In today’s digital landscape, data is invaluable for ensuring business continuity and meeting regulatory compliance. Downtime in large organizations or factories can cost up to millions of dollars per minute. Therefore, uncompromising data protection (i.e., robust backup) is mandatory and a proven investment.

One of the most reliable ways to ensure data security and cyber resilience is the use of immutable backups for critical data. Many organizations are adopting this type of backups as a key part of their data protection and business continuity strategy.

Read on to learn what exactly immutable backups are, how your organization can benefit from them, or how they compare to traditional backup.

Immutable Backup: What It Means and How It Works?

Immutable backup is a backup file that cannot be altered, deleted, or modified in any way. Immutability is the essential characteristic of secure backups—once backup data is stored, it cannot be altered or deleted until its ‘lock’ period expires, which guarantees data integrity and security, even in the face of serious threats to IT systems. What I mean here in particular is that immutability protects against data loss, intentional or accidental modifications or deletions, and ransomware attacks.

It is the WORM (Write Once Read Many) technology that ensures backup immutability and is used to keep data safe and unchanged. In practice, even if ransomware gets into the company’s infrastructure, it will not be able to encrypt or change backed-up immutable data in the storage. Fun fact: Almost forgotten DVD-R or CD-R media were a kind of a WORM storage, too.

How Immutable Backup Works in Practice

To better illustrate this, let’s look at a practical example. A ‘digital lock’ is configured for a storage repository, such as an S3-compatible cloud (e.g., AWS or Google Cloud Platform). Let’s say the lock is set for 7 days.

When the backup is uploaded to the cloud, every object (a file fragment, a file, or a set of files) within that backup becomes undeletable for those 7 days. Even if a user selects “delete,” the system simply creates a new version of the object with a ‘delete marker.’ The original version continues to exist as a non-current version and remains protected by the Object Lock.

It is important to remember that the digital lock is permanently assigned to objects at the time of upload. If you change the ‘lock’ period in the storage settings (for example, from 7 days down to 2 days), the ‘old’ objects already in the storage will still be protected for the original 7 days. Only new objects uploaded after the configuration change will follow the new 2-day rule. The same logic applies to extending the period—changes do not retroactively apply to existing locked objects.

Essentially, immutable backups should be reserved for your most critical data and configured with an optimal expiration date. You might wonder: Why not make everything immutable forever? Leaving immutability ‘on’ indefinitely or for too long leads to unnecessary storage consumption, skyrocketing costs, and the retention of obsolete data. Conversely, a period that is too short leaves you vulnerable to data loss. Finding the right balance is essential for an effective strategy.

Benefits of Immutable Backups

The benefits of immutability include enhanced data integrity, robust protection against ransomware, compliance with regulatory standards, and faster recovery times. Let’s discuss these in more detail now.

Enhance Data Security

Immutable backups enhance data security by preventing changes to backup data. This is particularly important in protecting against ransomware attacks and accidental deletion, where attacker activity or human error may lead to altering or deleting backed-up data. This makes this technology important for organizations that need to ensure that their data remains secure and quickly recoverable. Implementing immutability is a vital part of a comprehensive and resilient data protection strategy, helping to prevent data loss and maintain business continuity after incidents.

It should also be mentioned that the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommends using immutable backups along with encryption to enhance protection against ransomware threats.

Ensure Data Integrity

By ensuring that data cannot be modified once it is stored, immutability maintains the integrity of backup data. With this technology, you will not overwrite the file or lose important changes. This is essential for reliable and successful data recovery, as immutable backups provide a trustworthy source for restoring information after a cyberattack or accidental loss.

Many industries have stringent compliance and legal requirements for data retention and protection, especially in the sectors of healthcare, finances, or government agencies. Immutable backups can help organizations operating in these areas meet requirements of regulations like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) or FINRA (US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) by delivering secure and unchangeable data to storage.

Reduce Downtime

The deployment of immutability can also significantly reduce downtime during data recovery processes. It is particularly critical in sectors where every minute of downtime translates to significant financial loss, e.g., automotive, stock exchange, or utilities. I mean the following benefits:

  • No panic and desperate attempts to fix a modified and/or encrypted backup.
  • No need to test data integrity because you’re sure that your copy is ‘healthy.’
  • No need to negotiate with cybercriminals, make crypto payments, etc.

In other words, with a reliable, unalterable backup, businesses can swiftly restore operations, minimizing the impact on business continuity.

The bottom line: Immutable backups increase the chances of successful data recovery after incidents, ensuring that critical data is always available when needed. Consequently, this makes immutable backup also a cost-effective advantage.

Things to Watch Out For When Implementing Immutable Backup

While immutability offers significant advantages in terms of data security and integrity, there are several potential drawbacks to consider. Fortunately, they are manageable and mostly refer to a too long period of immutability.

Increased Storage Costs

Immutable backups cannot be altered or deleted once they are created, which can lead to significant storage requirements over time. The inability to delete outdated or redundant backups can result in higher storage costs. Therefore, keep in mind a reasonable time of data immutability. And the time can depend on several factors such as types and amount of backed-up data or specific industry requirements.

Also, utilizing dedicated backup repositories can help manage storage requirements for immutable backups by providing secure, scalable, and efficient storage solutions.

Data Sprawl

As data accumulates, organizations may experience data sprawl. This can make it challenging to manage and organize data, increasing the workload for storage administrators and IT teams. Remember to make immutable backups only for critical data if you do not have enough storage space.

Complex Management

Managing immutability can be more complex compared to traditional backups. Ensuring that the retention policies are appropriate and that storage resources are optimally used requires careful planning and ongoing management. Incorrect estimates might result in a temporary ‘lock’ of backup storage, until the predefined retention period has elapsed.

Limited Flexibility

Immutability restricts the ability to modify or delete backups, which can be a disadvantage in scenarios where data needs to be updated or removed due to changes in business requirements or data policies. For example, your customer demands that their data be removed, following the GDPR right to be forgotten

To address these challenges, organizations should follow backup strategies and best practices, such as aligning with business SLAs, setting appropriate retention policies, and using validated architectures to ensure effective and reliable management of immutable backups.

Choice of Supported Storage

Not every storage supports modern WORM or Object Lock technologies. Therefore, before implementing immutability, you must verify whether your storage solution is compatible with immutability. Supported data storage types include:

  • S3 clouds (e.g., Xopero Cloud Storage, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform)
  • On-premises S3 compatible storage (e.g., all-in-one backup appliances like Xopero Unified Protection)
  • Linux server shares (note: this configuration is more complex, requiring CLI expertise, system hardening, and strict maintenance discipline)

For more information on solutions that support immutability, check out our blog post on network backup.

Comparing Immutable to Traditional Backups

You cannot protect all of your data with immutable backups (well, technically you can, but I highly do not recommend it). “Traditional” professional backup should also be in place, especially to protect non-critical data. When considering immutable vs traditional i.e mutable backups, it’s important to understand the differences. Traditional backups are susceptible to modification, deletion, and corruption, which can compromise integrity and thwart recovery efforts for super important data. Immutability overcomes these limitations by ensuring that backup files remain unaltered, providing a higher level of protection and reliability.

As you can see, there is no single perfect solution. Considering the pros and cons of each type of backup, the best choice is to use “day-to-day” traditional backups along with a separate immutable storage for critical data. Backup solutions and many organizations combine both immutable and traditional backups to achieve comprehensive protection and business continuity.

Use Cases for Using Immutable Backups

I’ve already touched on specific use cases showing how organizations use this technology. Let’s explore them in more detail now!

Ransomware Protection

A company’s network is compromised by ransomware, which encrypts data (usually backups are also under attack!) and demands a ransom for the decryption. If a ransomware attack has encrypted your production data, immutability ensures that the backup of this data remains secure and unaltered. Immutable backups protect your production data and serve as a reliable recovery point after a ransomware attack, allowing for a swift recovery without paying a ransom.

Regulatory Compliance

Financial institutions, healthcare providers, and other regulated industries need to comply with strict data retention policies, for example under the NIS2 directive. Immutability guarantees that data is preserved in its original state for the required duration, meeting regulatory mandates for integrity and retention.

Security Audits

An organization needs to ensure that its data has not been tampered with for auditing purposes (e.g., SOC2 Type II). With an immutable backup solution, organizations can provide proof that their data remains unchanged since the time of a backup, ensuring integrity for legal and audit compliance.

Accidental Deletion or Human Error

An employee accidentally deletes important backups or overwrites crucial data? Without immutability, it would have severe consequences. Fortunately, immutability will not allow to delete the data, keeping organization and the employee away from reputational damage and legal consequences.

Data Corruption

Software bugs or hardware malfunctions can lead to data corruption in the primary storage. Immutable backup ensures that a clean, uncorrupted version of the data is always available for recovery.

Long-term Data Archiving

An organization needs to archive data for long-term storage and future reference. Immutability provides a reliable method for data archiving, ensuring that data remains unchanged and accessible over time.

Third-party Cyber Attacks

External cyber attackers gain access to organization’s network and attempt to delete or alter backup data. Immutability prevents alteration or deletion and unauthorized access, safeguarding data against external threats.

Best Practices: How to Implement an Immutable Backup Solution?

Assessing Your Backup Needs

First of all, you need to evaluate your data protection needs and identify critical data that requires protection through immutability. It can include production data, production servers, sensitive data, and any other key data assets. In this context, it might be a good idea to classify data into 4 groups (Public, Internal, Confidential, and Critical), using the following 3 criteria:

  • Availability (Is the data required for your organization to operate?)
  • Compliance (Is data backup mandated by regulations?)
  • Recoverability (Can the data be easily restored or recreated?)

Then define clear retention policies for your immutable backups. Determine how long backup data should be retained based on regulatory requirements and business needs. See our article on backup strategy to learn more in this respect.

Also, consider the storage space required for immutable backups. Immutable data cannot be altered or deleted, so ensure you have adequate storage capacity.

Choosing the Right Backup Solution

Vendors deliver data resilience solutions by integrating comprehensive backup, recovery, and security features to safeguard critical information. The best idea is to buy an immutable data storage and a secure backup solution from a single vendor. It will considerably simplify management, asking technical questions, as well as identifying and reporting problems (which are common, especially during implementation). For example, Xopero Software offers comprehensive backup solutions that meet a wide range of data protection needs: backup software Xopero ONE and backup appliance Xopero Unified Protection.

Integrating with Existing Infrastructure

Ensure that the chosen backup solution integrates seamlessly with your existing primary storage systems and cloud storage providers, or provides its own immutable data store. It is crucial to integrate with a secure cloud storage resource that offers features like encryption and immutability to ensure data protection and facilitate reliable recovery.

Check if you can protect all the files in your organization—from servers, end devices running on different OSes, SaaS, and virtual environments—all with one solution.

Regularly Testing Your Backup and Recovery Processes

Conduct regular tests of your backup and recovery processes to ensure that your backups are functioning correctly and that data recovery can be performed smoothly.

Immutable Backups and the 3-2-1-1-0 Backup Rule

Since I’m writing about the best practices of implementing immutability, it would be a shame not to mention the golden standard of backup, the 3-2-1 rule. It has long been the best practice in data protection, emphasizing redundancy and reliability. But since contemporary attacks affect backups as well, this rule has been extended to the 3-2-1-1-0 scheme that aims to address modern protection challenges.

Let’s take a closer look:

The 3-2-1 backup rule

  • 3: Keep at least three copies of your data.
  • 2: Store the copies on two different types of media, for example external hard disks and in the cloud to enhance cybersecurity.
  • 1: Keep one copy offsite to protect against local disasters (e.g., flood or fire).

The enhanced 3-2-1-1-0 rule

  • 1: Add one immutable copy of your data. Immutability protects you against tampering, deletion, and ransomware, ensuring integrity and business continuity. What’s more, immutability brings backups beyond ransomware resilience, offering protection against data corruption and accidental deletion.
  • 0: Ensure zero errors by regularly testing backups and performing recoverability checks.

Practical Example: Implementing the 3-2-1-1-0 Rule with Xopero Software

  1. Set up Xopero ONE—deploy and configure software to manage your backup operations. 
  2. Ensure that there are three copies of the data—backup your primary data using Xopero, creating two additional copies. To guarantee different copy locations, use Xopero Cloud Storage that lets you store copies even on another continent.
  3. Use two different media types—store one copy using the Xopero Unified Protection on-premises hardware appliance and the other one in Xopero Cloud Storage.
  4. Keep one offsite copy—ensure that the third copy is kept offsite (e.g., in the cloud), providing protection against local physical disasters.
  5. Add one immutable copy—enable Object Lock (immutability) for a storage that supports immutability and add it in Xopero ONE. When configuring a backup job, simply choose the storage as the backup copy location. It’s worth adding that the internal storage of the Xopero Unified Protection appliance supports the immutability feature.
  6. Ensure zero errors—regularly test restore operations using the Xopero ONE software to verify backup integrity and recoverability. Use Xopero’s monitoring and reporting tools to ensure that there are no errors in the backup process.

There’s no doubt that implementing immutable backups and following the 3-2-1-1-0 backup rule are essential strategies for robust data protection. These practices ensure that your data remains secure, accessible, and recoverable, safeguarding your organization against various threats and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

Using Xopero ONE, organizations can effectively manage backup processes and maintain the highest standards of data protection.

The Best Comprehensive Solutions for Immutable Backups

So you already know what immutable backups are all about and why they are important in your data protection strategy. It’s time to move on to solutions that will allow you to implement the best protection for your data.

I’d like to introduce you to Xopero Software whose products provide a complete suite of backup and recovery features, including immutable data storage. The products are designed to protect your data against various threats and to ensure data availability even during cyber incidents, helping to meet business service level agreements and prevent data loss.

In Xopero’s portfolio, you can find 2 types of solutions:

  • Xopero ONE Backup&Recovery, which is software for companies wanting to use cloud storage only or having other own storage resources (you can choose from local storages and S3-compatible clouds, or use multiple locations), and
  • Xopero Unified Protection, a hardware backup that combines the advantages of the Xopero ONE backup software with a disk array, archiver and deduplicator.

Each of these solutions can integrate with object storage for immutable backup.

Key Features of Xopero Solutions

  • Multi-environment protection—Windows, Linux, Mac workstations, servers, VMware and Hyper-V virtual machines, Microsoft 365, and DevOps ecosystems
  • Advanced backup settings, for example deduplication, copy testing, immutability
  • Various recovery scenarios, including the Instant Disaster Recovery feature
  • Data encryption in transit and at rest with own key
  • Secure SAML-based SSO authentication
  • Own secure Xopero Cloud Storage
  • Help stay compliant with SOC2, ISO27001, NIS2, DORA, GDPR
  • And many more.

Case studies: Successful Implementations of Xopero Software Solutions

Many organizations have successfully implemented Xopero’s backup solutions, enhancing their data protection strategies. Thanks to immutable backups, these organizations have significantly increased their chances of successful data recovery in real-world scenarios.

Check out how Xopero Software helped organizations protect their data with confidence

What Have You Learned?

Immutable backups are an essential component of a robust data protection strategy. They ensure that backup data remains secure, unchangeable, and recoverable, providing peace of mind in the face of various threats.

With an increasing number of cyber attacks targeting backup resources, immutability provides a fortress ensuring that your backup data remains untouchable and trustworthy. This added layer of security is indispensable for any organization looking to bolster its data protection framework. Additionally, immutable backups allow IT teams, which are aware that backup data is secure and tamper-proof, to focus on other critical areas of their operations. This strategic advantage can lead to more efficient use of resources and a more resilient IT infrastructure.

Immutability is the golden standard of data protection, providing an effective protection against a wide spectrum of threats. Xopero Software solutions are at the forefront of this technology, offering businesses a comprehensive, reliable, and scalable option to safeguard their critical data. Integrating immutability into your existing infrastructure with Xopero is seamless. Our solutions are designed to be versatile and compatible with various primary storage systems and cloud environments, making the transition to an immutable backup strategy smooth and hassle-free. This flexibility ensures that businesses of all sizes can benefit from enhanced protection without extensive overhauls of their current systems.

Furthermore, immutable backups are not just about security; they are about ensuring the longevity and integrity of your data. As businesses grow, so does their data. Immutability ensures that historical data remains accurate and intact, which is crucial for long-term business strategies and decision-making processes.

Ready to secure your data and implement a robust business continuity strategy? Book a free meeting with our specialist to discuss your security challenges and data protection needs or try the full version of Xopero ONE for 14 days for free.

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