Outsourcing cybersecurity: Why companies seek external help
Outsourcing Cybersecurity: Why Companies Turn to External Help In today's fast-paced digital world, cybersecurity is one of the biggest and most complex challenges facing companies of all sizes. The increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, the ever-present risk of data breaches, and increasingly stringent compliance regulations are putting enormous pressure on internal IT teams. This has led many companies to consider outsourcing their cybersecurity activities to specialized companies. Let's examine the compelling reasons why cybersecurity outsourcing is gaining momentum. We rely on insights from our technology partner and industry leader Arctic Wolf: 1. Access to specialized expertise Cybersecurity requires a deep understanding of threat vectors, evolving attack techniques, and countermeasures. Building and maintaining such expertise in-house requires significant investment and a continuous learning process. Outsourcing partners like Arctic Wolf offer access to a dedicated team of security experts who are always up to date. This way, your company benefits from the latest threat intelligence and best practices. 2. Round-the-clock vigilance Cyber threats don't know office hours. Outsourcing your cybersecurity creates a 24/7 security posture. Specialists continuously monitor your networks and systems for anomalies. They respond quickly to potential incidents to minimize downtime and damage. 3. Cost-effectiveness Building an internal cybersecurity team includes salaries, training, technological infrastructure, and ongoing maintenance. Outsourcing often proves to be more cost-effective because these overhead costs are eliminated. You get access to world-class security solutions and expertise in a predictable, scalable pricing model. 4. Scalability and Flexibility As your business grows and your digital presence expands, scaling your internal cybersecurity operations can become difficult. Outsourcing partners offer flexible solutions that adapt to your changing needs. This ensures a reliable security situation without having to make additional investments in personnel or infrastructure. 5. Improved Compliance Navigating the regulatory compliance landscape of NIS2, DORA, HIPAA, PCI DSS and GDPR can be challenging. Outsourcing partners have extensive expertise in these standards. They help you implement and maintain the necessary security controls to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance. 6. Freeing up internal resources Outsourcing cybersecurity relieves the burden on your IT team. This allows your staff to focus on core business initiatives and strategic projects rather than being held back by the day-to-day responsibilities of security management. The Arctic Wolf Advantage Arctic Wolf stands out in the field of outsourced cybersecurity providers. The company's key strengths include: Concierge Security Team (CST): Includes personalized support, ongoing security consulting, and risk analysis from their Security Operations Center (SOC) in Frankfurt, Germany. Managed Detection and Response (MDR): Proactively searches for threats, investigates alerts, and provides tailored remediation. Managed Risk: Identifies and prioritizes vulnerabilities to help you strengthen your overall security posture. Cloud Security Posture Management: Assesses the security of your cloud environments, ensures correct configuration, and detects misconfigurations. Conclusion Outsourcing cybersecurity measures represents an attractive alternative for companies that want to improve their defense strategies against cyber threats, meet compliance requirements, and optimize their resources. Working with trusted providers like Arctic Wolf and Cristie Data provides you with world-class expertise, proactive threat defense, and customized solutions that adapt to your unique business needs. Contact the Cristie Data team today for a comprehensive analysis and recommendations for tailored solutions to meet your company's outsourced security needs.
Is your “cold data” burning a hole in your pocket and the environment?
Is your “cold data” burning a hole in your pocket and the environment? This week we met with our CTO Christof Gedig, who just returned from a visit to our wind farm data centers in collaboration with windCORES. He participated in a short question and answer session on the environmental and financial benefits of moving cold data to tape storage. Q: Christof, the term “cold data” refers to data that is rarely accessed. What percentage of a company’s data typically falls into this category? A: There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how much data is typically “cold” in organizations, as it can vary considerably across industries and individual organizations. However, here are some insights and factors to consider: General estimates: Studies suggest that approximately 60-80% of corporate data can be classified as cold (infrequently accessed). This percentage tends to increase over time as more data is generated but not actively used. Factors that influence the percentage of cold data: Industry: Industries with strict regulations (finance, healthcare, legal) often need to retain more data for compliance, thus increasing their cold storage pool. Companies exposed to rapid data growth (media, research) also tend to have larger amounts of inactive data. Data management practices: Companies with strict data retention policies and active data lifecycle management have a lower proportion of truly cold data. Companies without established practices tend to accumulate more unclassified and unused data over time. Business needs: Certain data types (historical sales figures, previous project files) may become irrelevant for day-to-day operations, but are still valuable for later analysis or reference purposes. Q: Obviously, cold data represents a high percentage of total data for many companies. Can you give us some advice on why cold data analysis is important? A: Companies should make the effort to analyze their cold data for several reasons: Cost savings: Identifying cold data can help you implement tiered storage solutions—shifting it to cheaper, long-term storage options like tape libraries, thereby reducing the cost of active storage. Security: By reducing the active data footprint, the risk areas for cyber attacks can be minimized. Efficiency: Archiving cold data keeps core systems organized and improves the performance of frequently used information. Estimation Tips: Data Classification Tools: Software can analyze data access patterns and categorize them by frequency. Consult your internal experts: Interview IT staff, department heads, and data analysts to find out which data is actively used and which could be archived. Remember that the focus should be on identifying truly inactive data, not just arbitrarily striving for a percentage. Q: If we focus only on the cost impact, can you estimate the annual cost of storing 1 TB of data on a hard drive? A: Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to how much energy is needed to store 1 TB on hard drives in a data center for a year. Here's why and how we estimate: Factors that affect power consumption: Hard drive type: Power consumption varies between consumer-grade hard drives, business-grade hard drives, and the specific model. Idle vs. Active power: Hard drives consume less power when idle (no active read/write operations). The frequency of data access affects overall consumption. of the data center: Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) measures the energy efficiency of a data center. A lower PUE means less overhead energy is used for cooling, etc. is consumed. Power source: The data center's power source (renewable rather than fossil fuels) has no impact on the hard drive itself, but does affect its carbon footprint. Create a cost estimate: Let's use some assumptions to get a rough number: Hard drive: A typical enterprise-class hard drive might consume 5-10 watts when active and 1-3 watts when idle. Usage pattern: Let's assume moderate activity, averaging about 5 watts per hour. Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE): We use a PUE of 1,5 (fairly efficient data center). This means that for every watt the hard drive consumes, an additional 0,5 watts are used for overhead. Calculations: Daily consumption: 5 watts/hour * 24 hours/day = 120 Wh (watt hours) per day. With PUE: 120 Wh * 1,5 = 180 Wh per day. Annual consumption: 180 Wh /day * 365 days/year = 65.700 Wh or about 65,7 kWh (kilowatt hours) per year. Important Notes: This is a rough estimate. Actual consumption may be higher or lower depending on the factors mentioned above. Energy costs depend on your electricity provider’s tariffs. Useful resources: Backblaze regularly publishes data on hard drive power consumption: https://www.backblaze.com/b2/hard-drive-test-data.html PUE is a ratio that describes how efficiently a data center uses power. Learn more about PUE here: https://www.thegreengrid.org/ Q: What would be the cost to store the same 1 TB of data in a tape library? A: Here's how storing 1 TB on tape compares to disk in a data center, with a focus on power consumption: Tape Library Benefits Extremely Low Idle Power: Tape libraries consume minimal power when not actively accessing data. A tape cartridge at rest consumes virtually no energy. Reduced cooling requirements: Due to their low power consumption, tape libraries generate less heat, significantly reducing the energy load on a data center's cooling systems. Offline nature: Tape provides inherent offline protection, mitigating some cybersecurity risks and the associated energy costs required for constant online security measures. Rough estimate for tape: It is difficult to give an exact energy figure for tapes because it depends heavily on how often they are accessed. However, in a scenario primarily for archiving, let's assume the following: Monthly tape access: Tapes are read/written once a month for backups or verification. Active power consumption: The library and drive consume approximately 200 watts for several hours during this activity. Calculations: Monthly consumption: (200 watts * 3 hours) = 600 watt hours or 0,6 kWh per month Annual consumption: (0,6 kWh/month * 12 months) = 7,2 kWh per year. Comparison HDD estimate: ~65,7 kWh/year Tape estimate: ~7,2 kWh/year The key theses: Tape libraries have the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption compared to always-on hard disk storage, especially for data that is rarely accessed. This