From IBM, Putting Storage at Forefront of Cloud Security

By Rohit Badlaney, GM, IBM Cloud product and industry platforms, IBM Corp.

We live in an era of technology breakthroughs and opportunities. Recent advances in areas like AI and quantum computing offer transformative potential for businesses, but may also bring new risks and security challenges.

IBM is working to address these challenges and evolving threats by helping organizations support highly secure, resilient and durable storage through technology like Cloud Object Storage.

Securing sensitive data in an evolving landscape
Advancements like those in AI and quantum computing can pose new challenges to customers, especially those in highly regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare, and telecom. As organizations look to keep up with these changes, they need a solution built to address the unique needs of their industry. Here is how Cloud Object Storage supports clients’ goals and addresses these new challenges.

1. Embracing industry framework for security and compliance
Cloud Object Storage is a cloud service for storing large volumes of data. It provides security and data durability, complimented with immutable data retention and audit controls capabilities – ideal for supporting firm’s Cloud’s objectives to support clients with their resiliency, security, compliance and performance goals. It is built on the IBM Cloud Framework for Financial Services, which was designed to help clients focus on their security and compliance postures. The framework was developed by leveraging the collective intelligence of the IBM Financial Services Cloud Council – a network of more than 140 financial services CIOs, CTOs and risk and compliance officers. Only ISVs and SaaS providers that are validated to be compatible with the framework are eligible to deliver offerings on the IBM Cloud for Financial Services. By meeting the requirements of the Cloud Framework for Financial Services, Cloud Object Storage has been validated to be in alignment with Cloud Framework.

2. Addressing evolving regulatory landscape
In response to the evolving regulatory landscape, government agencies have imposed stringent requirements on data retention. Cloud Object Storage supports data retention by making it truly immutable at the storage layer, safeguarding it from tampering or manipulation. This level of secured retention is helpful for banks and other financial institutions, and also can be foundational for cyber vaults and cyber recovery strategies for defending vs. advanced threats such as ransomware attacks and is broadly compatible with data protection ecosystems.

3. Supporting compliance and audit goals
Compliance and accountability are paramount in regulated industries. Cloud Object Storage is a storage capability that is designed to help clients address their security and compliance needs. Examples of security capabilities include encryption and key management, granular access restrictions, activity and access logging, and continuous monitoring of these controls along with workloads using the IBM Cloud Security and Compliance Center. This platform is a suite of modernized cloud security and compliance solutions designed to help enterprises mitigate risk and protect data across their hybrid, multi-cloud environments and workloads.

4. Creating space for AI
Organizations are beginning to realize the benefits of AI and implementing technology to support it. However, executing AI at scale can be a difficult process, especially when one considers the challenges with processing the data required for AI models. Cloud Object Storage manages data files as highly resilient and durable objects. This type of data management makes it for enterprises to scale AI workloads.

5. Utilizing quantum-safe cryptography
It has become clear that this is the ‘quantum decade,’ when practical quantum computing solutions could impact computing strategies across industries. But it may also profoundly alter how we secure our digital data fabric through cryptography. We have seen organizations are already examining how to upgrade their cybersecurity to prepare for this new computational era of cryptographically relevant quantum computers. By utilizing quantum-safe algorithms that are available now, customers can help secure their data sent to IBM Cloud vs. threats such as harvesting encrypted data sent over Internet now to be decrypted later, when cryptographically relevant quantum computers are available.

Resilient future for your data
As Gregor Frimodt-Møller, group CEO, Anycloud, recently said: “Cyber data security in the digital age is indispensable for companies seeking to harness emerging technologies for innovation and a competitive advantage. In the absence of a robust data backup and protection strategy, businesses leave their valuable data vulnerable to cyber threats. The most effective defense against cyber data loss involves the implementation of a comprehensive and meticulous data protection and backup plan. To confront worldwide cyber threats, Anycloud solutions hosted on IBM Cloud seamlessly incorporates and utilizes IBM Cloud Object Storage for backup repositories, capitalizing on its features that address data protection, security, and scalability.”

The combination of IBM Cloud and Cloud Object Storage can help you keep your data secured. As technology continues to shape our world, IBM Cloud remains committed to providing solutions that empower organizations to embrace innovation while safeguarding their most precious asset: data. We take our responsibility seriously to ensure that the advancements we are leading deliver on the promises we make while helping you navigate the evolving landscape of data security to ensure a resilient future for your critical information.

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