike incident showed the shortcomings of poor protection of information. It was reported that many organizations were unable to restore some of the important data it lost in the outage hence extended times of business interruption. Zerto eliminates these risks with its agentless continuous data protection. It guarantees that data is mirrored in nearly real-time, this makes it capture changes as they happen and thus minimize data loss. In essence, because of Zerto, companies can restore a system to a state right before an attack, cutting down on the damage that can be caused considerably. Such capability is claimed to be very essential since operational continuity has to be maintained, and more importantly, data consistency has to be maintained regardless of system failure incidences.
2. Fully Automated And Programmed Recovery
This is the necessity of avoiding the overwhelming manual processes of disaster recovery during large scale outages. The CrowdStrike failure was that messaging the need for recovery processes would require co-ordination across multiple uniquely separated systems. Zerto’s solution is the answer to this as it provides fully automated and orchestrated recovery. It helps in the complete site recovery in a few minutes, which enables the organizations to get back to their operations in the shortest time possible. Zerto’s automated orchestration tackles on recovery of application as well as infrastructure all at once in such a way that all the pieces are tightly coordinated. This lowers the probability of errors and lengthens the time it takes to recover, so businesses can quickly get back to usual.
This is the necessity of avoiding the overwhelming manual processes of disaster recovery during large scale outages. The CrowdStrike failure was that messaging the need for recovery processes would require co-ordination across multiple uniquely separated systems. Zerto’s solution is the answer to this as it provides fully automated and orchestrated recovery. It helps in the complete site recovery in a few minutes, which enables the organizations to get back to their operations in the shortest time possible. Zerto’s automated orchestration tackles on recovery of application as well as infrastructure all at once in such a way that all the pieces are tightly coordinated. This lowers the probability of errors and lengthens the time it takes to recover, so businesses can quickly get back to usual.
3. Frequent and Comprehensive Testing
The CrowdStrike outage exposed a critical vulnerability: may not conduct disaster recovery plans testing on a frequent and more adequate basis. Some of the challenges of organizations during the period demonstrated that their recovery processes were not strong enough unlike when it was tested. Zerto does this with its ability to perform frequent and extensive testing. It allows organizations to check their disaster recovery solutions on a daily, non-interference basis. Automated testing means that the recovery procedures work as they should, and that any problems are detected before they cause real problems. Thus, testing DR strategies in line with regular security tests helps to prove the effectiveness of the chosen approaches and make any necessary corrections in advance of an actual crisis.
The CrowdStrike outage exposed a critical vulnerability: may not conduct disaster recovery plans testing on a frequent and more adequate basis. Some of the challenges of organizations during the period demonstrated that their recovery processes were not strong enough unlike when it was tested. Zerto does this with its ability to perform frequent and extensive testing. It allows organizations to check their disaster recovery solutions on a daily, non-interference basis. Automated testing means that the recovery procedures work as they should, and that any problems are detected before they cause real problems. Thus, testing DR strategies in line with regular security tests helps to prove the effectiveness of the chosen approaches and make any necessary corrections in advance of an actual crisis.
4. Advanced patch management along with the concept of Sand boxing.
This is evidenced by the CrowdStrike update that turned out to be flawed, the main lesson that can be learnt about deploying untested patches or updates. In this regard, Zerto has got premium patch management and sandboxing capabilities to address this issue. Zerto’s features of sandbox allow organizations to establish different states within which patches and updates being implemented can be tested without affecting production systems. This enables the IT teams to determine the repercussions of the changes and perhaps find flaws in the new environment in a risk-free manner. This way, businesses will not experience disruptions such as what was seen in the CrowdStrike incident and their IT contexts will be more stable.
This is evidenced by the CrowdStrike update that turned out to be flawed, the main lesson that can be learnt about deploying untested patches or updates. In this regard, Zerto has got premium patch management and sandboxing capabilities to address this issue. Zerto’s features of sandbox allow organizations to establish different states within which patches and updates being implemented can be tested without affecting production systems. This enables the IT teams to determine the repercussions of the changes and perhaps find flaws in the new environment in a risk-free manner. This way, businesses will not experience disruptions such as what was seen in the CrowdStrike incident and their IT contexts will be more stable.
5. Enhanced Encryption Detection
Although crowd strike incident was not a result of a Cyber attack it clearly shows that there is always a need for a firm security measures. Thus, in the contemporary world, there is a constant focus on ransomwares and other types of threats met in cyberspace. Zerto’s encryption detection is now even stronger, as it currently scans for encryption and other such issues in real time. The platform watches data encryption activities through algorithmic intelligence to collect signs that may suggest a security breach. The incorporation of this particular feature to their business continuity framework means that the organisation is well-shielded against ransomware attacks as well as any other unfavorable occurrences that may compromise the integrity of data in the times of recovery.
Although crowd strike incident was not a result of a Cyber attack it clearly shows that there is always a need for a firm security measures. Thus, in the contemporary world, there is a constant focus on ransomwares and other types of threats met in cyberspace. Zerto’s encryption detection is now even stronger, as it currently scans for encryption and other such issues in real time. The platform watches data encryption activities through algorithmic intelligence to collect signs that may suggest a security breach. The incorporation of this particular feature to their business continuity framework means that the organisation is well-shielded against ransomware attacks as well as any other unfavorable occurrences that may compromise the integrity of data in the times of recovery.
Final Thoughts
The CrowdStrike experience is a good lesson to many organizations that have outdated DR solutions and calls for better and more flexible ones. Thus, the continuous data protection, automated recovery options and other benefits of using Zerto can be viewed as a proper solution for these challenges. When you adopt Zerto into your disaster recovery plan, your data and business operation is well protected in case of future disasters.
To learn more on how Zerto can improve data protection and DR program of your organization, call Annexus Technologies today. Our team of professionals is always at your service to provide you with the exact information and adaptation of the solutions required to address any issues your company is likely to encounter.
The CrowdStrike experience is a good lesson to many organizations that have outdated DR solutions and calls for better and more flexible ones. Thus, the continuous data protection, automated recovery options and other benefits of using Zerto can be viewed as a proper solution for these challenges. When you adopt Zerto into your disaster recovery plan, your data and business operation is well protected in case of future disasters.
To learn more on how Zerto can improve data protection and DR program of your organization, call Annexus Technologies today. Our team of professionals is always at your service to provide you with the exact information and adaptation of the solutions required to address any issues your company is likely to encounter.
