NetApp launches AI-driven ransomware protection for businesses

Last month witnessed a 32% rise in ransomware attacks compared with the previous month, a trend expected to continue as digital technologies become more pervasive. Businesses are therefore urged to enhance their resilience to protect their operations and data.

Responding to this increasingly threatening landscape, NetApp has introduced NetApp ONTAP Autonomous Ransomware Protection with Artificial Intelligence (ARP/AI). This new solution is designed to safeguard businesses' primary storage systems, making NetApp the first storage vendor to offer AI-driven on-box ransomware detection with externally validated protection effectiveness.

The NetApp solution demonstrated a 99% detection rate for advanced ransomware attacks and achieved 100% accuracy in detecting legitimate files without any false positives. This high accuracy is significant in a business context as it ensures the system contributes to security without causing alert fatigue.

"NetApp has passed a significant milestone in the fight against ransomware as the first and only storage vendor to offer AI-driven on-box ransomware detection with externally validated top-notch protection effectiveness," said Dr Arun Gururajan, Vice President, Research & Data Science at NetApp. "Ransomware detection methodologies that rely only on backup data are too slow to effectively mitigate the risks businesses face from cybersecurity threats. NetApp ARP/AI hardens enterprise storage by providing robust, built-in detection capabilities that can respond to ransomware threats in real time. The AAA rating we achieved from SE Labs is the result of our commitment to innovation in intelligent data infrastructure and our drive to find new ways to make NetApp the most secure storage on the planet."

SE Labs, an independent security testing company, evaluated NetApp ARP/AI and confirmed its high effectiveness with a 99% recall rate for ransomware attacks, with no false positives recorded during the tests. The swift, automated, and accurate detection and response capabilities built into the primary storage systems are crucial to minimising the damage from lost production data and downtime during ransomware incidents.

The ability to operate without contributing to alarm fatigue ensures more streamlined and efficient use of security resources. Continuous adaptation and evolution of detection technology as new ransomware variants emerge is a key feature. This ongoing retraining on the latest ransomware strains ensures that NetApp ARP/AI maintains its leading edge in protection effectiveness, giving organisations a robust and future-proof defence against the evolving ransomware threat landscape.

"Ensuring data is secure against internal and external threats is a critical part of making data infrastructure intelligent, which then empowers customers to turn disruption into opportunity," said NetApp in a statement. "This validation of NetApp's AI-powered ransomware detection capabilities underscores how NetApp is staying at the forefront of AI innovation by both enabling AI adoption and applying AI to data services."

NetApp ARP/AI is currently in a tech preview phase, with customers able to request participation through their NetApp sales representative. The company asserts that embedding ransomware detection directly into storage helps customers not only improve their cyber resilience but also reduce the operational burden and necessary skills to maintain their intelligent data infrastructure.

NetApp's commitment to protecting business data through AI-driven solutions reinforces the importance of proactive cybersecurity measures in today's digital landscape. The firm's new all-flash storage systems are designed to support AI workloads, leveraging secure storage infrastructure to enhance business operations.