CDN Morning Briefing, October 15 – Chatting with HostedBizz and Cloudian about data storage, news from Cohesity and AWS, plus more

To keep up with the firehose of news, we’ve decided to deliver some extra channel news to you on the side. Some of it is an extension of our own reporting on the channel that didn’t make its way into a story, while others might be content we’ve bookmarked and thought of sharing with you. We’re doing a similar thing at IT World Canada – check it out here. Missed last week’s CDN Morning Briefing? Read it here. 




What you need to know right now

It’s what you need to know right now in the world of IT and tech – ’nuff said. (Often taken with a side of Hashtag Trending)

Hashtag Trending

Amazon workers are striking in Germany, Google comes out with new robots to help farmers, and Twitter is suspending accounts for posing as Black Trump supporters. Read the full transcript here.

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Another financial boost for Sonrai

Sonrai Security launched with $18.5 million in Series A funding last year, and according to the New Brunswick identity and data governance firm, the good times continue to roll. Sonrai this morning announced Series B funding led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Polaris Partners and TenEleven Ventures.

Related:



Talking unstructured data and object storage with Canada’s HostedBizz and Cloudian

Most businesses understand the importance of business continuity and disaster recovery – although I’m sure there are plenty of MSPs out there that would disagree – but few go beyond protecting the traditional databases and mission-critical applications. Unstructured data, like all of those emails, PowerPoint slides and SharePoint documents, is starting to grow faster than traditional database information, and while most of that data is worth little, that’s not always the case. Being able to archive the important bits of unstructured data properly and securely, and subsequently resurfacing that data at a moment’s notice, is crucial for many reasons.

Profile photo of Paul Butcher
Paul Butcher, partner at Canadian-based solutions and IaaS provider HostedBizz

But Paul Butcher, partner at Canadian-based solutions and IaaS provider HostedBizz, says there are some alarming misconceptions floating around when it comes to SaaS applications, specifically around data backup and recovery.

“People just have this notion that their data is backed up,” Butcher said about customers using public cloud services. It’s still the customer’s responsibility to secure, protect and establish retention policies for cloud-based data, he emphasizes because even though Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS have the safety net of a multi-billion organization backing them financially, they’re protecting themselves from service interruptions and not worrying about the whereabouts of your spreadsheet with important client info.

This knowledge gap isn’t lost on cybercriminals who are foaming at the mouth for a chance to take advantage of the vulnerability gaps between the responsibility of the SaaS vendor and the organizations that own the data.

“We are seeing a massive increase in sophistication of ransomware attacks,” Butcher indicated, adding they sidestep the “you lost your UPS parcel” tropes. “We’re seeing perpetrators doing an enormous amount of research before launching a phishing attack.”

Data from 2017 suggests most enterprises are doing a poor job of protecting data from SaaS applications. Only 11 per cent of respondents came close to addressing the primary needs, meaning data should be backed up to a second system, be it cloud to cloud or cloud to on-premises. Twenty-five per cent don’t make any backups for SaaS data at all.

Enter object storage

Back in May, HostedBizz launched a new cloud data protection offering on Cloudian’s HyperStore object storage platform called HostedBizz HBS3. The “S3” stands for the fully native AWS S3 compatibility that comes with the platform, an application programming interface that allows you to store, retrieve, list and delete objects in S3.

“That’s [S3] the standard that makes this all possible,” said Jon Toor, CMO for Cloudian.

Butcher described the move as HostedBizz signalling its intent to “enter the ground floor for the next revolution in storage.”

The confidence isn’t misplaced. Object storage overcomes many of file storage’s limitations. File storage is like a parking garage where you drive in, find a spot, and park. But what if that parking garage was 50 stories high – I know that’s a ridiculously big parking garage – and the only available spot was somewhere in the middle. A valet would come in handy in that case, someone who could easily park the car and retrieve it for you at a moment’s notice.

HBS3 couldn’t come soon enough apparently. HostedBizz – a Microsoft Cloud Service Provider – says it’s seen a 40 per cent increase in the number of O365 users since March 2020. This is in large part due to the rising number of remote workers needing access to company files from any location.

 



In case you missed it

A new data centre enters the ring …

Cybersecurity firm Acronis recently announced the availability of a new Acronis Cloud Data Centre in Vancouver. giving Acronis customers with a full range of Acronis cyber protection solutions. The launch was done in conjunction with Acronis partner Robson Inc.

The global network of Acronis Cloud Data Centres already includes locations in the U.S., U.K., Switzerland, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, and Singapore.

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Cohesity and AWS making moves

Data protection and management developer Cohesity this week unveiled a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services meant to help bring Data Management as a Service (DMaaS) to joint customers. The two technology companies also revealed that Amazon and Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Cisco Investments were strategic investors in Cohesity’s $250 million Series E funding round announced in April. It’s unknown at this time how much AWS or the other firms invested in Cohesity.

The foundation for this new DMaaS solution is Cohesity Helios, a SaaS-based data platform that serves more than 1,500 customers. [Full news release]

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Miami-based channel partner slammed by 1TB customer and business data leak [Channel Daily News]

The leaked data from Intcomex includes credit cards, license scans, payroll, customer databases, and more. The data was found on an online database. CyberNews.com says they informed Intcomex about the leak Sept. 21. An Intcomex spokesperson sent CyberNews.com this statement:

“Intcomex internally detected and responded to a cyber attack involving some of our systems. Upon learning of the incident, we took decisive steps to address the situation and protect our systems. We immediately engaged third-party cybersecurity experts to assist us in the investigation and we have implemented additional enhanced security measures. We also notified law enforcement. We are notifying affected parties as appropriate. Services provided to our partners have not been impacted. The security of our systems and data remains a top priority.”



Reddit recap

The MSP subreddit community is growing rapidly. It’s also a chatty bunch. With more than 84,000 members as of today, it’s worth taking a look at what they have to say every once in a while. Here are the recent top posts. Click on the posts to view additional responses.

 

40+ customizable social media posts on cybersecurity (direct download link) from msp

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How does an msp make money at $85 per user ? from msp

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Laid Off – Wanting to Start My Own MSP from msp

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Alex Coop
Alex Coophttp://www.itwc.ca
Former Editorial Director for IT World Canada and its sister publications.

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