Re: Air Gap Was: Encrypting a library

I have many VTLs and many customers with VTLs. None have been wiped out or compromised in any way. I can say that the products vary and the way they are connected also varies. Some vendors allow you to copy files in and out of the file system and each file represents a virtual tape. With this then, there clearly is potential for those files to be compromised. The units are NOT configured to allow this from the factory but in just minutes they can be configured to allow it.

In other cases, Cybernetics for one, no access to the unit through sharing such as SMB or SCP/SSH is available, either by default or by configuration. They do use iSCSI for replication but to my knowledge that is limited only to other Cybernetics units requiring configuration on both ends in order to make it work. All other access is strictly through SAS or Fiber connections to the units. They also do a good job of allowing only specific wwns to access host definitions and the tapes assigned to that host. Further we zone the fiber to restrict that as well.

- DrF

On 6/3/2021 10:57 AM, Rob Berendt wrote:

<snip>
We advise our customers to use virtual tape libraries for all the good
reasons they provide, but also to take specific action to copy critical
backups to tape as an air gap
</snip>

Has anyone reported their VTL as being wiped out?

Rob Berendt