Learn about BlueXP ransomware protection

05/02/2024 Contributors

Ransomware attacks can block access to your systems and data and attackers can ask for ransom in exchange for the release of data or decryption. According to the IDC, it is not uncommon for victims of ransomware to experience multiple ransomware attacks. The attack can disrupt access to your data between one day and several weeks.

BlueXP ransomware protection is an orchestration service for ransomware protection, detection, and recovery. The service protects application-based workloads of Oracle, MySQL, VM datastores, and file shares on on-premises NAS storage (using the NFS and CIFS protocols) as well as Cloud Volumes ONTAP in Amazon Web Services across BlueXP accounts and backs up data to Amazon Web Services cloud storage and NetApp StorageGRID.

What you can do with BlueXP ransomware protection

The BlueXP ransomware protection service provides full use of several NetApp technologies so that your storage administrator, data security administrator, or security operations engineer can accomplish the following goals:

Identify all application-based, file-share, or VMware-managed workloads in NetApp on-premises NAS with NFS or CIFS working environments in BlueXP, across BlueXP accounts, workspaces, and BlueXP Connectors. The service then categorizes the data priority and provides recommendations to you for ransomware protection improvements.
Protect your workloads by enabling backups and Snapshot copies on your data.
Detect anomalies that might be ransomware attacks.
Respond to potential ransomware attacks by automatically initiating a tamper-proof NetApp ONTAP Snapshot that is locked so that the copy cannot be deleted accidentally or maliciously. Your backup data will stay immutable and protected end to end from ransomware attacks at the source and in the destination.
Recover your workloads that help accelerate workload uptime by orchestrating several NetApp technologies. You can choose to recover volumes, folders, or specific files. The service provides recommendations on the best options.

Diagram showing BlueXP ransomware protection strategies of identify

Benefits of using BlueXP ransomware protection

BlueXP ransomware protection offers the following benefits:

Discovers workloads and datasets, analyzes the priority based on usage index, and ranks their relative importance.
Evaluates your ransomware protection posture and displays it in an easy-to-understand dashboard.
Provides recommendations on next steps based on discovery and protection posture analysis.
Applies AI/ML-driven data protection recommendations with one-click access.
Protects data in top application-based workloads, such as MySQL, Oracle, VMware datastores and file-shares.
Detects ransomware attacks on data in real time on primary storage using AI technology.
Initiates automated actions in response to detected potential attacks by creating Snapshot copies and initiating alerts about abnormal activity.
Applies curated recovery to meet RPO policies. BlueXP ransomware protection orchestrates recovery from ransomware incidents by using several NetApp recovery services, including BlueXP backup and recovery (formerly Cloud Backup) and SnapCenter.

Cost

NetApp doesn’t charge you for using the trial version of BlueXP ransomware protection. The full version of BlueXP ransomware protection can be used with a NetApp license or an AWS subscription.

Licensing

With BlueXP ransomware protection, you can use different licensing plans including a free trial, a pay-as-you-go subscription, or bring your own license.

The BlueXP ransomware protection requires a NetApp ONTAP license.

The general release of BlueXP ransomware protection, unlike the Preview release, includes a license for NetApp Autonomous Ransomware Protection technology. Refer to Autonomous Ransomware Protection overview for details.

For details, see Set up licensing.

How BlueXP ransomware protection works

At a high-level, BlueXP ransomware protection works like this.

Diagram showing BlueXP ransomware protection architecture

Feature	Description
IDENTIFY	Finds all customer on-premises NAS (NFS and CIFS protocols) data connected to BlueXP. Identifies customer data from ONTAP and SnapCenter service APIs and associates it with workloads. Learn more about ONTAP and SnapCenter Software. Discovers each volume's current protection level of NetApp Snapshot copies and backup policies as well as any on-box detection capabilities. The service then associates this protection posture with the workloads by using BlueXP backup and recovery, BlueXP Digital Advisor, and ONTAP services and NetApp technologies such as Autonomous Ransomware Protection, FPolicy, Backup policies, and Snapshot policies. Learn more about Autonomous Ransomware Protection and BlueXP backup and recovery, BlueXP Digital Advisor, and ONTAP FPolicy. Assigns a business priority to each workload based on automatically discovered protection levels and recommends protection policies for workloads based on their business priority. Ransomware protection also learns the policy associations and recommends your custom policies to similar workloads.
PROTECT	Actively monitors workloads and orchestrates the use of BlueXP backup and recovery, SnapCenter, and ONTAP APIs by applying policies to each of the identified workloads.
DETECT	Detects potential attacks with an integrated machine learning (ML) model that detects potentially anomalous encryption and activity. Provides dual-layer detection that starts with detecting potential ransomware attacks in the primary storage and responding to abnormal activities by taking additional automated Snapshot copies to create the nearest data restore points. The service provides the ability to dig deeper to identify potential attacks with greater precision without impacting the performance of the primary workloads. Determines the specific suspect files and maps that attack to the associated workloads, using ONTAP, Autonomous Ransomware Protection and FPolicy technologies.
RESPOND	Shows relevant data, such as file activity, user activity, and entropy, to help you complete forensic reviews about the attack. Initiates quick Snapshot copies by using NetApp technologies and products such as ONTAP, Autonomous Ransomware Protection and FPolicy.
RECOVER	Determines the best Snapshot or backup and recommends the best recovery point actual (RPA) by using BlueXP backup and recovery, ONTAP, Autonomous Ransomware Protection and FPolicy technologies and services. Orchestrates the recovery of workloads including VMs, file shares, and databases with application consistency.

Feature

Description

IDENTIFY

Finds all customer on-premises NAS (NFS and CIFS protocols) data connected to BlueXP.
Identifies customer data from ONTAP and SnapCenter service APIs and associates it with workloads. Learn more about ONTAP and SnapCenter Software.
Discovers each volume's current protection level of NetApp Snapshot copies and backup policies as well as any on-box detection capabilities. The service then associates this protection posture with the workloads by using BlueXP backup and recovery, BlueXP Digital Advisor, and ONTAP services and NetApp technologies such as Autonomous Ransomware Protection, FPolicy, Backup policies, and Snapshot policies.
Learn more about Autonomous Ransomware Protection and BlueXP backup and recovery, BlueXP Digital Advisor, and ONTAP FPolicy.
Assigns a business priority to each workload based on automatically discovered protection levels and recommends protection policies for workloads based on their business priority.
Ransomware protection also learns the policy associations and recommends your custom policies to similar workloads.

PROTECT

Actively monitors workloads and orchestrates the use of BlueXP backup and recovery, SnapCenter, and ONTAP APIs by applying policies to each of the identified workloads.

DETECT

Detects potential attacks with an integrated machine learning (ML) model that detects potentially anomalous encryption and activity.
Provides dual-layer detection that starts with detecting potential ransomware attacks in the primary storage and responding to abnormal activities by taking additional automated Snapshot copies to create the nearest data restore points. The service provides the ability to dig deeper to identify potential attacks with greater precision without impacting the performance of the primary workloads.
Determines the specific suspect files and maps that attack to the associated workloads, using ONTAP, Autonomous Ransomware Protection and FPolicy technologies.

RESPOND

Shows relevant data, such as file activity, user activity, and entropy, to help you complete forensic reviews about the attack.
Initiates quick Snapshot copies by using NetApp technologies and products such as ONTAP, Autonomous Ransomware Protection and FPolicy.

RECOVER

Determines the best Snapshot or backup and recommends the best recovery point actual (RPA) by using BlueXP backup and recovery, ONTAP, Autonomous Ransomware Protection and FPolicy technologies and services.
Orchestrates the recovery of workloads including VMs, file shares, and databases with application consistency.

Supported backup targets, working environments, and data sources

Use BlueXP ransomware protection to see how resilient your data is to a cyber attack on the following types of backup targets, working environments, and data sources:

Backup targets supported

Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3
NetApp StorageGRID

Supported working environments

On-premises ONTAP NAS (using NFS and CIFS protocols)

FlexGroups are not supported.
Cloud Volumes ONTAP in AWS (using NFS and CIFS protocols)

Data sources

The service protects the following application-based workloads on primary data volumes:

NetApp file shares
VMware datastores
Databases (MySQL and Oracle)

Terms that might help you with ransomware protection

You might benefit by understanding some terminology related to ransomware protection.

Protection: Protection in BlueXP ransomware protection means ensuring that Snapshots and immutable backups occur on a regular basis to a different security domain using protection policies.
Workload: A workload in BlueXP ransomware protection can include MySQL or Oracle databases, VMware datastores, or file shares.