Dell Technologies said on Oct. 13 that IBK Industrial Bank of Korea built a new backup infrastructure at its Hanam data centre based on Dell solutions.

Through the project, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea upgraded its existing backup environment and implemented a cyber resilience framework that can restore operations even in ransomware attacks, other cyber threats and disaster situations.

According to Dell Technologies, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea built a new backup system for enterprise-wide data protection and recovery as it moved its IT systems to the Hanam data centre. It also fully dualised its power supply network to improve stability.

IBK Industrial Bank of Korea had operated a backup environment using physical tape media, but the characteristics of the storage medium made tape damage, loss risks and ageing a management burden. It also faced limits on rapid data search and recovery. The bank reviewed tapeless backup solutions as an alternative that enable automated management, ease maintenance and allow rapid recovery even as its business environment changes and data volumes increase, and it adopted Dell solutions.

IBK Industrial Bank of Korea introduced Dell PowerProtect Data Domain DD9400 and DD9900 enterprise data protection appliances to build a high-performance backup infrastructure, and established a foundation for cyber resilience and disaster recovery based on Dell PowerProtect Cyber Recovery and Dell NetWorker, Dell said.

In replicating data to the Seoul distribution centre and the DR centre, it applied PowerProtect Cyber Recovery air-gap and retention lock technologies for backup data immutability. It automatically disconnected the network during data distribution to isolate critical data from the operating environment and prevented arbitrary deletion or changes to backup data, enabling response not only to cyberattacks such as ransomware and hacking but also to operational mistakes, Dell said.

It also installed EMP (high-power electromagnetic pulse) protection racks at the distribution centre, applying shielding functions to block external electromagnetic waves and fire-resistant functions to protect internal equipment from fire.

Yoon Dal-hyun (윤달현), a deputy manager at IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, said the upgrade not only meets security requirements set by the national financial supervisory agency but also secured strong cyber resilience that can normalise operations in a short time even in major cyberattacks or unexpected disasters.

Sang-mo Yoo (유상모), president of Dell Technologies Korea, said cyber resilience for financial institutions means more than simple backups. He said they must be able to recover to a trustworthy state even after cyberattacks or disasters occur, adding the IBK Industrial Bank of Korea case is an exemplary example of strengthening cyber resilience by isolating and protecting core data and using an automated backup and recovery system.