The Backup Wrap-Up

Tired of backup windows and 24-hour recovery point objectives? Then it's time to learn about how snapshots and replication work together to create near-continuous data protection, or near-CDP. In this episode, backup experts W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi dive into leveraging snapshots for instant point-in-time recovery and replication for an offsite copy. By combining these technologie...

Ransomware attacks and data breaches dominate the headlines, but is your data protection strategy truly secure? This must-listen episode dives deep on an unsung hero of cyber resilience - tape. Tape may have been written off by some as a legacy technology, yet it offers unparalleled air gap protection that no hacker can penetrate. Top experts from Fujifilm and IBM (sponsors of this episode) reveal...

What does "air gap" really mean when it comes to backups? Curtis takes us back to the early days of offsite tape backups with Iron Mountain to explore the principles behind physical air gaps. We learn about barcode tracking, unmarked vans, and multi-factor delete authorization. How do modern "virtual air gaps" in the cloud compare? Are backup vendors misusing important security terms? Join us as w...

In this episode of The Backup Wrap-Up, host W. Curtis Preston discusses the importance of understanding the difference between snapshots and backups. He emphasizes that storage snapshots should not be considered as true backups. The episode also covers the recent 1Password and Okta hack, highlighting the frustration of such incidents, especially for those who advocate for password managers and clo...

In this episode of the Backup Wrap-Up, W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi discuss Continuous Data Protection (CDP) and its potential as the next great thing in disaster recovery. They explore the concept of meeting an RTO and RPO of zero and question why CDP isn't used for all backups in DR. Tune in to learn more about CDP and its role in backup and disaster recovery. Article mentioned in t...

In this episode, W. Curtis Preston, aka Mr. Backup, and Prasanna Malaiyandi discuss the fundamental technology of replication in data protection systems. They explore what replication is, how it differs from other methods, and why it's not used for everything. They also delve into the differences between synchronous and asynchronous replication and why it matters. The hosts also share news of a ba...

In this episode of the Backup Wrap-Up, host W. Curtis Preston discusses the importance of distinguishing between a copy and a backup to ensure the protection of valuable data. He also explores key backup concepts such as multiplexing, incremental backups, block-level incremental backups, and source-side deduplication. The episode kicks off with a discussion on the recent MGM hack, highlighting the...

In this episode of the Backup Wrap-up, we continue our Backup to Basics series by discussing the importance of protecting cloud infrastructure, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). We then dive into the differences between these various cloud services and highlight the need to back up various components of each. We also discu...

In this episode of the Backup Wrap-Up, host W. Curtis Preston and co-host Prasanna Malaiyandi explore the topic of data protection in the Internet of Things (IoT) era. With the increasing number of IoT devices in our homes and organizations, it is crucial to understand how to back up and secure the data generated by these devices. They discuss the importance of knowing which devices create importa...

In this episode of the Backup Wrap-Up, host W. Curtis Preston, also known as Mr. Backup, and his co-host Prasanna Malaiyandi, discuss the importance (or not) of backing up data in hybrid cloud storage systems, with a possibly surprising answer. The episode begins with backup-related news, followed by a deep dive into a single area or lesson that can help protect against ransomware. The news segmen...

This is a very short episode to explain our name change and a few other minor changes to the format. The show you know and love is getting better! (Prasanna and I aren't going anywhere.)

In this episode of the Restore It All podcast, W. Curtis Preston, a.k.a. Mr. Backup, and Prasanna Malaiyandi are joined by Chris Groot and Stefan Voss from N-Able, a company specializing in backup, data protection and security systems. Nable focuses on serving the needs of managed service providers to deliver excellent service to small and medium-sized businesses. They discuss the importance of ca...

In this episode of Backup Central's Restore It All podcast, the host welcomes cyber expert Rick Mishka to discuss the three aspects of IT: process, people, and technology. They explore the misconception that a new piece of gear or software is always the solution to every problem, particularly in preventing data exfiltration. Rick also shares insights into his short-form podcast, Cyber Pros, where...

In this episode of Restore it All, our hosts Curtis and Prasanna delve deep into the recent significant developments in the world of data backups, with a special spotlight on Microsoft 365's about-face on native user backups. They dissect Microsoft's sudden realization of its potential revenue streams and the ramifications of its new direction. The duo also discusses the intricacies of Microsoft's...

In this episode, we look at the latest Ransomware Trends Report from Veeam, which gives us a view into the sobering world of ransomware attacks and the critical lessons they teach us about cyber defense. Join W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup) and Prasanna Malaiyandi, as they break down the key insights from the report. We explore the ruthless tactics of ransomware operators, the eye-opening stats on...

In this episode, W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi are joined by Eric Olden, the CEO of Strata Identity. With over 25 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry, Eric sheds light on the concept of Identity Orchestration and how it addresses the complexities of modern identity management in multi-cloud environments. He discusses the evolution of technology consumption, the philosophy...

Our guest this week is a specialist at offensive cybersecurity; that is, they keep you safe by attacking you and showing you your vulnerabilities. They're a red team.  We've got the leader of their red team, Duanne Laflotte, to help us understand how hackers think – and what we can do to stop them.  He confirmed some of the recommendations we often make (Ahem: password managers good), bu...

Nothing tells the story like a good story, right?  This week we have Mike Saylor, the CEO of Black Swan, a cybersecurity company.  Boy, has he been in the trenches.  He tells some great stories about responding to cyber attacks. They're great stories and he's a great storyteller.  We also learn about FBI Infragard, a partnership between the FBI and the private sector.  We...

This week the SEC has made a new rule that publicly traded companies must disclose any cyber attacks within four days.  What if you're not a publicly traded company in the US?  Should you reveal what happened to you?  We bring in a wireless cyber security expert, Scott Schober of Berkeley Varitronics Systems, to talk about this topic.  Closely related is also what should you do...

During this recording, Mr. Backup asked our guest how many backup systems that he had looked at had at least one critical security flaw, he said pretty much 100%. Holy. Cow. Doron Pinhas runs a company called Continuity Software, that does security assessments of storage and backup and recovery systems. They got the permission of some of their customers to anonymize and publish their findings, and...

Krista Macomber, analyst from the Futurum Group, joins us this week to talk about a number of things, but one thing really bubbled up to the top: co-opting of marketing terms. That is, it's probably using terms to describe their product, because they think you want to hear them. Two big ones these days are "air gapped" and "immutable." Krista and Mr. Backup talk about what these terms really mean...

Today we are proud to have as our guest, Zach Fuller, a founding partner of the Silent Sector, a cybersecurity firm -- and a former Green Beret who served in combat. We talk a little about how his service made him the person he is today, and how it lead him ultimately into helping people protect their own data. We talk about his top few things he wishes people would do to secure their environments...

Our guest this week (Jim Love from the Hashtag Trending podcast and IT World Canada) touched on something we thought was profound. He felt that some organizations had what he called a "culture of recovery," meaning that they took recovery into account in all aspects of the org. He explained how he fostered this in companies where he worked, and how you can do the same. We also covered generative A...

iCloud is not a backup; it is a synchronization tool. If you delete things on your phone, it deletes them in iCloud. iCloud is not a backup. In fact, if you have storage optimization turned on, the high-resolution verion of your photos is stored in only one place. If you delete it, it's gone forever. Mr. Backup tries tries three different ways to back up your iPhone, and finally settled on idrive....

This week we talk with Eric Jeffery, a cybersecurity SE and host of the Cyber Security Grey Beard podcast, and he is just a little miffed about how organizations are responding to cyber attacks today. It's not so much about how they respond to the attack itself; it's how they communicate what happened to the public – if at all. He's submitting what happened at the LA Unified School District as his...