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Cybersecurity integrated with data protection

Ian Engelbrecht.

Last year's VeeamOn Tour conference in South Africa was a smaller version of the annual global Veeam conference aimed at the company's regional partners and customers. Ian Engelbrecht, System Engineering Manager at Veeam Software, says that the conference is a chance for Veeam's customers and partners to learn about the company's latest product announcements from the company and best practices for securing their data.

Given the scope of Veeam's product portfolio, the conference covered data protection and security trends, and 2023 included a more significant focus on cloud services and solutions. Security was also prominent as Veeam launched version 12.1 in 2023, which included more security elements than ever. Engelbrecht notes that the cybersecurity threats companies face today (such as ransomware) make security a core data protection component.

Security has always been part of Veeam's products, such as its immutable data backup. Still, the company is expanding this element of its solutions to aid customers in their fight against cybercrime. It is also integrated with more cybersecurity solutions (SIEM platforms) to cater to a better all-round data security posture.

Tools available to customers include scanning backup data to ensure it is recoverable so that the risk of restoring compromised data in the event of a cyberattack is reduced. Its malware scanner is not simply another antivirus product, but regularly runs to ensure backed-up data is not infected and a clean restore point is available. The security team is alerted with the relevant information if data is changed or anomalies are detected.

Engelbrecht points out that Veeam's malware detection tools are not a full cybersecurity suite, hence its collaboration with other cyber service providers to provide customers with quick and reliable protection when something does go wrong (see www.securitysa.com/21093r).

Another benefit is that customers can back up from, and restore to, multiple platforms; they do not need precisely the same hardware to restore to in an emergency. For example, an on-premises system, backed up onsite, can be restored to a cloud platform so that the company can resume operations quickly while repairing the original system.

Not missing the AI chat boat, Veeam also offers its own AI chatbot to assist with product queries, again in real time. The company's AI is also put to use in its regular scanning of data to detect anomalies.

Veeam works through the channel in Africa and has partners that sell and support the company's onsite and cloud solutions. Veeam South Africa does not host its services but uses partners to make onsite or cloud solutions available to the local market, depending on customer requirements. Besides supporting its channel partners from the local office, global support is also available if required. As expected, it also offers a complete online training portfolio of recorded and instructor-led training, with hands-on labs to provide a real-life scenario for students (such as how a ransomware attack happens).

Find out more at www.veeam.com

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