As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, particularly with the rise of ransomware and the shift towards cloud-native architectures, businesses in India are facing significant challenges in safeguarding their data. In response to these growing risks, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is emerging as a crucial strategy for enhancing data protection and recovery, according to a top tech executive.
“AI and ML are integral to modern data resilience strategies, helping identify malware and protect backup copies, which are often the first target in cyberattacks,” said Sandeep Bhambure, Vice President and Managing Director, Veeam India & SAARC, in an interview with TechObserver.in.
“The adoption of AI, combined with stronger integration of security tools, is essential for organisations to navigate the evolving cybersecurity landscape and ensure data recoverability in the face of rising threats,” he added.
Edited Excerpts:
For an organisation like Veeam, which provides data protection capabilities, how do you see the role of AI and ML, especially in terms of ransomware protection? And how is Veeam embedding these emerging technologies into its products and solutions?
At Veeam, we have always been focused on data protection since our inception over 16 years ago, and today, we are the leading provider of modern data protection platforms.
Over the last few years, customers have been looking for more than just data protection. They now want a convergence of data protection, recovery, security, and intelligence, all of which fall under the broader umbrella of “data resilience.” It is no longer about just safeguarding data – how quickly and effectively you can recover it, along with the freedom to move data across different environments, is equally critical. Veeam is five times faster than others in terms of recovery, according to IDC, and with 90% of organisations adopting multi-cloud strategies, the ability to recover and move data freely is essential.
On the security front, backup copies are a prime target in cyberattacks, so ensuring these copies are secure is crucial. Integrating AI and ML is the bedrock of our data resilience strategy. With over 550,000 customers globally, Veeam has encountered almost every ransomware scenario imaginable. Leveraging AI helps us improve customer experience and respond faster to threats by identifying potential malware in backup copies and issuing proactive alerts.
Additionally, we are co-innovating with Microsoft, using large language models (LLMs) and incorporating AI technologies like Copilot into the Veeam Data Platform. This allows us to enhance recoverability for Microsoft 365 workloads and deliver advanced outcomes, such as detecting malware behaviour in datasets.
Moreover, we are not reinventing the wheel; our platform integrates with security providers that use AI, ensuring a holistic defence mechanism for data protection and resilience.
When discussing resiliency, compliance also plays a significant role. With India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Bill set to roll out soon, how do you see this legislation impacting your customers, and what should they do to ensure compliance?
We are launching a comprehensive whitepaper on ransomware mitigation strategies that aligns closely with the new Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and the recommendations from the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
The DPDP Act is about data protection, while CERT-In focuses on cyberattacks, and we are providing customers with best practices to manage both. Our whitepaper outlines actionable steps, including ransomware protection, understanding the impact of data loss, and developing recovery strategies. It also covers essential training and enablement for employees to manage such incidents.
A core part of our strategy, which we advocate to customers, is the 3-2-1-1-0 rule: three copies of data, stored on two different media, with one copy kept offline, ensuring zero errors in backups. This is in line with DPDP’s expectations, ensuring organisations have robust systems to manage incidents and recover from them swiftly.
We have seen a shift towards cloud-native architectures in both enterprises and government organisations, with an increased use of microservices and Kubernetes. These bring unique security and data protection challenges. How are you seeing this trend, and what feedback are you receiving from customers?
A few years ago, many customers believed that cloud workloads did not require data protection. They relied on snapshotting technology provided by cloud service providers, which is not a true backup. However, after incidents like the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) attack involving CrowdStrike and Microsoft, there has been a wake-up call for the industry.
The service level agreements (SLAs) with hyperscalers, like AWS and Microsoft, focus on uptime, but they do not guarantee data protection. Data protection remains a shared responsibility between the customer and the service provider. Events like BSOD prove that even with uptime guarantees, significant disruptions can occur.
Today, customers are more aware, and we are seeing increasing demand for cloud workload protection. Our solutions, like the Veeam Data Platform, offer robust cloud-native protection, and we are also providing Microsoft 365 backup services for millions of users worldwide. Additionally, containerised workloads, especially in Kubernetes environments, need proper backup and disaster recovery (DR). Enterprises are now realising that even stateless applications hold critical data that needs to be protected.
Another rising threat is “Ransomware as a Service” (RaaS), where attacks are monetised. How challenging is this new trend for customers, and how is Veeam addressing it?
The sophistication of ransomware attacks is increasing rapidly. We have even seen attackers impersonate CEOs via sophisticated phishing attempts, making it hard for even IT-savvy users to detect the fraud. With RaaS, the barrier to launching a ransomware attack is lower, which means we will likely see a surge in such incidents.
At Veeam, we believe the best defence is a strong offence. We are not focusing on attacking cybercriminals; instead, we are helping organisations make their data invincible. Our Veeam Cyber Suraksha programme is designed to ensure that backup data is never compromised. Pre-incident, we guide customers on how to strengthen their defences. During an attack, we provide steps to isolate the attack surface, and post-incident, we help customers recover swiftly. It is a comprehensive approach that we are encouraging all enterprises to adopt.
How is Veeam India’s business performing, and what are your growth plans for the future?
Our business in India is doing exceptionally well, with growth across almost every segment. Our cloud and container protection businesses are growing in triple digits. India is a key market for us, and we continue to add hundreds of customers every quarter, contributing to our global base of over 550,000 customers.
The protection of modern workloads, including cloud and Kubernetes, is a significant growth area. We have launched the Veeam Data Cloud, which allows customers to consume our data protection platform as a service. It is currently available for Microsoft 365, but we plan to expand it to virtual machines, containers, and more.
India has a vast number of Microsoft 365 users, and we see tremendous potential in offering cloud-native backup services to these customers, ensuring their data is secure and recoverable in case of any disruption.
