- The recent Marks & Spencer attack reveals failures in the current company support strategies
- Hyperbunker pushes storage offline, while critics question cost and practicality
- Data diodes create unidirectional channels, maintaining the disconnected vaults of the networks
The main retailer of the United Kingdom Marks & Spencer (M&S) was recently reached by a ransomware attack that interrupted internal systems and, according to reports, blocked the employees of the critical archives.
The incident is part of a broader trend of cybercriminals aimed at large organizations with ransomware attacks and demands payment to restore access.
This trick could have been avoided if backup copies were isolated, thus avoiding that the attackers encrypt or eliminate M&S data, but this “unwavering” approach brings their own financial charges.
Data diodes and physical isolation as last resort protection
Hyperbunker, an Infolab spin-off based on Zagreb, promotes his vault-based vault based on diodes such as safeguard against such infractions.
This system writes backups using data diode technology, a method that creates a “data-in” strictly unidirectional channel.
Backup copies are stored in SSD or disc units in a shelf chassis, completely disconnected from external networks.
This idea, familiar in nuclear facilities and military facilities, has rarely been seen in the protection of daily business data.
The company insists that its vault remains invisible within network infrastructure and, therefore, unattainable for computer pirates.
“You see servers and units sent [to InfoLAB] From all over Europe, companies closed from their own data. And why does this happen if they have perfect cyber protection tools? Investor and Advisor Matt Peterman said Blocksandfiles.
“Sometimes, it is due to the hardware failure, often due to ransomware. And in those cases of ransomware, child [Nino Eškić, InfoLAB’s CEO] I could do very little, except suggesting negotiating through the runners. That frustration is what pushed him to design an off -line protection that really preserves the most critical data. “
Hyperbunker affirms that his patented optical insulation and his “butlante logic”, introduced in October 2024, avoids vulnerabilities linked to network protocols or exploits of hands that have affected the previous systems based on diodes.
Despite its promise, the concept raises concerns because traditional backups have collapsed or have been omitted in the past.
This happened in cases involving capital health, community health systems, Veeam and NHS clients.
Online storage is not a magical shield, although Hyperbunker states that “the only vulnerability is the physical theft of the device.”
Distributing units and encrypting stored data can reduce the risk, but making it multiply logistics and financial demands.
Companies that are already juggling with multiple support solutions can doubt in investing in a secondary “backup”.
Although the device is marketed as simple, eliminating the dependence of complex protocols batteries, its effectiveness depends on careful management and safe locations.
Companies that weigh this approach should consider whether costs, logistics and physical theft potential exceed the protection offered.
